football and turkey. christmas is about presents. new year's, we say the same thing. what is your new year's resolution, because we're still stuffed from pie from the last five weeks, we're like i have to lose some weight! then we give that opportunity as a reset and then we don't do it. we are convinced that we can't. one thing we can't do is abnormal in our society, downsize and clear out the clutter in our lives. it's unnatural. it goes against the growth, we think it's growth get bigger and more. people don't choose it because all of society is going in one direction. every year we are given a chance to say whatever it is, i'm going to lose weight. i'm going to go to church more often. whatever it is. if it's lose weight, i laugh four hours. some last six weeks because you paid for the gym membership. you're like i feel guilty. i paid for that. then you give up on it. these happens because you don't understand the holidays. from now until new year's, i'll help you prepare for change, real change. i'll make changes in my life. changes you can make in yours. by 2012, come with me for a second. by 2012, i hope this would be the winning slogan in america. yes, i can. it begins tonight. ♪ ♪ [ applause ] >> glenn: who are the guys in the gray suits? who are they? west point. hello, america. i have a whole studio full of people from west point. i'll introduce you to tm in a little while. i want to talk about the trilogy of holidays. i want to start with thanksgiving. thanksgiving. what is supposed to be -- what we've done is turn them into football. i know i'm not alone. you don't let your wife see it because you're disgusted by yourself. you're like i think i'm going to vomit. an hour goes by and you're like is there more of the stuff? we have turned it in to food and football. then we approach where we have to change. we have want to change, but we can't. because we haven't looked at the first holiday in the trilogy here. we haven't evaluated our own life. you can't evaluate your life until you know what matters in your life. you say in new year's eve i'm going to lose weight. because you're a big fat 'drety. you don't want to be my eyes out of the shower every morning. you don't. we look at the negatives and the problems daily on this program. but i'm going to look at the assets next year. we need to do that in our own life as well. that is what this holiday is about. split the word. don't make it a compound word. split it. thanks and giving. so what are you thankful for? take the first half of the word. what is it we're thankful for? your country, your freedom, your house, your family? this is the problem. this is a problem in washington. this administration has not looked at our assets. everybody in washington, both sides, we'll fix the problem. but they leave the biggest asset out of the solution. what is the asset, the biggest asset this country has? our wealth? our people. people are the biggest asset you have. we leave that out. why would we do that? look at the second half of the word. giving. what are we giving? are you giving your time? i have a hard time with that. i do charity stuff. i hate it. i hate it so much. i get in the car and my wife is you have to go over -- i get in the car. it hate it. we went and we worked at a homeless shelter. every time i give service, every time on the way home, i say this. my wife started to look at me. she doesn't say anything. i'll say we should do this more often. i don't know why we don't do this. i feel so good. now she just does this to me. really? it feels good to give. giving time, money, energy, backbone? some give their lives. i've never been asked to give my life. i think i'm too much of a chicken. i don't know. i can't fathom what it is like to be in war. this week was veterans day. we have a whole audience full of some day veterans. the country's best and the brightest. it is not easy to get in to west point. yet, our country somehow or another what? west point? you should have gone to harvard. have you ever been to west point? the best and the brightest. these men and women may give everything. they may give their eyes, their arms, their ideas and energy. possibly their life. gosh, what have we given? you know what makes you want to give? gratitude. the thanks part. makes you want to give. i can guarantee, i haven't talked to them yet. i'm going to spend time with them after the show tonight. i guarantee you they know why they're serving. they know what they're serving for. if you haven't, you might want to reconsider. every soldier i met in the military are serving for a specific reason. it might be different for everybody but they found something about this country that makes them want to serve. they are grateful, thankful so they're giving. another word for giving is service. i thought about this. service is an interesting word, because you ask somebody in the service. i'm in the service. really? doesn't it seem like an incomplete sentence? i'm in the service. in the service of what? in the service of their country. what are you in the service of? in the service of what? your country? your god? your family, your children? your house, your car, your debt? what is it? you are in the service of something. what is it? if you are truly in the service of your country, maybe it's time our country says thank you. i'm going to try very hard to not get overtly political. because everybody in the military says don't look at me. i neither agree or disagree. keep the cameras on me for a minute. there is a group of people that are serving our country. i was going to say they're to not wearing the uniform but they are. they're wearing blue suits and red ties. a lot of them have been great. a lot stink on ice and have cause canned problems. but then there are those in military service that allow amazing things to happen. they don't force things to happen, they allow amazing things to happen. the biggest service for their country is not going out is fighting and possibly dying but that they stand guard to allow us to be protected enough to have amazing things happen. what are we doing with our freedom and our time that they will or would stand on the wall to protect so we can do something? what is it we're doing? gosh! look what they're giving. are we thankful for what we have? a way to give is do something important with your time. with your freedom. i want to show you this. i address this in broke. plan to restore our truth, trust and our treasure. how do we get out of the debt? you can't. you can't get out of the box we created yourself. cannot do it if you don't have truth. if you don't have honesty. if we don't restore ourselves, first. but there are things in here to restore treasure. there are simple thing we can do. i address the abseen money paying politicians. this is the average guy in the u.s. army. they get out as a specialist. they make $22,676. four years. pick up a gun and go stand in the line of fire. because your country asks you to. for $22,676. they ain't doing it for money. the average money makes $50,46 #. that is your salary. average american, $50,000. here is where it gets good. this is where it gets good. average salary of a federal employee, you know, the ones who can never get the paperwork right. the average person serving, serving in congress. remember, they use that word. they don't have a job. they're serving in congress. this is their master. this is the defender of what they're serving. the ideas of the constitution. this is the guardian that protects them as they protect the constitution. this is their master. we the people. how much are they serving? this by the way is not average salary. this is what they get. this is the basic salary. $174,000. this one is the master and which one is the servant? which one has the most to be grateful for? and yet doesn't seem to be? goes back to idea of cleaning out the stuff in our life. maybe it's that they have too much. i want to show you, i want to show you some of our congressial leaders. this happens on, this happens on both sides. harry reid. harry reid was elected to the senate in 1986 for serving four years in the house. when he entered the senate, he was worth -- believe me, i'm capitalist. i don't care how much you're worth. the more the merrier, brother. he was worth $1.8 million when he entered the senate. how much was he worth two years ago? how is your 401(k) doing? nancy pelosi. she was elected to congress in 1987. two years later, her estimated worth was $7.5 million. today, $21.7 million. how is it that these people are getting rich? how is it? how is it a guy who served honorably, this guy served honorably, when he was in service of his country, he served honorably. how did he leave the service, making this kind of wage and go right directly to congress and now he can afford a vacation home. that he doesn't even pay taxes on. how did that happen? how did that happen? we have to cut our budget. we have to. in the book "broke" i outline budget cuts. and one of them that is controversial is i take on the department of defense. the reason why i did it, it's easy for me to write a chapter how we need to shut off n.p.r. i could write that one in my sleep. i needed to be able to show you that the thing i care most about is the defense of our nation. we can make intelligent cuts. we can make them without hurting our defense and without hurting people. we can actually help people. john boehner said that if he becomes house speaker, he's going to fly back and forth from his home to washington on commercial airlines. nancy pelosi had to use a military aircraft. for security, we do what we have to do. boehner, if he is fighting commercial he'll fight hard against the naked scanners that nobody wants. maybe we should have naked scanners in the hall of congress. what do you think? i commend him for spending less and anyone yelling at him and calling him a dope at the airport he has to chalk it up as a slight wound in the service of his country. he will not receive more wounds than these guys possibly will. this is a step in the right direction? here is what i'd like to propose. i'd like to ask you to take this on. you make the difference. these guys in washington could not say no. they couldn't say no to this. congressman, here it is. congressman shall not be paid. shall not be paid more than those who are currently serving on the front line of duty. they shall never make more than that. there is no reason why congressmen should be able to enrich themselves. make more than a guy who is on the front linings fighting. somebody who is in a tank right now. somebody else who is risking his life to save a child in another country. are you kidding me? there is no justification for congressional salaries, none. demand congress lower their salaries and their benefit to the same benefits offered to our soldiers, period. i'll take it a step further. federal employees should not be allowed to ever make more than this. ever. last year, the household income, up to $49,000. up to $50,000 now. you know what? congress should only get raises and people in the federal government should only get raises if the citizens get raises. member of congress should never make more than people who die on our battlefields. congress, i know, you've got a lot of special perks. your medical care should be exactly the same that the v.a. hospital gives out. you are in the service of your country. if you don't like it, maybe you should offer benefits that are better at the v.a. hospitals. oh, there is one more thing. they're not going to like it because they have to keep two homes. congress, i have that solved for you. i'm more than happy and i know people -- maybe habitat for humanity will come and help build barracks for you to live in. back in a minute. [ applause ] i'm going to stop giving my political opinion in a second, because even if these guys hate my opinion, hated my guts and they might, they wouldn't be able to -- i mean they can't respond. so it's not really fair to them. i will shut up and politics in a minute. but i want to go back to this for a second. i really think there is something here. for you. the american people. you want to send a message of st stop and go spending money. they can't hold up sick puppy dogs. they can't do that. what this is about is cutting the congressional pay. all the fat cats would freak out. they can't say no! if you rose up and went to congress and said basic congressional pay and you get all the same benefits and everything else, you get it at the v.a. hospital, you know what would happen? either may raise the pay of the soldiers through the roof. make sure the v.a. is state -- like barney frank is going to walk in a v.a. hospital. or they cut theirs. which is better? combination of the. two cut their salaries. you can rise up and make that happen. it was veterans day yesterday. in new york, the soldiers were here. the veterans had a parade. i'm always interested to see new yorkers. especially those on central park south. react to military. but it's funny because even those who don't like the military, we're just so -- whatever. they are the first ones to stand on the roof with signs saying help, help, help. our troops are amazing. they are fighting wars overseas in spite of what we're doing in washington. they are fighting those wars and they're fighting them h hon -- mhonorablhonorably. but not much credit is given to them for what they do in our basic lives. every single day, most of us don't realize. you will now. take a look. ♪ ♪ >> we can thank our u.s. military for a lot more than fighting our wars, keeping us safe and defending our freedom. since this country was born, member of the armed forces helped build and maintain our infrastructure and made america what it is today. great war heroes, like meade of gettysburg fame that built string of light houses up and down the east coast in the 1800s. many are still standing. he surveyed the great lakes. other soldiers helped construct a transcontinental railroad to open up the wild west. army corps of engineer helped complete the washington monument and construct the lincoln memorial and the library of congress. when there is a natural disaster you saw them rescuing victims from hurricane katrina. since 1947, u.s. marines are delivering toys to to thes. in alaska, some troops are helped transport doctors to eskimos. when the b.p. oil exploded in the spring, u.s. coast guard was searching for the missing and rescuing the survivors. this week, sailors arrived with food and supplies. if it weren't for the military bases, who knows what the economy would be. robins air force base for example is the largest employer in the united states, with more civilians working there than service members. the military excels in educating its own to. when the troops are returned back to civilian life, most are returned wiser, smarter and with a deeper appreciation for the country. the next time you see a service member, you approach him. please. approach them and say two simple words. thank you.cñcñc÷c÷c÷c÷c÷c÷c÷c÷c louisiana. join me at the top of the hour for "special report." now back to glenn beck. ♪ ♪ >> glenn: i am for the next few weeks, i'm going to start moving in to what i call the trilogy of holidays. on to fridays, you are going to see the news of the day and different ideas and you're also going to hopefully experiment some gratitude. we have a lot to complaint about, but we have more to be thankful for. this isn't just like okay, i get it. goodness. no, no. we have to know what is of value to us. one thing that is of true value to me is our service men and women. and what these guys go through. and how society treats them. i remember i worked for the vietnam vet years ago. he was very proud of his service. he was really good at what he did. but when he got back, all kind of names, all kind of stuff. he was sitting in a job interview. and he said after he got back from vietnam, where have you been? he said i was in vietnam, sir. he looked at his resume and said, "sorry about that." that offended him. he said, "i am not." i remember when he was a wreck when i met him. i said i am never going to be a part of society who does that for people who we ask to serve. i am very grateful for everything you are about to do. you five in the front, you're seniors. getting ready to graduate. do you know where you're going from here? get your papers? not yet. any thoughts on where you're going. anything in particular? >> we just found out our branch of the army on sunday. we find out in february where we'll be stationed. >> glenn: now i notice benjamin and brendan have ribbons and stuff on their chest. ryan, you have stars up here. many others don't. really honestly, think you're making the rest of everybody feel bad. can't you share? what do the ribbons mean, what is on your chest? >> they're just -- this one right here, i went to a four-week flight school program at the university of north dakota. this is just based off ranking system at west point. >> glenn: you don't rank people, do you? this is crazy talk! i can see why so many people just dislike all the hatred here. help me out on because there is no one here that could have signed up to military service prior to 9/11. you all did it afterwards. you all see -- who signed up the most recent. who has done it in the last two years? where? the last two years? why? why? second row, in this way. it doesn't matter. yes, right here. >> we love our country, sir. and anything to do our duty. join up and fight for your country. >> glenn: have you watched the news lately? what is it that made you say yeah? what specifically, is there anything specific? >> i wouldn't say so, sir. it's the love of country. >> each of us has our own reason for joining. individual, based on the individuals. i can say me personally, i'm grateful for how i grew up. really, i want to share it with future generations. freedom is not free. somebody has to fight for it. so everybody serves their country in their own way. all of us can agree. >> glenn: it's amazing, i used to think that everybody had to be, if you were going to serve your community, you had to be at the soup kitchen. everybody has ways -- everybody has their own role. i would wet my pants. i have would. somebody started to shoot re. many you've seen "saving private ryan"? i'm the kid on the stairs. that's me. we all have our own role. john, tell me why you joined up. >> i felt an obligation to make a difference. at the united states military academy, you can get that opportunity. you learn to be someone. you learn the skills to truly make a difference in the world. >> glenn: did anybody have a problem when you said you were going to west point? has anybody experienced the "west point? why don't you go to a good school? you could have gotten in xyz." did you experience that? you did? >> i did a little bit, sir. >> glenn: don't call me "sir." i worked a long time for the label of glenn. [ laughter ] >> i think i grew up a little bit, i grew up in colorado. i think there is a little bit of of, maybe a little bit of a mood of discontent with how west point and how all the other service academies fit in with military and the country. i think i ran into a little bit of maybe service rivalry. because air force academy is carl springs. >> glenn: right. west point gives us a chance to serve with soldiers. >> glenn: so you were having the problem between the branches? >> exactly. yeah. >> glenn: what i'm looking for has anybody -- of course. you guys, i mean really, c'mon, seriously. the navy could kick your butt. no, i'm kidding! okay. [ laughter ] what i'm saying is did anybody discount in your life the fact that west point is as good as any university here in america? they just see it as military education. >> yes, actually. look at the opportunities at west point compared to this college they mentioned. it's unparalleled. we have so much available to us. also the service to give back, that other college did not. >> glenn: in the back row, you guys are the instructors. are you noticed a difference classes? who has been teaching the longest? is there a difference? >> i graduated -- >> glenn: can you call me sir? i know you're supposed to call me sir. >> sir, can tell you i get asked a lot by my classmates from west point how west point changed. they know i'm teaching. there is a story that it gets easy and easier as time goes on. it marvel at the fact that the folks are signed up at a time they know full well at the prospect of where they will go and what they do after graduation. >> glenn: i have several friends in the military in all branchs. i have a navy seal, going back for a ninth tour. at some point the odds catch up to you. he is going and he is happy about it and he's doing his job. amazing thing. can the average person just go and visit west point? right? >> yes. it's not as easy -- before 9/11 you could walk on to the campus and walk around as a -- >> it's an amazing place. i went there about a year ago. i think school was out when i was there. nobody was there. i just wanted to walk around. if you're near west point, you have to, you want to feel the honor of this country. you want to feel the -- feel something you've never felt before. visit west point. back in a second. >> glenn: i'm talking to a bunch of students and soon to be graduates at west point about gratitude and the country and service. i just was talking and we came back from a break so i didn't hear the answer. i just asked what is it that you want in return? what is it you want in return from your country? >> well, sir, i would like everyone in the country to utilize what people before us have protected for them. the opportunities that world war ii vets and before that have assured for the future. i want people to utilize the opportunity to seize the day and take them. give back to us. >> glenn: like the opening monologue. what are we doing with our time? what are we doing with our time? who has been inspired by a veteran? who is serving -- what is your name? elizabeth? >> well, two people. my grandfather and my father. my grandfather served in world war ii. my father was in term army for 28 years. >> glenn: what was it that you -- what was it that you saw in them or thought, gee, i got to get me some of that? >> i think the pride they had for serving. i would also say it's the camaraderie they built. >> glenn: what is the difference between pride and arrogance? >> i'd say arrogance you tend to boast about it. pride is something that you just show. >> glenn: is anybody here from texas? [ laughter ] what is the difference between pride and arrogance from the great state of texas? >> well, sir, i like to consider myself someone who has a lot of pride in where i'm fro. these guys claimed that i'm arrogant where i'm from. >> glenn: you're from texas! >> i tell you that pride is not boastful. you can be proud of yourself and just be happy for the opportunities that our country has given us to serve them. but when you are arrogant you come back and you start, arrogant is rubbing it in someone's face. >> glenn: pride doesn't have to come with -- pride, everyone can be proud of. arrogant would make other people feel bad. >> glenn: pride can still be humble. it pick on texas because that's the way texans are. they don't put other states down. they just think texas is the best. you're fine to live over there if you want to, but this is the best. that's the difference between pride and arrogance. back in a second. i got an egg [pop] i got gum a kazoo a candy necklace for forty cents, i got one of these [pop] a stamp helium fabric softener [pop] lipstick two pills a day is what it takes to stay alive if you're hiv positive. those pills cost about forty cents a day. >> glenn: we're back with a group of students from west point, and we're talking about gratitude and country and everything else. veterans day week. and benjamin just said in the break that he didn't really have a problem, because he's from texas, he didn't have a problem when he said i'm going to west point. everybody patted him on the back. to which ryan said -- don't hate, don't hate. because ryan is from california. ryan, i don't know how they let you escape. when you said did they chase you out with brooms in california? >> i was under the radar. >> glenn: covert op. >> yeah. >> glenn: you raised your hand earlier when i said that you were inspired by somebody. who? >> yeah. actually growing up, it was my baseball coach. for quite a while i didn't eknow he was in the service at all. kind of as i got older, looking at colleges, his son had gone to west point and popped the idea. didn't push it. just mentioned west point is a nice college, you should look into it. it was, the pride and integrity that i saw in him and the reverence for this country and the flag, kind of inspired me. >> glenn: is it shocking to you at all -- i walked into a church the other day. i'll just tell you the whole story. it was my day to clean the church. my church, the one i go to on saturday. and a flag by the boy scouts had been left half folded. they propped it up some place, it had fallen down and then it half unfolded. on the ground. it bothered me so much. picked it up and brought it over to the scout leaders on saturday morning. reverence, that's part of the thing that i sense at west point when you're there. there is a respect for things. is it a little shocking to anybody when you go out into the real world and it's not that way? anybody feel that? okay, i guess not. it's just me. back in a second. >> glenn: darren i want to ask can you, because you were inspired by a person. this is where you come in, america. you don't know who is watching you and you don't know what your actions lead to. down the line. who inspired you? >> well, glenn, when i was early on in high school, found out that my cousinp had joined the marine corps. it's interesting that you said that sometimes we don't know the effects of our actions on others. and well, my cousin joined the marines and he actually went in to the first fallujah offensive and went through his tour, which is extremely hard and he came home and he went back to iraq a year later and actually ended up clearing the same territory in fallujah that he had been through before. he didn't know this, but at the time we had a picture of him on my refrigerator at home. every morning i got up and i thought what am i doing? what is he doing today? it hit me and it really inspired me to do what i'm doing now an hopefully live up to that.