Glenn Beck on Why He's 'All for' the Looming Government Shutdown

"I don't know about you, but I celebrate that idea."

On his weekday television program Monday, Glenn Beck read the straightforward description of what happens during a government shutdown and said he'd actually "vote for a candidate who said that's what they're going to do to us on purpose."

"Government would not have the legal authority to spend money on non-essential services," Beck began. "Essential federal employees continue to work; non-essential employes don't get paid."

"This is the least frightening list I've ever seen in my life!" he remarked. "This actually sounds like a pretty good idea. Bring it on. Shut it down. I'm all for it."

(Photo: TheBlaze TV)

Beck continued: "The only people who should be afraid of a shutdown are the progressives who have been making a living lying to people, convincing them they couldn't live without government handouts. Shut them down. Please. People will realize that their small business, their job, their state, their economy is actually better off without Congress constantly interfering in it, messing it up. People might actually realize that they can be self-reliant."

Beck asked if those opposed to a government shutdown are actually trying to convince the American people that "you should be afraid that Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid will lose their ability to legally waste your money."

He proceeded to go through a short list on his chalkboard of items that the government funds, from the military to studies on robotic squirrels and how snakes would react to them.

Of just those on the list, he asked if we really need more than the military, border control, and air traffic control?

Beck proceeded to look at governments around the world, from the Middle East to Europe and South America, pointing out the skyrocketing unemployment rates and civil unrest.

"America is going the way of Greece and Cuba and at best, by 2016, with 100 [million estimated] Americans on food stamps, we will be Venezuela -- who, by the way, just [stationed] military at the toilet paper factories," Beck said.

"That's where we're headed gang, because every bloated government disaster is imploding around the world, and it's going to implode here. The only way to stop some epic form of collapse is to send people down to Washington, D.C. with spines. You saw some of them last week. Ted Cruz is being the poster example of this, he and anyone standing with him, and the principles he's promoting, I believe will be remembered."

Beck concluded where he began, with a word on the government shutdown: "The truth is that America cannot afford non-essential spending bonanzas. It can't. It is time to boil things down to the essentials. We're done playing the game, and we're not going to let progressives do things like scare us with a government shutdown debate. I don't know about you, but I celebrate that idea."

You can watch two clips from the show, below:

Complimentary Clip from TheBlaze TV

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