>> Tucker: GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT." IN JANUARY OF 2000, BILL CLINTON GAVE HIS FINAL STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS TO CONGRESS. CLINTON USED THAT SPEECH TO PUSH FOR DROPPING TRADE BARRIERS AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF CHINA. HERE IS THE ARGUMENT HE MADE. ALLOWING CHINA INTO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, CLINTON PROMISED AMERICA, WOULD "OPEN CHINA'S MARKETS TO THE UNITED STATES" AND "PLAINLY ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF PEACE IN ASIA AND THE CAUSE OF CHANGE IN CHINA." IN HIS LAST YEAR IN OFFICE, CLINTON MADE EXPANDING THE CHINESE ECONOMY ONE OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT PRIORITIES. TO DO THAT HE APPOINTED A LOBBYIST CALLED STEVE MACHETE AND PUT HIM IN CHARGE OF THE PROJECT. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, CHINA HAS BEEN A MEMBER OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION FOR 20 YEARS. STEVE HAS WRITTEN AN EVEN HIGHER IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS AND IS A TOP WHITE HOUSE AIDE TO JOE BIDEN. AS FOR CHINA, IT HAS CHANGED AS BILL CLINTON PROMISED IT WOULD. CHINA IS NOW THE RICHEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD, POLICE STATE IS FAR MORE EFFICIENT AUTHORITARIAN EVEN THEN IT WAS UNDER CHAIRMAN MAO. CHINA IS A MUCH LARGER THREAT IN UNITED STATES AND ITS NEIGHBORS, AS FAR FROM PEACE IN ASIA AS WE HAVE BEEN SINCE 1945. THE AMERICAN MANUFACTURING SECTOR IS GONE, EVAPORATED, MOST PRODUCTS ARE MADE IN CHINA THEATER MAYBE YOU SEEN THE PICTURES OF CARGO SHIPS STRUNG OUT INTO THE PACIFIC, STRUGGLING TO GET TO A PORT TO UNLOAD CONTAINERS. YOU WILL HEAR THIS DESCRIBED AS PART OF THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN, BUT THAT INTENTIONALLY UNDERSTATE WHAT IS ACTUALLY IS. WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT OUR AMERICA'S SUPPLY LINES. AT THIS POINT WE ARE EFFECTIVELY TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON A FARAWAY HEADQUARTER FOR THE THINGS WE NEED TO LIVE. HERE'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. >> WHY SO MANY EMPTY SHELVES? U.S. PORTS ARE BACKED UP. >> TAKE A LOOK AT THIS. CARGO SHIPS SITTING IN THE SEA WAITING TO PULL INTO PORT. IT IS CAUSING MAJOR U.S. RETAILERS LIKE WALMART, HOME DEPOT, AND COSTCO, TO TURN TO A PRIVATE CARGO SHIPS IN A RUSH TO FILL SHELVES FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON. ON THE ROAD, THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF TRUCK DRIVERS. >> THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS IT IS ADDRESSING THE ISSUES FUELED BY COVID-19, A LABOR SHORTAGE, AND INCREASED DEMAND. >> Tucker: SUDDENLY, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN GENERATIONS, AMERICANS ARE HAVING TROUBLE BUYING BASIC NECESSITIES, THINGS THEY NEED. A NEW POLL BY RASMUSSEN FOUND 62% OF AMERICANS SAID THEY HAD SHORTAGES IN STORES WHERE THEY LIVE. THE THINGS THEY CAN BUY ARE SUDDENLY MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE. >> THE LABOR DEPARTMENT REPORTING WEDNESDAY, MEATS, POULTRY, FISH, EGGS INCREASED A COMBINED 10.5% SINCE SEPTEMBER OF 2020. BUT IT IS NOT JUST FOOD PRICES SKYROCKETING, THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX SHOWS UP, UP 5.4% FOR A YEAR AGO. MORE PAYING AT THE PUMP, NATURAL GAS PRICE ROSE $1 SINCE LAST YEAR, AAA SHOWING THE AVERAGE PRICE PER GALLON UP FROM $2.18 IN 2020, TO $3.29 THIS YEAR. THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION SAYS INFLATION IS WHY NEARLY 70 MILLION AMERICANS RECEIVING SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS WILL SEE A NEARLY 6% INCREASE IN PAYMENTS NEXT YEAR. THE HIGHEST INCREASE IN FOUR DECADES. >> Tucker: THERE ARE NO SIGNS THAT FUNDAMENTALLY ANY OF THIS IS GOING TO IMPROVE ANY TIME SOON. IN FACT, ON WEDNESDAY, THE ADMINISTRATION ACKNOWLEDGED THAT YOUR HEATING BILLS ARE LIKELY TO JUMP BY MORE THAN 50% THIS WINTER. THOSE ARE THE KIND OF THINGS PEOPLE ACTUALLY NOTICE. IT HURTS WHEN YOU GET POORER, AND MANY PEOPLE ARE GETTING POORER. BUT STRANGELY, THE MINISTRY SHE HAS REFUSED TO ACKNOWLEDGE IT. LET ANYTHING, THEY ARE SALIVATING AT. LAST NIGHT, A HARVARD PROFESSOR CALLED JASON FURMAN, CLOSELY ALIGNED WITH THE WHAT BIDEN WHITE HOUSE, SENT THIS TWEET, "MOST OF THE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS WE ARE FACING FROM INFLATION, SUPPLY CHAINS, ET CETERA, ARE HIGH-CLASS PROBLEMS. WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THEM IF THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE WAS STILL 10%." IN OTHER WORDS, YOU OUGHT TO BE THRILLED TO HAVE LESS MONEY, IT MEANS WE ARE WINNING. RON KLAIN, JOE BIDEN'S CHIEF OF STAFF AT THE WHITE HOUSE, PROMPTLY ENDORSED THAT TWEET. AND THAT IS DELUSION. OR MAYBE IT IS INTENTIONAL. YOU PRETEND YOUR FAILURES ARE VICTORIES AND SOME PEOPLE WILL DOUBTLESS BELIEVE YOU. THAT SEEMS TO WORK IN AFGHANISTAN, MAYBE IT WILL WORK HERE. THAT COULD BE THERE THINKING. BUT IT WON'T HEAR WORK HERE BECE DOMESTIC POLICY IS NOT THE SAME AS -- PEOPLE NOTICE WHEN YOU CANNOT BUY PRESENTS FOR YOUR CHILDREN OR KEEP YOUR HOUSE WARM IN JANUARY. THESE ARE NOT SYMBOLIC PROBLEMS, THESE ARE MEASURABLE DECLINES IN YOUR FAMILY STANDARD OF LIVING AND THEY HAVE CONSEQUENCES. IF ECONOMIC DECLINE CONTINUES AND IT SEEMS LIKELY TO CONTINUE, YOU WILL SEE A PROFOUND POLITICAL RESET IN THIS COUNTRY. AND HERE IS WHY. THE ONLY REASON AMERICANS HAVE PUT UP WITH THE ENDLESS AWOKE GARBAGE THE LEFT TURNS OUT BY THE GALLON IS BECAUSE THEY CAN AFFORD TO PUT UP WITH AT. FOR GENERATIONS, THIS HAS BEEN A VERY RICH COUNTRY AND AFFLUENCE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SIN. PEOPLE WILL TOLERATE A LOT OF THINGS THEY DISAGREE WITH, AS LONG AS GAS IS CHEAP AND AMAZON DELIVERIES KEEP COMING. BUT WHEN A SOCIETY BECOMES POOR RARE, PEOPLE'S ATTITUDES CHANGE, AND THEY CHANGE FAST. FOR ONE THING, THEY BECOME MUCH LESS PATIENT WHEN THEY ARE MISTREATED. YOU ARE FIRING ME RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS BECAUSE I WON'T TAKE YOUR SHOT? NO, I'M RESISTING THAT. YOU ARE TELLING ME MY SON CAN'T GET A JOB BECAUSE HE IS THE WRONG SCHOOL SKIN COLOR? THAT'S WRONG AND I'M GOING TO FIGHT IT. ET CETERA, ET CETERA. POLITICS WILL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT IN A COMPANY WITH PERMANENT SHORTAGES. AND THIS MAY BE AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE FOR THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT'S ENTIRE PROGRAM IS BUILT ON THE PRESUMPTION OF ENDLESS, BOUNDLESS AFFLUENCE. OF COURSE WE CAN AFFORD THAT, WE ARE RICH. PEOPLE LIKE NANCY PELOSI AND SANDY CORTEZ AND RASHIDA TLAIB BELIEVE THAT. THEY BELIEVE IT AS A MATTER OF FAITH. THEY TALK ABOUT ECONOMICS, BUT THEY HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE ACTUAL ECONOMY WORKS. THEY DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE GREAT AMERICAN AFFLUENCE MACHINE. THEY NEVER REALLY HAD JOBS. THE ONE THING THEY KNOW FOR CERTAIN, DEAD CERTAIN, IS THAT EVERY GOOD THING MUST BE FREE, IT HAS TO BE. BUT THAT IS NOT HOW LIFE WORKS. CERTAINLY NOT IN COUNTRIES THAT DON'T HOLD THE WORLD RESERVE CURRENCY. THERE IS A REASON THEY DON'T HAVE DRAG QUEEN STORY HOUR IN MEXICO. PEOPLE WORRIED ABOUT -- THEY DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT KIND OF NONSENSE. WE ARE ABOUT TO BECOME A LOT MORE LIKE MEXICO. IT TURNS OUT OUR ECONOMY WAS MUCH MORE FRAGILE THAN WE THOUGHT IT WAS. IF WE HAD KNOWN THAT EARLIER, WE MIGHT NOT HAVE ELECTED AN ECONOMIC ILLITERATE LIKE JOE BIDEN AS PRESIDENT. HERE IS JOE BIDEN DURING THE CAMPAIGN ITS PLAINTIVE CNN ANCHORS THAT ACTUALLY, PRINTING TRILLIONS OF NEW DOLLARS FOR WASTEFUL GOVERNMENT SOCIALIST PROGRAMS WILL REDUCE INFLATION. >> PUMPING ALL OF THIS MONEY INTO THE ECONOMY, COULDN'T THAT ADD TO -- >> LOOK, HERE IS THE DEAL. WALL STREET FIRM, NOT SOME LIBERAL THINK TANK, SAID IF WE PASS THE OTHER TWO THINGS I'M TRYING TO GET DONE, WE WILL IN FACT REDUCE INFLATION, REDUCE INFLATION, REDUCE INFLATION. BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO BE PROVIDING GOOD OPPORTUNITIES AND JOBS FOR PEOPLE WHO, IN FACT, ARE GOING TO BE REINVESTING THAT MONEY BACK INTO ALL THE THINGS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. >> Tucker: DID I SAY THE CAMPAIGN? HE WAS ACTUALLY PRESENT WHEN HE SAID THAT. THAT WAS THIS JUNE, WHEN HE STOOD ON STAGE, LOOKED UNDER THE CAMERA AND TOLD US WHEN YOU MAKE MORE MONEY AND PRINT MORE U.S. DOLLARS, THE VALUE OF U.S. DOLLARS GOES UP. THEN YOU WATCH THE CNN ANCHORS NOT LIKE LIVESTOCK. IT MADE SENSE TO THEM. BUT OF COURSE IT IS LUDICROUS. IS JUST ABOUT EVERY SANE PERSON HAS ACKNOWLEDGE SINCE, INFLATION IS RISING, THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HASN'T DEVALUED THE U.S. DOLLARS BY MAKING TOO MANY, THEY ARE NOT WORTH MUCH. BUT STILL, THE WHITE HOUSE DOES NOT SEEM CONCERNED. PETE BUTTIGIEG HAS BEEN ON LEAVE FROM HIS JOB SINCE AUGUST AFTER ADOPTING A CHILD, PATERNITY LEAVE, THEY CALL IT, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BREASTFEED, I WONDER HOW THAT WENT. NOW HE IS BACK IN OFFICE AT AS THE TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY AND HE IS DEEPLY AMUSED, HE SAID, TO SEE DOZENS OF CONTAINER SHIPS CAN'T MAKE IT INTO THIS COUNTRY. >> AS WE ARE LOOKING AT THE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES, HOW BAD ARE THEY GOING TO GET FOUR AMERICANS, AND I'M TALKING SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, LEADING HERE INTO THE DECEMBER HOLIDAYS, WHERE PEOPLE ARE RELYING ON GETTING GOODS, ON GETTING PRESENTS. >> I THINK THERE HAS ALWAYS BEEN TWO KINDS OF CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. THERE IS THE ONE SO HAVE ALL THEIR LISTS COMPLETED BY HALLOWEEN, AND THEN THERE'S PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO SHOW UP AT THE MALL ON CHRISTMAS EVE. IF YOU ARE IN THAT LATTER BUCKET, OBVIOUSLY THERE IS GOING TO BE MORE CHALLENGES. >> Tucker: KIND OF A FUNNY LITTLE DORKY DAD STORY, I WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS. THAT IS NOT THE POINT, PETE DO BUTTIGIEG, YOU ARE THE TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY AND OUR -- IS BROKEN. IS NOT A PROBLEM? NO, IT IS AMUSING. THE DEEPER TRUTH IS PEOPLE CAN GET GOODS, OUR LEADERS OUTSOURCE PRODUCTION TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND THEY WANT YOU TO BELIEVE IT IS A GOOD THING. THEY WANT YOU SO BADLY TO BELIEVE IT IS A GOOD THING, THEIR ALLIES IN THE MEDIA ARE REPEATING THAT MESSAGE VERBATIM. >> I TALKED LAST NIGHT, HE EXPLAINED TO ME ABOUT THE SUPPLY CHAINS, IT IS A TERRIBLE AND PEOPLE WANT TO GET THEIR THINGS BUT IT IS ALSO AN INDICATOR THE ECONOMY IS DOING WELL. PEOPLE WANT TO BUY THINGS, AND IT IS BACKED UP. LET'S LOOK AT THE PARK, HATE, THE ECONOMY IS GREAT AND PEOPLE CAN BUY THINGS, THEY ARE OUT AND ABOUT AND WANT TO BUY -- I THINK IT IS A LITTLE SPINNING. >> IT IS SPINNING FROM UNDERSTRENGTH TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL GOOD. >> Tucker: WE ARE NOT MAKING THE CASE FOR CREDENTIALS OR EXPERTISE. JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE TEACHES AT HARVARD DOES NOT MEAN HE IS WISE OR EVEN SMART. BUT WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR SEGMENT ON ECONOMICS BY SAYING "I TALKED TO A PUBLIC RADIO HOST WHO DOES A SHOW WITH THE WORD ECONOMICS AND THE TITLE AND HERE'S WHAT I LEARNED" -- [LAUGHTER] YOU ARE NOT TRYING VERY HARD, ESPECIALLY WHEN HIS CONCLUSION IS INFLATION IS A MEASURE OF OUR SUCCESS? BE GRATEFUL YOU CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO EAT MEAT, YOU
Venezuela: Yeah what he said