August 25th, 2026

Rough transcription of Hour 1

Segment 1
Hello, America. Mark Levin here. Our number 877-381-3811.  877-381-3811. You know, sometimes a person passes away who we don’t personally know, but we feel like we do. You know what I mean? Like. Like a president who he may love or like Rush Limbaugh or Lindsey Graham, Something like that. But Dolly Parton’s death. First of all, it seems so sudden, doesn’t it? Sort of hits me, and I think it hits most of you. In a very personal way. And we’re very, very saddened by this. And I think we’re saddened by it because. She wasn’t a political hack. She had her views, some of which we agree with, some of which we don’t. But we knew she was a great patriot, that she loved this country and she was quintessentially American. She grew up dirt poor. And look what she made of herself. Not because of government, not because of socialism, not because of anything that’s preached to us. By Marxists and Islamists and woke right types. But because she wanted to succeed, she had an incredible voice. She wrote beautiful songs. She was always smiling. She was very likable, if not lovable to so many people. You know, she was only five feet tall. I hadn’t known that. Just a remarkable talent and she will be remembered. I heard John Rich say she’ll be remembered like Johnny Cash and. Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. I believe that to be 100% correct. And she also was an excellent actress in the some of the films that she did. But when she was interviewed, you know, she was fun to listen to. Even if she had an opinion you might disagree with, He didn’t really care because that wasn’t her thing. She would answer questions, but she wasn’t out there on some kind of a mission or anything like that. And a lot of what she said most of us did agree with. So I first heard about this when our son Chase texted us and he said. It’s very upsetting. Dolly Parton passed away. I said, What? And so apparently she was struggling very hard the last few months. Some people knew more about it than others. Some people were reading tea leaves that she had some issue, but I don’t think most people expected her to pass away. At the New York Post here, Dolly Parton opened up about hard times with her health and final interview after canceling appearance. She detailed hard times with her health days before her passing at 80. The country music icon’s final interview released Friday. This past Friday, she opened up to people about dealing with some health issues, quote unquote, which forced her to cancel an appearance at her Dollywood theme park the previous week. However, she noted, quote, It’s not like I haven’t been through hard times with my health, unquote. But she was concerned enough or pressured enough. That she had. I believe it was her nephew. And it’s out there and I’ve posted on it, put together a video. Basically saying goodbye to everybody. You know. She specifically referenced being down for several months with female issues in the early 1980s. She added that her most recent house struggle stemmed from not paying attention while watching over her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, before his death. She was incredibly close to her husband. He passed away, I guess, about a year ago, and I think that had an enormous impact on her health, too. He died March 20, 25. What’s that? 18 months ago. He was 82, nearly 59 years. A marriage. Not even a hint of scandal of any kind. And I say that because, you know, when people are in entertainment and so forth, not all, of course, but you hear about these scandals and so you never heard about anything. There were no rumors. There was no gossip because these two were true to each other. Pardon shared the news of her long time partner’s passing last year. It was her nephew who did the same for her with absolute pride and great sadness, quote unquote, today. This video announcement, he said, is something Dolly asked me asked of me years ago before I fully absorbed it. As a future reality, said Brian Seaver. He had been head of her security for more than two decades, as well as a relative. And in his emotional tribute, Seaver revealed. Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because after a life heavy of heavy rhinestones wearing heavy rhinestones, she found the desires to be comfortable and have some rest. Nine months before her passing, the 9 to 5 hitmaker spoke to people about the legacy she wished to leave behind. She said. I’m at that point in my life where I just want to be able to do good things that can be carried on. She said in a November 2025 cover story. I’m proud of my legacy so far. Hope to just continue to do things that might be of use to other people. At the time. She could see the actress who felt she was just getting started, quipped, I ain’t got time to get old. I ain’t got time to get old. And she explained, I know that sounds stupid, but unless my health gives way, which right now I seem to be doing fine. I think there’s a lot to be said about age. If you allow yourself to get old, you’ll be old. Two months prior. In September, the Grammy winner had gone public with health challenges, quote unquote, as they forced her to bow out of scheduled shows, including her Las Vegas residency. Then in January of this year, she missed her 80th birthday celebration at the Grand Ole Opry. Well, obviously, she was ill and getting. More, you know, by the month. And. You know, I think it was urinary tract issues and issues of that kind. Women’s issues, as she put it. And she will be missed. Everybody has kind of a Dolly Parton story of favorite song. The joke she told. And. You know, she was very, very much loved also by other country singers. So it just tells you. What of what a wonderful person she was. And so may she rest in peace. And I think she will. She’s with her husband now. You know, I’ll tell you something. I’ve never told you folks, but it comes to mind. And I’ve told family members, I don’t think I’ve told them all. But as they sit here and think about this. But this relationship between her and her husband. My parents were married, I think 68 years. It would take. My mother was bedridden in their home in Florida. Small home, sort of a rambling. She had liver cancer, a rare form of cancer. If anything, as she never drank, she didn’t smoke. My father had. Kidney cancer, but it was under control for several years. But then it blew up. It just invaded his entire body. He broke his shoulder. He broke a rib. Any. He came to the hospital on I. I would be there with him. I was gone for a couple of weeks from the radio at that time, obviously. And I was sitting there and it was day before he basically went into a coma. And I could see he was squinty, couldn’t see well, wasn’t talking much that brought him to his favorite foods, a hotdog in a black and white cookie. He liked the sweets and he loved his junk food. And I do the same, unfortunately. And he said, Mark, come over here. A second came over. He said, May I have your hand? And he kissed my hand. And he thanked me. Then he says to me. How will I find her? I should try to do that. How will I find your mother in heaven? But billions and billions of people up there. I said, God will bring you together as He does all. While families. And when it’s mom’s turn, you’ll see Mom, You’ll see your parents. You’ll see your sisters. And the next day he went into a coma and he died eight days later. I’ll never forget his comments. So I think about them now with the relationship Dolly Parton had with her husband. And now she will join him. I’ll be right back.

Segment 2
You know, the Democrats are so nuts. They’re very upset that Jared Kushner met with Hakeem Jefferies. And, you know, my response is, who cares? Who cares? Nothing’s going to change. They can meet all they want. The Democrats are out for blood America. You need to understand this going into the midterm elections. That’s why it’s important. We will use this program. To advance the cause of Americanism, and that is to defend us from the Marxist Islamist hordes that call themselves Democrats. Now, if you’re not a Marxist Islamist, then you shouldn’t be a Democrat at this point. You had to pick one side or the other, got to pick the side of freedom or tyranny, the side of market capitalism or communism and socialism. You’ve got to make these decisions. Do you defend the Constitution or do you eviscerate it and allow for a centralized form of tyranny? You folks, each and every one of you. You will decide this. And if you say Mark will, of course we agree with you. But there are people in your inner circle who don’t. And that is important. We are an army of individuals, an army, a patriotic citizens, and it is our duty to get out there and speak. Take it out there and speak. And I want to talk a little bit about and, you know, I cite these books that I write and why shouldn’t I? I’m not using other people’s books. I’m using my books. And if I use other people’s books, I’ll let you know. I wrote a book called Plunder and Deceit in 2015, exactly 11 years ago. And in this book I laid out what is happening now. What is happening now? Plunder. And deceit. And the chapters break down. Chapter two on the Debt. Chapter three on Social Security. Chapter four on Medicare in Obamacare. Chapter five on Education The Cost. Chapter six on Immigration. Chapter seven on the Environment. Chapter eight on the so-called Minimum Wage. Chapter nine on National Security. Chapter ten The Constitution. And the epilogue, A new civil rights movement is needed. Well, it didn’t happen, did it? On Social Security, Chapter three. You know, I don’t I don’t write books to write books, and I certainly don’t have ghostwriters and run around to slap my name on these books. To me, that’s so appallingly dishonest. This on Social Security, I said the largest single component of the federal budget and perhaps the greatest and most financially devastating burden imposed on younger people and future generations is the Social Security program. And when I said that, that was controversial. This is not a recent development. Since 1993, it has outspent defense appropriations as a percentage of federal spending. Now, remember, this is 15 years old. 15 years old. Social Security’s expenditures have ranged from 0 to 2% during World War 2 to 24% in 2013. God knows what it is today. And Social Security costs are actually skyrocketing. And that’s because, ladies and gentlemen, your Congress expanded it, applied it to more and more people. And it’s a disaster the way they have treated this program that should have been treated like a real pension program. They only have a few seconds left. And I want to dig into this a little bit further for you, because it not only is illustrative of what they did, the Social Security and what they’re not doing to fix it, but what they’ve done to the entire federal budget and what they’re not doing to fix it. We’ll be right back.

Segment 3
Yes, we do. We got lots going on here. Lots. And we’ll be at right here at the studio as producer. That’s my broken English. How’s that sound? I’m doing a quick customer satisfaction review. Two questions. One. Is your current wireless provider giving you five star service? Hmm. Really? Are you paying more than $34.99 a month for unlimited data? Now, if you think you’re paying too much for a subpar service, you should really switch to pure talk. And you shouldn’t wait any longer. It is absolutely painless, and you can save a lot of money. In a recent industry survey, Pure Talk was the only wireless company, the only wireless company to get five stars in every single category Coverage, support, value and data. And now for just a few more weeks and then it’s over. Pure talk is offering unlimited data for just 15 bucks a month for your first three months. And after that you get unlimited data for as low as $34.99 a month with no contract. Hello? No contract. Just dial down to 50 and say, Mark Levine and you’re off to the races. Pure talk there. Five star U.S. customer service team will treat you like a king and a queen. Five stars. There’s no better wireless choice out there and none. And it just 15 bucks a month for your first three months. Now is a fantastic time to choose. Pure torque drop down to five zero, say Mark Levin. Again, they are 250. Say Mark Levin. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Give peace a chance. All right. Where was it? Social Security. Social Security has expanded from its original scope in 1935 to include workers, dependents and survivors as well as the disabled. As a result, there are roughly 58 million people receiving benefits. Ladies and gents, got to be over 70 million today. More than double the number in the 1970. You see how quickly that demand is expanding The number of people who are open to Social Security but have never paid in. The amount of benefits that are expanded because, you know, Congress just passes these laws. We want to cover this. Yes. It’s the right thing to do and they just do it. But it’s an insurance program, right? It’s your pension program, which is why you’ve been paying into it year after year after year after year. Congress does not pay into it, by the way. I don’t believe they’re covered by Social Security if they are. They changed it. As members of the ruling generation begin to retire, I write many more will be eligible for benefits. That’s exactly what’s happening. Unfortunately, that will not be nearly enough. There will not be nearly enough younger people working to pay the current rate of taxes. To subsidize them. In 1940, there were 159 workers for every beneficiary. That ratio dropped precipitously from 16.5 in 1950 to 5.1 in 1960 to 3.7 workers in 1970 for every recipient. And now in 2010, I should say, slightly below three for every recipient. And projected. For 2030. Ready for this. Two workers for every beneficiary. That’s unsustainable. And I’ve told you before it the laws of economics are like the laws of physics. They are what they are. You can’t change them. Social Security provides benefits through two major programs old age and survivor’s insurance, as I and disability insurance die. Note the use of the word insurance. It is a fiction now about which I will elaborate later. I don’t know if I’ve time, but the O. A. S I program provides payments to retirees and in certain circumstances to their dependents. Disability Insurance or D I provides payments to people who are disabled and presumably can’t work o a, s and d. I have separate trust funds. So-called trust funds at this point, because I like I hate to be the messenger of bad news, of the bringer of bad news here, but there are no more trust funds and Social Security Administration, I think twice a year now sends out a document to you, to me, to my wife, to my mother in law, and tells us how much is in our account. There are no accounts. But for simplicity’s sake, they are usually considered together. Both of those programs and so-called trust funds when their financial viability is analyzed. Theoretically, Social Security is financed by payroll taxes on employees and employers and to a lesser extent, taxes on Social Security benefits and income from trust fund assets. Fake taxes, that is, payroll taxes under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act are falsely said to fund Social Security and part of Medicare payroll taxes, as opposed to income taxes apply to employees regardless of their income. They are most onerous on poorer workers and of course, younger people who are just entering the workforce. They’re also effectively a tax on employment, as the employer must consider this fixed additional cost in his hiring decisions. Now, the rate of taxation to supposedly fund Social Security has been increasing over time. And I go into the numbers there, the self-employment pay the full 12.4% themselves. When the program started in the 1930s, however, the tax rate was only 1% of income. 12.4%. Now 1%. So here you have again. Massive increases in taxes. There you go. It’s 12.4 times the one. And. The system is all but broke. When you have politicians running things, they run it into the toilet. They run it into the ground. They run it into the ground. In fact, the amount of money subject to the Social Security payroll tax has grown significantly over time for the 1930 since 1958. Workers pay tax on the first $3,000 of their income. The cap did not reach $10,000 until the 1970s. Frequently, workers pay faker taxes on the first 117,000 of their income. So are many of you who don’t earn a ton. Social Security covers every penny you earn. It wasn’t always that way. We’re going to get the rich and help the workers. The age when retirement benefits are available has also increased. Initially, individuals had to live to the age of 65 to receive full benefits, with a reduced benefit for early retirement available at the age of 62. Today, the full benefit is available at 66. That’s 15 years ago for individuals born in 1943 to 54. It is slated to go to 67 for individuals who were born in 1960 or later. Even higher. Early retirement benefits will still be available at 62 years of age, but at a reduced a significantly reduced level. And I go on explaining how this works. But here’s the worse news for younger workers. And future generations. According to the Associated Press, a historic shift is occurring. They say if you retired in 1960, you could expect to get back seven times more in benefits than you paid in Social Security, tax rates, insurance and more. If you were a low income worker, as long as you made as you lived to the age of 78 for a man and 81 for women. As recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes, though they didn’t do quite as well as their parents and grandparents. Not anymore. As I wrote for the first time, people who are retired. Today Again, remember when this book was written? Will receive less in benefits than they paid into the system in taxes. This tells you the system is in deep trouble. A lot of factors are involved in making these comparisons. And of course, such a such as how long someone lives after retirement. But I won’t read any further. So this may be boring a lot of people, but it shouldn’t be because a lot of you have an awful lot of money tied into this program and an awful lot of need. And, you know, tied into this program. And many of you depend on it because you were told to depend on it. And why wouldn’t you paid into an insurance program? Well. As you can see, they’ve expanded it. They’ve had to raise taxes on it. They’ve had to include almost all of your income for the average income family. And even now, six years from now, the trustees say a significant part of it will go bankrupt. So there’s either going to be a significant tax increase or a significant cut in benefits or both. But the Democrats will say is, let’s stick it to the billionaires. That’ll sound great, but it doesn’t work. The program is so massive and so much money’s involved. Truthfully, $200 trillion. Now, you could take every penny from every billionaire, and it wouldn’t matter. You wouldn’t fix it. But they will keep doing it because they fundamentally the ones who broken. Fundamentally, they’re the ones who broken. Just like they’re breaking Medicare by putting illegal aliens on. The president said no. Just like they’re breaking Medicare. They want to turn it into a government run health care system, which means all of you paid into Medicare. It goes away. And people who didn’t pay one penny into Medicare, they get full benefits. An illegal aliens illegal alien. Even News.com says he wants to cover them. They get full benefits. They don’t even have a stake in the country. Four benefits. And I’m not even talking about for Medicare benefits. This will be a government program that will replace Medicare, even though they say Medicare for all, all of you who’ve paid into Medicare, you will lose everything. Those of you who have great private sector health care systems, many of you on your own, many because of businesses, many of you because of unions. Those will all be eliminated. All of them. Just as the Canadians are running to the United States for health care. Where will we run? Where will we go? I’ll be right back.

Segment 4
We need to keep in mind also, ladies and gentlemen, if if an economy collapses or implodes, so does the civil society. You lose law and order. We saw again a lot less than that during the pandemic, didn’t we? We’re certain governors and state legislatures and certain federal officials in particular sought to take advantage of it. To steal your civil liberties. Could you imagine if it came down to literally putting food on the table? Because the value of the dollar has been destroyed and people who are relying not just on Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, but people are relying on private pensions. Some of you have defined benefit programs. Congratulations, because they’re really becoming sort of a unicorn. But many of you have IRAs and four one K’s or kilos or whatever you have. If you have anything that’s your money, you’ve put it aside. Can you imagine if it became worthless? Worthless. And you’re 47 and you have a family of five and a wife, and you don’t have any way of taking care of them. Oh, you’re 78 and you’re retired. You no longer have a job. Of course. And. Where do you turn? What do you do? That’s why it’s so important to get this right. Ladies and gentlemen. No more government, no more new programs. I don’t care if they’re coming from. These fools who pretend to be conservatives who talk about intervening in the private sector to create this for this group or that for that group. That’s a Marxist claptrap. How much more do we need to do the New Deal, the Great Society, the Square deal? Obama-Biden $40 trillion tells us that’s enough already. A nearly bankrupt Social Security system tells us that these people need to manage these things like they’re professionals and serious, not like political hacks. I’m sick of hearing them. I’m sick of them talking. I’ll bring certain ones on to help get them elected because I want to prevent the commies from getting in power. But I’m really not into them. I’m just not. Some people want to rub elbows with them. I don’t. That doesn’t mean I’m rude when I see them. And so you understand. I don’t spend my time on Capitol Hill. I don’t spend my time on the phone with these folks. I spent my time trying to figure out how the hell are we going to save this country? I got a whole project going on now. Before this program. After this program. After I do my life, liberty and living programs. That’s why I decided, you know what? I can’t do the podcast, write books, do TV and do radio and do them well and get the the research done and convey that information to you. I just can’t. So I do what I can do. And the platforms are huge. And after the top of the hour, I want to talk to you about the debt generally. Again, this was written. Let me see again. What did I say? 2015, Not 14 years ago. 15, 11 years ago. It’s my recollection. Let’s see here, you know, 2015. But a lot changes in just a couple of years. Lot changes in a couple of months around here now. We have to try and grow our economy. We can’t grow out of this, but we need to grow it so we can start to address it. So that’s why when people are attacking data centers and and I am go, what are you doing? What are you doing? Excuse me. This is the new frontier of development and so forth. Why do you sound like liberal Democrat? The noise makes the noise are white noise where they tell me there’s noise. But what about the water? I want the water. The what? What are you talking about? We learned last night they use as much water as an 18 hole golf course. We don’t even think about that. Well. What about the. What about all the cameras out there? Oh, come on. The cameras out there. Oh. If you want to grow the economy, well, then we will collapse. It’s that simple. We’ll be right back.