Rush Calls Bush Like Nixon. Republicans cannot claim to be for small government.

Rush Live broadcast ^ | 11/25/03 | rushy

[Mark Felton]

Rush has spent the last several minutes likening Bush to Nixon. Nixon gave us OSHA and the EPA. Bush is giving us Prescription Medicine benefits for seniors.

Rush says the Republican party cannot claim to be the party of smaller government.

This sounds likme the OLD Rush of 10 years ago!

Go Get Em Rush!

[Sam Cree]

"How expensive will it be for the nation if we do nothing?"

The above question assumes that the cost is the "nation's," instead of the individual's. Conceding that such is the case, whether privatized or not, concedes that we are well on the road to socialism. At least.

And it concedes that we are bickering over how to implement socialism, rather than whether or not we should have it.

[Texas Federalist]

"Compassionate Conservatism" is neither compassionate nor conservative.

[quidnunc]

Miss Marple wrote:: …Rush does not understand longterm goals, in my opinion. He has repeatedly demonstrated that he lacks the patience for incremental improvement, and often recommends actions which would polarize the electorate and ultimately be a disaster. And if he is rudely sighing over the president's speech (I listened to the speech on Fox and not Rush) then he is being a big jerk.

Rush is in danger of becoming an anachronism.

After 9/11 America's mindset began to change, but Rush continues to harp on pre-9/11 themes.

Unless he gets up to speed he's going to be talking to a smaller and smaller audience as time goes by.

For instance, he's still harping about SUVs rather than the eco-terrorism driected against SUVs.

[jmc813]

Ron Paul does not have much credibility on some matters. To be honest, I take what he says with a grain of salt.

To each his own, I suppose. I don't agree with Paul on everything, but I'd take one of him over 100 George Bushes any day.

[Dane]

Would you like to refute anything in the quoted I posted? You're giving off the impression that you can't and are trying to deflect the subject

Excuse me for taking out of hand the opinion of a person(Ron Paul) who wishes to fight a 21st century war with 18th century tactics.

Sorry Jeff, I can't take Ron Paul seriously.

BTW, give me your reason why I should take a person(Ron Paul) who has publicly stated using 18th century tactics to fight a war in the 21st century, seriously.

[Mudboy Slim]

"...then again, what we GOT in exchange for the price paid was a beachhead on the road to privatization."

That's the rumor going around...I hope that's where we are headed, but considering Dubyuh's seeming lack of fiscal discipline to date, you'll excuse me fer harboring some doubts as to where this is headed.

"...the fact that Kennedy and other left-wingers blasted this bill big time is an indication that this bill is not as bad as some fear."

Certainly a major point in the legislation's favor...LOL!!

"I'd submit that as Medicare and Social Security eventually are privatized, this bill will be seen as the first step."

If not, our children and grandchildren will be cussin' US and this day for generations!! Expensive new entitlements have a history of taking on a life of their own!!

FReegards...MUD

[garv]

In fiscal 2003 non-military discretionary spending rose 8.5%, more than two times the 4% cap that Bush declared he would enforce.

What happened to that campaign promise?

[HoundsTooth_BP]

(And it concedes that we are bickering over how to implement socialism, rather than whether or not we should have it.)

BUMP!

EXACTLY RIGHT

[jmc813]

Hey, if the dude's so nutty, you should have no problem refuting him. Southack did in post 133. Why don't you give it a stab?

[deport]

It has become obvious to me that very few people discussing this bill understand what is in it, its cost, nor the longterm benefits.

Well very few people may not understand but IMO it deserves along with a lot of other legislation the following....

Rush does not understand longterm goals, in my opinion.

Rush understands how to buy prescription drugs on the black market.... I think that was his short/intermediate/long term goal for the past few years..... Time will tell if his goals change.

[Texas Federalist]

Why should I take a president seriously who is a lapdog for a Dick Morris wannabe?

[Miss Marple]

If you will look at Southack's post above mine, you will see that the cost is listed. In order to increase the funding, there will have to be new legislation passed.

The time when you could convince the American people that the elderly should pay for their own health care is past. We are not going to be able to abolish Medicare. Not only do seniors want it, but their children count on it as well. Accepting that as a reality, the problem becomes how to make the thing both effective and manageable.

Given that the baby-boom generation is approaching retirement and that many of them (probably a majority) will have little medical coverage other than Medicare, you want to decrease the costs to Medicare. That is what the medical savings accounts, prescription drug coverage, and privatization are designed to do.

Let me explain this using a diabetic as an example. Diabetes drug are fairly expensive. Until this bill, they were not paid for. The RESULTS of diabetes (heart attack, stroke, amputation, kidney failure, and blindness) cost huge amounts to the system in surgeries, therapies, and rehabilitation. Compare the cost of diabetes drugs to the cost of kidney dialysis and eventual transplant, and you can begin to understand why the prescription drug coverage is necessary.

Rush has the luxury of having large amounts of money and need not deal with these issues. For poorer adult seniors, this is not the case. Eventually those poorer seniors become burdens on the system anyway, and at a much higher cost.

[Stew Padasso]

"Rush is in danger of becoming an anachronism."

And the big government Republicans are here to fill the void for promoting conservatism. Oh thank god for that.

[Dane]

Why should I take a president seriously who is a lapdog for a Dick Morris wannabe?

I am surmising that "Dick Morris wannabe" would be Karl Rove. Huh I guess you would rather have tom daschle and nancy pelosi as leaders of Congress, pushing even more expensive and reformless bills towards the White House.

[Southack]

"And the big government Republicans are here to fill the void for promoting conservatism. Oh thank god for that."

Indeed.

Presidency of George W. Bush --the first 34 months

 

Banned Partial Birth Abortion

Killed the Kyoto Global Warming Treaty.

Killed U.S. involvement in the International Criminal Court.

Killed the U.S. - CCCP ABM Treaty that was preventing the U.S. from deploying our ABM defenses.

Reversed Clinton's move to strike Reagan's anti-abortion Mexico Policy.

Killed Clinton's CO2 rules that were choking off all of the electricity surplus to California.

Killed Clinton's "ergonomic" rules that OSHA was about to implement; rules that would have shut down every home business in America.

Passed 2 tax cuts----1 of which was the largest Dollar value tax cut in history

Pushed through THREE raises for our military.

Increased Defense Dept funding which had deteriorated during the previous 8 years

Signed TWO bills into law that arm our pilots with handguns in the cockpit

Currently pushing for full immunity from lawsuits for our national gun manufacturers.

Ordered Attorney-General Ashcroft to formally notify the Supreme Court that the OFFICIAL U.S. government position on the 2nd Amendment is that it supports INDIVIDUAL rights to own firearms, NOT a leftist-imagined *collective* right.
Told the United Nations we weren't interested in their plans for gun control.

Successfully executed 2 wars: Afghanistan and Iraq. 50 million people who had lived under tyrannical regimes now live in freedom.

Changed the tone in the White House, restoring HONOR and DIGNITY to the Presidency

Reorganized bureaucracy...after 9/11, condensed 20+ overlapping agencies and their intelligence sectors into one agency: the Department of Homeland Security.

Initiated discussion on Social security and individual investment accounts.

Improving govt. efficiency with .8 million jobs put up for bid...weakening unions and cutting undeserved pay raises. Wants merit based promotions/raises only.

Executed a WAR ON TERROR by getting world-wide cooperation to track funds/terrorists (has cut off much of the terrorist's funding and captured or killed many key leaders of the al Qaeda network)

Stopped foreign aid that would be used to fund abortions.

Supported and upheld the ban on abortions at military hospitals

Signed E.O. reversing Clinton policy of not requiring parental consent under the Medical Privacy Act


Orchestrated Republican control of the White House, the House AND the Senate.

Killed the liberal ABA's role in vetting federal judges for Congress.

GWB signed an executive order enforcing the Supreme Court's Beck decision (re: union dues being used for political campaigns against individual's wishes)

Brought back our EP-3 intel plane and crew from China without any bribes or bloodshed

Started withdrawing our troops from Bosnia and has announced withdrawal of our troops from Germany and the Korean DMZ.

Signed the LARGEST nuclear arms reduction in world history with Russia

Initiated comprehensive review of our military, which was completed just prior to 9/11/01, accurately reported that ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE was critical.

Has CONSTRUCTION in process on the first ten ABM silos in Alaska, so that America will have a defense against North Korean nukes

Turning around an inherited economy in recession.

Passed tough new laws to hold corporate criminals to account as a result of corporate scandals.

Reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains

In process of eliminating IRS marriage penalty.

Increased small business incentives to expand and to hire new people

Signed into law the No Child Left Behind legislation delivering the most dramatic education reforms in a generation (challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations)

Reorganized the INS in an attempt to safeguard the borders and ports of America and to eliminate bureaucratic redundancies and lack of accountability.

Signed trade promotion authority

Committed US funds to purchase medicine for millions of men and women and children now suffering with AIDS in Africa

Urging Medicare Reform

Urging federal liability reform to eliminate frivolous lawsuits

Supports class action reform bill which limits lawyer fees so that more settlement money goes to victims

Submitted comprehensive energy plan--awaits Congressional action (works to develop cleaner technology, produce more natural gas here at home, make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy, improve national grid, etc.)

Endorses and promotes The Responsibility Era ("In a compassionate society, people respect one another and take responsibility for the decisions they make in life. My hope is to change the culture from one that has said, if it feels good, do it; if you've got a problem, blame somebody else -- to one in which every single American understands that he or she are responsible for the decisions that you make; you're responsible for loving your children with all your heart and all your soul; you're responsible for being involved with the quality of the education of your children; you're responsible for making sure the community in which you live is safe; you're responsible for loving your neighbor, just like you would like to be loved yourself. " -----this quote was too good to leave out)

Started the USA Freedom Corps

Pushing for privatization of Medicare and CHOICES based on current Federal Employee Health benefits program.

Initiated review of all federal agencies with a goal to eliminate federal jobs (completed September 2003) in an effort to reduce the size of federal gov while increasing private sector jobs.

Part of coalition (Russia, Israel, Palestine, USA) for Israeli/Palestinian "Roadmap to Peace"

Challenged the United Nations to live up to their responsibilities and not become The League of Nations ( in other words, completely irrelevant)

Nominated strong, conservative judges to the judiciary.

Changed parts of the Forestry Management Act to allow necessary clean-up of the national forests in order to reduce fire danger.

As part of the national forests clean-up, the President restricted judicial challenges (based on the Endangered Species Act and other challenges) and removed the need for an EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) before removing fuels/logging to reduce fire danger.

Significantly eased field-testing controls of genetically engineered crops.

[StoneColdGOP]

Rush says the Republican party cannot claim to be the party of smaller government.

This sounds likme the OLD Rush of 10 years ago!

Go Get Em Rush!

For a second I thought it was 1994 all over again. Amazing how good it feels when you stick to your principles.

[Mudboy Slim]

"Please show me where Nixon signed any legislation, which had the seeds of reform in Medicare. You can't..."

I cannot present facts that Nixon aggressively privatized any portion of the Federal Leviathan in his one-and-one-half terms as POTUS. Still, imho, Dubyuh's oft-demonstrated propensity to overspend** on domestic legislation to appease the RATS with compromise is as wrong-headed as Nixon's free-spending strategery of 30 years ago.

"...you knee jerkingly repeat the lie that Nixon=GW, to make yourself feel good, IMO. Dude, JMO, but you are being the poster child of NEA self-esteem."

Thanks fer yer opinion, Dane, but the fact is I am remaining hopeful that Rush's comments will serve as an impetus fer Dubyuh and his Administration to right their course vis a vis out-of-control Federal domestic spending. Limbaugh was careful to point out that he does not equate Dubyuh with Bush as a person or as a ForeignPolicyMaker, and I agree with him. I like Dubyuh, I voted for him in '00 and expect to vote for him again next November, but even you have gotta admit that the BUSH/GOP team's outspending of Clinton and the RATS of '93-'94 is a shocker. Fiscal discipline is a Virtue conservatives should be embracing as a bedrock principle, imho. Don't you agree?!

FReegards...MUD

**BTW...by overspending, I refer to why a problem reportedly affecting 1.5 million seniors had to result in a program that provides an expensive Federal entitlement for 42 million seniors?! Including the privatization provisions couldda still been accomplished without using a sledgehammer to kill a mosquito.

[smiley]

Rush also compared President Bush to Reagan and also stated that he thought President Bush was a great stateman....this Medicare plan is risky...but it's do nothing now or pay later.

[republicanwizard]

He is a fool. He ought to shut up.

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" In exchange for that $10, we get preventative medicine (Medicare currently pays only for reactive care such as surgery rather than pro-active care such as doctor checkups and medicine) and a path to Privatize the beast of Medicare."

Rush wants everyone to think that Medicare is " free." Rush conveniently ignores the fact that seniors( excluding the indigent) pay a premium every month for Medicare,Part B and many pay extra for supplemental insurance.These same seniors have paid FICA taxes throughout their working years,which pays for Medicare,Part A.I heard President Bush's speech to the medical community this afternoon and was very impressed with the reforms he talked about. If Rush is so concerned with Medicare-why doesn't he tell every listener to collect all their elderly relatives and have every listener tell Grandma and Uncle Harry that they are going to be part of Rush's Get Out of Medicare movement.If millions and millions of families follow this path and opt out of Medicare and take care of their own,Medicare will shrivel,due to lack of demand.But,there will be a trade off. Families will now underwrite the health care of the seniors.If Uncle Harry needs heart surgery and it will cost 50,000 and Uncle Harry only has 10,000 left in his savings and he doesn't have any health insurance,well-the younger family members will kick in the extra 40,000. Even if it means that Jennifer's braces will have to wait a year and the old car will have to hold up another couple of years,the family will pay the medical bills.Those most eager to trash the President probably have relatives using Medicare for their health insurance. I think those squawking the loudest now,have no idea how Medicare actually functions and Limbaugh,makes no attempt to discuss the ins and outs of a very complicated system.Do they understand that seniors pay insurance premiums every month, to the govt ? That hospitals and physicians treat Medicare patients at a discount? No other industry is mandated by law, to do this.We are told over and over that the top 5% pay the bulk of the taxes-so,they must be carrying the Medicare weight for the rest of the country.That's the dirty little Medicare secret-most families would be swamped financially,if they had to pay Granny's medical bills themselves.Maybe a thank you to the top 5%,the hospitals,the physicians and the seniors themselves,might be in order. This bill is a bold step towards getting the government out of the health insurance business. And the sheer joy in watching the anguish and hysteria of the Democrats and the media, is priceless.