Posted on 07/15/2009 3:09:05 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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On Today's Show... |
July 15, 2009 |
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I thought so too - I can throw/pitch better than that.
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I want to get this on and off the table quickly as possible. We gotta deal with it 'cause it's it's own form of controversy. Obama's pitch did not make it all the way to the plate. It did not make it all the way to the plate. It probably was short-hopped by the first baseman, very unusual, I'll explain why, the first baseman, Albert Pujols was catching Obama's first pitch. The guy throws like a girl. I'm sorry. He throws like a girl, he had a girlie toss. They didn't show you the whole arc. You have to go to the MLB.com website to see the whole thing from the center field camera because Fox only showed Obama from the mound and they didn't show Pujols catching the ball so you have to rely on other people and what they've heard. (interruption) I just said the president throws like a girl. He golfs like a girl, admittedly. He throws like a girl.
George W. Bush is a man. George W. Bush fired a strike first pitch, Yankee Stadium after 9/11. They made fun of Bush as a klutz, Gerald Ford was an all American college football player, they called him Mr. Potato head. Chevy Chase had him stumbling and falling down airplane steps. Obama is a big athletic klutz and the Drive-Bys the State-Run Media, the sports media are trying to portray him as the Second Coming of Michael Jordan. Greetings, folks, welcome, Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies and a special sports division -- (interruption) Yes, it was a girlie toss. Did you see it? Let me explain this to you. Let me explain the first pitch. I want to get this out of the way. First off, he was booed. He was booed by half the crowd, but they knew he was going to be booed. He wore a Chicago White Sox jacket when he went out to the mound. Now, the reason he did that was so that his handlers could explain that was the reason for the boos, because St. Louis and Chicago, huge rivalry. He woulda really been booed had he worn a Cubs jacket because the White Sox don't ever play the Cardinals.
But regardless, he got booed and they set it up, that's also why Pujols was the catcher rather than Yadier Molina. Albert Pujols is the current athlete god in St. Louis. This whole All star week has been about Albert Pujols, and Yadier Molina, who is a great, great catcher and very popular, but nevertheless he's the catcher. I've heard people say that they put Pujols behind the plate because they knew Obama was going to short-hop it, they needed somebody who can scoop. Catchers can scoop. And then they had Obama return out there and shake hands with Stan Musial. Somebody said today Satan could shake hands with Stan Musial and be applauded. That's how big Stan Musial is in St. Louis. I'm not comparing -- (laughing) -- Snerdley, you people relax in there. I'm not drawing any comparisons. I'm just illustrating the popularity of Stan "The Man" Musial, number six, St. Louis Cardinals. So they had Obama, they knew he was going to get booed. They know what his numbers are, they know people aren't digging what's happening here and they had the White Sox jacket, they had him shaking hands out there with Musial.
By the way, you should take a look -- I don't know who it was -- but you should take a look at the guy on the golf cart driving. They were parked but the guy in the driver's seat sitting next to Musial as Obama walks over to shake Musial's hand, I'm telling you, just look at it. Find the video on your own, make some effort out there, folks. Find it on your own. And then Fox, they get the video camera, it's a hand-held on the third baseline, tight shot of the president of the United States throwing the pitch but you never see the pitch. All you see is his girlie form toss. But if you go to the MLB.com Brian, if you want to look at MLB.com, it's in one of the first clips. It's not a separate clip. The first pitch on MLB.com is not a separate clip. It's like a minute-and-a-half highlight summary of the whole game, you will see that Obama throws a slow pitch softball type pitch, but he threw it over handed. That's how girls throw. There's argument about whether or not it short-hopped, you know, hit the dirt before it was caught, but here's the thing to notice, Brian. The guy catching the first pitch, Albert Pujols, is squatting on the plate, not behind it, on the plate.
Obama did not get the pitch to the plate. He couldn't have and they probably told Pujols he didn't do it in the first place so move up a little bit. You see it now? Okay, you see now why I'm saying the commander-in-chief here has a girlie toss? So it is what it is. But they knew this was all going to happen. So you got Pujols catching, god in St. Louis at the moment, Stan Musial, all-time god in St. Louis, Chicago White Sox jacket, they tried to limit the boos, and then they tried to set up circumstances where they could explain the boos. These handlers are very good. Now, here's some audio sound bites. This is Joe Buck, Fox Sports, introducing President Obama. Here's the introduction. We got 15 seconds. There's a smattering of boos. People who were there have told me it was about half and half. But they're going to say, "Well, of course he's going to get booed, he came out wearing a White Sox jacket in St. Louis." But then the cheers overcame when he goes up to Stan Musial and they put Pujols out there to catch the first pitch, you know, the cheers and -- anyway, here it is.
BUCK: Please welcome the president of the United States of America.
RUSH: You hear 'em? You hear 'em? All right. Heard the boos in there, right? All right, now, I just explained to you what happened. He didn't -- if you watched the all-star game on Fox last night, you did not see the pathetic arc of the pitch, you did not see the pitch caught by Albert Pujols, he didn't see where Pujols was squatting practically in front of the plate, you did not see -- all you saw was what they want us to believe is a magnificent athletic form of Obama in jeans, by the way, tossing out the first pitch. And we have a montage here of unidentified ESPN people, CNN people, ABC people. Hell, we got Politico, everybody is on this thing. State-Run Media, state-run sports media cannot even be honest about the Obama pitch.
BUCK: Please welcome the president of the United States of America.
RUSH: You hear 'em? You hear 'em? All right. Heard the boos in there, right? All right, now, I just explained to you what happened. If you watched the All-Star game on Fox last night, you did not see the pathetic arc of the pitch, you did not see the pitch caught by Albert Pujols, you didn't see where Pujols was squatting practically in front of the plate. All you saw was what they want us to believe is a magnificent athletic form of Obama in jeans, by the way, tossing out the first pitch. And we have a montage here of unidentified ESPN people, CNN people, ABC people. Hell, we got Politico, everybody is on this thing. State-Run Media, State-Run Sports Media cannot even be honest about the Obama pitch.
ESPN NEWS ANCHOR: (music) Horrible camera work but it didn't bounce.
RANDI KAYE: (music) He pulled it off, putting the ball across the plate.
MIKE GALANOS: He made it to the glove.
KIRAN CHETRY: The president still performed a lot better than other big names.
MIKE ALLEN: It was a little low but he did fine.
REGIS PHILBIN: He did ok. He warmed up under the stands and then reached the catcher on a fly.
RUSH: Did not.
KELLY RIPA: I'm very proud of him. He's a lefty too.
ANN CURRY: The president said he didn't want to bounce it, and he didn't.
HARRY SMITH: It depends on the angle. It's all about the perspective from which you see that pitch. If you see it from back there at Pujols' angle, it doesn't look so bad.
RUSS MITCHELL: Made it all the way over the plate.
RUSH: It's a matter of debate, we're going to have to get the video in slo-mo but I'm telling you the reason why it matters if it gets over the plate, I have thrown out many ceremonial first pitches and in my career I've also arranged for many ceremonial first pitches when I worked for the Kansas City Royals. In fact, one of my most infamous moments was the very first first-ball ceremony I arranged and orchestrated and emceed from the field. Olathe Kansas, Saturday night, 40,000 people at Royals Stadium, microphone out at the pitchers mound. They got 90 people from the Olathe committee who sold all the tickets, largest group of the year lined up in the infield third base to first base. I do the rigmarole, welcome, all this stuff, a great job, and I go to the guy throwing the first pitch, hey, Tom, let her rip. I don't have a ball. I had forgotten to get a ball. So I'm stranded out there, no ball for the guy to throw the first pitch with. I knew if I left that microphone to go to the dugout and get one there would not be a ball there, so what I did, I said in the microphone, 40,000 people, "Would somebody in the dugout please throw me a baseball?"
Here came every baseball, about 50 them. Empty bags were thrown out. The Olathe night committee scattered all over the field chasing down the balls. I reached down, grabbed one, gave it to the guy, threw the first pitch. Best ceremonial first pitch in Major League Baseball history, and most entertaining, and it was mine. I know about these things, and I've thrown my share of ceremonial first pitches, and I know that the objective is to get the ball without bouncing it, that's why all these Drive-By and State-Run people are making the point that he got the pitch to the plate. But when you look at it from the Major League Baseball.com center field angle, you'll see that Albert Pujols is crouching so low you can barely see the plate because he's right on top of it. It could not have gotten to the plate because Pujols had to reach in front of the plate to catch it, and I do think he short-hopped it. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. I've seen short-hops. I've caught short-hops.
I played baseball all the way up until I was a junior in high school and then I got cut. (interruption) Well, I don't know why I got cut. Nobody else knew why I got cut, either, but I went home and I complained to my dad because my dad knew the coach and I said, "This doesn't make sense, Brink --" the coach's name was Brink --"cut me." And my dad said, "Well, life lesson, son. You must not be good enough." That's it. He got mad, but it happened and he wasn't going to challenge Brink. Brink was the coach. If that happened today the school would be sued, we'd be digging up dirt on Brinkhoff to find out whatever stuff he had to get him to change his mind and so forth. So, anyway, folks, you compare the Bamster's first pitch with George W. Bush first pitch at Yankee Stadium wearing body armor, by the way, after 9/11, and it was a fast ball strike with a legitimate catcher, not a first baseman acting as catcher cause he's the most popular guy in town.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We're back. It's great to have you with us, Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network. Look, I want to back off just a hair here on my criticism of President Obama. Not everybody can be an athlete. At least he's an athletic supporter -- and any time you have a president who is an athletic supporter, that's better than not. Now, let's go back in time. This is October 30th, 2001. Bob Shepherd, PA announcer, Yankee Stadium, New York.
BOB SHEPHERD: Please welcome the President of the United States. (organ music)
CROWD: (applause)
MICHAEL KAY: The president walking out to the mound to thunderous applause -- wearing the FDNY blue jacket -- waving to the crowd, standing on the mound. Winds, kicks, and delivers to Todd Greene.
CROWD: (wild applause)
KAY: And a perfect strike as he gets a thunderous ovation here at Yankee Stadium. What a moment at the stadium!
CROWD: (wild applause)
RUSH: We edited the length of the applause to bring the bite in under 45 seconds, but that was President Bush and the first pitch on October 30th, 2001, at Yankee Stadium.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Okay, got an eyewitness report. My cousin Jim and his son J.P. were in Busch Stadium last night for the All-Star Game. The pitch bounced. They saw it bounce. Jim reports to me -- and he's a credible witness. He's a banker. He reports to me -- and he counts president -- the boos and the cheers were 50-50. So there. I mean, if you trust me, you gotta trust anybody in my family. Don't doubt me.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This first up Danielle in Lapeer, Michigan. Is that right, Lapeer?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Right. Well, welcome to the program.
CALLER: Helloooo.
RUSH: Yeah, hi.
CALLER: Well, I'm calling because I'm upset about that first pitch comment.
RUSH: What about it?
CALLER: Well, I'm a girl, and I don't throw like that.
RUSH: Well, that's not an insult. Girls don't throw over-handed like Obama did.
CALLER: Yes, I do.
RUSH: Okay, some do but the majority don't. Everybody --
CALLER: They don't pitch over-handed but we throw over-handed.
RUSH: Yeah, vases and stuff like that up against the wall, but, uh... (laughing)
CALLER: You! (laughing) Oh, come on.
RUSH: (laughing)
CALLER: He throws like a girl that doesn't know how to throw.
RUSH: There are some girls that throw over-handed and don't look girlish but there's a term for it. I didn't make up the term. Now, women, these slow pitch --
CALLER: We gotta end that term.
RUSH: You may not look like a girl when you throw, but I'm telling you most girls do, and Obama looked like one. I'm not insulting girls.
CALLER: My nine-year-old daughter throws better than that. (laughing)
RUSH: Well, your nine-year-old daughter is a girl. So you're making my point about Obama, see?
CALLER: I said she throws better than that.
RUSH: I know. You're making my point even better.
CALLER: He doesn't throw like a girl. He throws like a girl that doesn't know how to throw.
RUSH: All right, fine. I'll compromise.
CALLER: Thank you.
RUSH: I'll compromise. I'll accept that.
CALLER: Okay. That's all I wanted.
RUSH: Thank you, Danielle, very much. Zack in Atlanta. Zack, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Mr. Limbaugh, best wishes from the South.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Am I the only one who noticed that the camera feed used during the broadcast did not show the location of the pitch?
RUSH: No. I mentioned that early on in my analyses. Fox did this on purpose. Here's what I think actually happened. Obama knows you can't throw a baseball. He's a basketball guy, and he's not very good at golf. I think these people... You know, handlers of presidents are very, very careful about things and I'm sure they got an agreement to keep it close up in case he did bomb the pitch, in case it wasn't any good. So, yeah, the Fox camera missed it. That's why I say you have to see the actually pitch from a center field camera. You have to go to MLB.com. It looked like a slow pitch softball thrown over-handed.
CALLER: I've never in all the first pitches by celebrities that I've seen, I've never seen that be the case.
RUSH: That's true. That's absolutely true. You never, ever have a first pitch where they don't show the catcher catching the ball.
CALLER: Yeah, for the amount of cameras that they have.
RUSH: That's another illustration of how last night was not an accident.
CALLER: And the pitch itself came from the left. It was weak and fell short, and that's all I have to comment. (laughs) Have a great day, sir.
RUSH: Thank you very much, Zack.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: St. Paul, Minnesota, Dean, you're next and you're up on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Dittos, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I was sort of noticing that Obama seemed out of place out there last night. And I wondered if he was going to throw the ball out from the mound or from president's box that they usually do. President Bush threw it out from the mound kind of as a show of strength after 9/11. I found a photo, an AP photo via Gateway Pundit blog.
RUSH: Yeah?
CALLER: The photo shows Obama winding up and holding the ball, and he's sort of holding it like a golf ball. You know, anyone who's ever picked up a baseball, played ball, you ordinarily know how to configure your fingers on the seams. And Obama's got his fingers between the seams, like, you know, what is this thing and how do I throw it? So I noticed --
RUSH: -- was he holding it with two fingers or four?
CALLER: He had a three fingered grip on it.
RUSH: Three finger grip?
CALLER: Sure.
RUSH: It's a girl toss. There's no guy, not even knuckleballers use three fingers. That's a girlie toss. If it's three fingers on a baseball he doesn't know what he's doing, there's no question.
END TRANSCRIPT
| Read the Background Material... |
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| • Sweetness & Light: Fox Hides Fact Obama Throws Like Girl • MLB.com: All-Star Highlights • National Review: Meet Me in St. Booie! -Andy McCarthy |
OBAMA THROWS LIKE GOP_Lady! ;-)
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We got three more audio sound bites from President Obama, and the first one, he was being interviewed on the MLB network last night by Bob Costas, and Bob Costas said, "That White Sox jacket, that White Sox windbreaker, make no bones about it, you're a South sider, you're a White Sox guy, not a Cubs guy?"
OBAMA: Listen. I'm not a Cubs hater. There's a certain type of White Sox fan that actively roots against the Cubs so when the -- the Bartman --
COSTAS: Right.
OBAMA: There were people who celebrated on the South side. I'm not one of those guys. I wish them well unless they're playing the White Sox. But I do think that there's a different quality to what used to be Comiskey Field versus Wrigley.
RUSH: What used to be Cominsky [sic] Field. It's Comiskey Park. There's no N in there, but this guy was brought up by communists, so all these inskys have made an indelible impression on his mind like Saul Alinsky, and so he thinks it's Cominsky Park. Cominsky Field is Comiskey Park, and, by the way, the White Sox now play in US Cellular Field, knick-named The Cell, and the White Sox won the World Series in 2005 when Obama was there. You would think that comparing the Cubs and White Sox he's got Wrigley Field to Cominsky Field. And of course Bob Costas went right along with it, talking to the president of the United States here. He's talking about this Bartman guy. That's the guy that in the playoffs, Cubs, forget who they were playing but that's the guy down the left field foul line, might have been the Marlins, I don't know who it was, but this guy reached out and Moises Alou was about to make a crucial out on a pop fly during the left field line, this kid reached out and caught it and they've crucified the kid ever since and Obama has to show in this comment that he's not a hater, he doesn't hate Bartman. Is that even his name? (doing Obama impression) "There's certain White Sox fans that hate the Cubs. I, of course, am not a hater. I did think it was unfair what they did to Bart -- Bart -- Bart -- Bartman." Steve Bartman, yeah, I knew it was Steve. I just couldn't remember the last name.
END TRANSCRIPT
| Read the Background Material... |
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| • Sweetness & Light: Fox Hides Fact Obama Throws Like Girl • MLB.com: All-Star Highlights • National Review: Meet Me in St. Booie! -Andy McCarthy |
Here is the opening paragraph of the story: "If you survived high school, or hope to" survive high school. (laughing) That's funny. Newsweek thinks they got teenagers reading their website. (laughing) That's a triumph of emotion over common sense. Newsweek thinks teenagers are reading their website! Anyway, here's how it goes. "If you survived high school, or hope to, you probably made your peace with the fact that life is unfair: looks can compensate for a lack of brains and conscientiousness." Baywatch proved that, by the way. "Or to put it more bluntly, teachers give good-looking kids higher grades than homely ones..." For those of you in Rio Linda, "homely" means "ugly." Putting "it more bluntly, teachers give good-looking kids higher grades than homely ones all other factors being equal, as numerous studies have found.
"The phenomenon is so well documented in science it even has a name: the attractiveness effect. Now sociologist Michael T. French of the University of Miami and his colleagues have discovered yet another reason ... In a paper on 'Effects of Physical Attractiveness, Personality and Grooming on Academic Performance in High School' ... 'Being very well groomed is associated with a statistically significant GPA premium,' they write. 'While grooming has the largest effect on GPA for male students, having a very attractive personality is most important for female students.'" (laughing) So they throw personality in there. At any rate, the story goes on to talk about we've gotta level the playing field somehow. How do we level the playing field? We need stimulus money for the ugly?
How do you level the playing field for homely, unattractive people in high school? You ban 'em. You set up schools for them. That's the only way you can level the playing field. If we're going to look at people this way... This is the point of the long ago commentary. If we're going to look at people and judge them this way there's always going to be this unfairness so you just gotta ban the ugly from everywhere, at least in daylight. Nighttime, it's tougher to tell that they're ugly. That was also part of the commentary. By the way, the picture accompanying the article of the authorette... Ahem. Well, I'll employ discipline here and not describe the picture other than to say it fits the theme of the story.
END TRANSCRIPT
| Read the Background Material... |
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| • Newsweek: The Link Between Beauty and Grades - Sharon Begley |
GAY.
BEGIN TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Do you know, ladies and gentlemen, that I am the reason Republicans are going soft on Sonia Sotomayor? John King this morning on CNN Live.
KING: Republicans, though, will tell you -- members of the committee will tell you they -- privately that they felt hamstrung by the initial reaction: the Rush Limbaugh and the others saying she's a racist she's a reverse racist. And they feel if they get all aggressive, with her that it will backfire.
RUSH: So apparently the Republican members of the committee are telling State-Run Media reporters that my initial reaction, calling her a reverse racist and a bigot, is holding them back. They're afraid if they attack her... I think they're doing a pretty good job going after her, to tell you the truth. I think they've been laying it out really well. I think they're illustrating the woman is... It's not my term but somebody suggested she's committing -- oh! I've got it in the stack here on some blog. There's a liberal. Ed Whalen posted this at National Review Online in their blogs. A liberal law professor at Georgetown is just lived at Sotomayor for not being honest about her liberalism, and he says it's possible she's committing perjury up there. She's lying so much about what she has said in the past or what she meant when she said it in the past than how she's translating it today, that some lib lawyers and scholars and professors are angry as hell that she is lying and hiding her true liberalism. This is actually good news. I pointed out yesterday. What a message for the Republican Party. The left, like Sotomayor, knows she can't get confirmed if she tells us who she really is and what she really believes.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: This is incredible. This was on Hardball last night, Chris Matthews talking to Roger Simon of The Politico about the Sotomayor hearings. Matthews says, "Lindsey Graham loves John McCain, supported him so dutifully and wonderfully, but everybody knows that John can have a hot temper. A lot of people have hot tempers, but to say that he has a hot temper and yet she needs anger management? Sorry, he was tutoring her today. That was condescending. He was telling somebody up at the Supreme Court, 'Now, you've got work on this.'"
SIMON: He was doing that because Rush Limbaugh beat him up last night (sic) after he was too nice to Sotomayor --
MATTHEWS: (interrupting) Oh, really?
SIMON: -- in his opening comments.
MATTHEWS: (shouting over guest) That's even the worse about it. (cross-talk)
SIMON: Oh yeah!
MATTHEWS: You mean he cares?
SIMON: You know, Rush Limbaugh is saying i-if Lindsey Graham says --
MATTHEWS: Wow.
SIMON: -- y-you're going to make it unless you have a meltdown, what's the point of the hearings? He said, "C-come on, get some guts. So Lindsey Graham had -- yah --
MATTHEWS: (interrupting) You know, that's the worst condescending thing you've ever said on this show, Roger.
SIMON: What?
MATTHEWS: You're saying that Lindsey Graham takings orders from Rush Limbaugh!
SIMON: Oh, a Republican Senator from South Carolina --
MATTHEWS: (cross-talk) Awwww, gosh.
SIMON: -- can afford to tick off Limbaugh?
MATTHEWS: (screaming) Lindsey's (garbled). I won't stoop so low as to accuse him of being a Dittohead.
SIMON: (chortling)
RUSH: Let's go back and play cut 13 to put this in perspective. This is John King and this is morning on CNN Live.
KING: Republicans, though, will tell you -- members of the committee will tell you they -- privately that they felt hamstrung by the initial reaction: the Rush Limbaugh and the others saying she's a racist she's a reverse racist. And they feel if they get all aggressive, with her that it will backfire.
RUSH: I, single-handedly, am in charge of the Republicans on the committee and their interrogation techniques. Now, there's a show on MSNBC named after a horse, The Ed Show. A talking horse. I think they brought the horse out of retirement to host the show. And the horse, Mister Ed, is talking to a former CIA officer, Jack Rice, about the Sotomayor hearings; and Mister Ed, the horse, says to the CIA officer, "I think you come from a profession where keeping your cool is pretty important. Did she pass the test today?"
RICE: It's about scoring political points right now. And if what they're doing is pandering to Rush Limbaugh, then Sessions may have won.
HORSE: Well...
RICE: But if he's trying to actually convince the rest of America that he's actually mainstream, he may have a very serious problem.
RUSH: They're actually talking about Jeff Sessions there, and Jeff Sessions was pandering to me. (laughing) I have not spoken to these guys about any of this. I've not attempted to call 'em. I never do. So (sigh) imagine... I don't watch any of this last night. I actually had a fun dinner party last night and I didn't watch any of this stuff. I don't watch any of this stuff at night anymore. I can't handle it. It stopped being informative and educational a long time ago. So, as you know, I pay people to do this, to watch it so we can have the audio sound bites. This is the first I've heard of this stuff. It's getting so routine that I'm responsible for everything Republicans do, I don't even get e-mail from people telling me about it anymore. So I just hear about it when I have the audio sound bites. Grab a couple phone calls here on the first pitch 'cause I want to broom that we're going to get into health care here pretty soon
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Speaking of Sonia Sotomayor, I haven't been paying much attention to hearings this morning because, frankly, the whole thing grates on me. She's committing... She's not being honest about who she is and what she thinks, and that's a personality trait that just drives me batty, drives me nuts. You know, folks, if I were advising these guys like the press thinks I am, you know what they'd be asking? "Ms. Sotomayor, do you come before the committee with a chip on your shoulder? Do you think that the United States of America is unfair and unjust? And do you view your role as a judge to level the playing field between the majority and the minority?" If I were running this show, if I were feeding these guys questions, if they're trying to keep me happy, that's what they would ask. Let's just get to the nub of it, here. Let's get to the nub of who she is. "Are you angry at the current structure of the United States? Do you think it is unfair? When you read the Constitution, do you think it needs to be changed anywhere?"
You know, instead of focusing all these speeches and cases, get to the nub of who she is! Now, the press is saying, "Well, they probably woulda done that if Limbaugh hadn't piped up and made 'em afraid to go after her. They wouldn't do it. I don't think they would ask those kind of questions because they would be outside the bounds of propriety." But there is one question that they haven't asked, and that is: What videos does she rent? That's a standard-operating question. They asked it of Clarence Thomas. Remember that, Long Dong Silver or whatever? They went out there and they asked all these Republican nominees -- or they don't even ask. They'll just send these liberal activists in there to video shops, Blockbuster and so forth. Now you search on the Internet at Amazon and Barnes & Noble or whatever to find out what videos she has. But they haven't done that with Sotomayor. Another example of the double standard. And where is it? I want to see the list of DVDs and movies that she rents. And until we know that, we can't have the vote.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: All right, if the State-Run Media is saying that the Republicans on the committee are conducting themselves in order to pander to me, to not anger me, to not be criticized by me, the Republicans are not being as hard hitting because they don't want to be associated with me, yet they are pandering to me. If that's happening on the Republican side, I have a question. Is the nominee herself, Sonia Sotomayor, changing her positions to win my approval, too? Somebody needs to ask the Drive-Bys and the State-Run Media this. If the Republicans are tailoring their approach in order to pander to me and win my approval, is she changing all of her positions, which she's doing, to win my approval, too? Is her testimony influenced by me as well? I mean, this woman sounds like an originalist. This woman sounds like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. She is stepping away from her own words in speeches.
Listen to the Washington Post today: "'Sotomayor Emphasizes Objectivity.' -- Nominee Explains 'Wise Latina' Remark." And get this one: "On the second day of her confirmation hearings, she stressed the primacy of legal precedents and distanced herself from her most controversial public remark," the wise Latina thing. How do you get away from yourself? She distanced herself from herself. In other words, she's making it up. She's lying about it. By the way, I'm going to be praising Lindsey Grahamnesty in mere moments for something he said yesterday. Ed Whelan posted at National Review Online's The Corner: "'Liberal Law Professors Against Sotomayor.' -- At least one liberal law professor was 'completely disgusted' by Judge Sotomayor’s testimony. In an online debate on the Federalist Society’s website, Georgetown law professor Mike Seidman writes: 'I was completely disgusted by Judge Sotomayor's testimony today.'"
By the way, you know what? How did Colin Powell pronounce my name the other day, Limbow? Okay. Limbow. So from now on she's Sotomayor. See how long it takes them to hit me on that. Colin Powell called me Limbow, and they think Colin Powell is the end of the world, he's everything great, so from now on she's not Sotomayor anymore, she's Sotomayor.
Here we go. This is Mike Seidman, online debate, Georgetown law professor: "I was completely disgusted by Judge Sotomayor's testimony today. If she was not perjuring herself, she is intellectually unqualified to be on the Supreme Court. If she was perjuring herself, she is morally unqualified. How could someone who has been on the bench for seventeen years possibly believe that judging in hard cases involves no more than applying the law to the facts? … Perhaps Justice Sotomayor should be excused because our official ideology about judging is so degraded that she would sacrifice a position on the Supreme Court if she told the truth."
This guy, this liberal law professor is upset because she won't be who she is, and he said if she's not perjuring herself, she's intellectually unqualified. And if she is perjuring herself, she's morally unqualified. Now, let me tell you what this really means. Here we have a radical in the mold of Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor. This woman does not have the courage or the bravery to tell the committee and the people of America what she really thinks when answering these questions, and in doing so she see hiding her radicalism, she's hiding her leftist leanings, and liberals are a little bit upset about this. What it tells us, if the Republican Party is paying attention, and we could go back and cite also a recent Gallup poll, 40% of Americans, 41 identify themselves as conservatives. Twenty-five percent, 35% moderate, independent, 21% liberal. There's no reason we should be losing elections. The only reason we are is because the Republican Party is dominated by people who think like McCain and Colin Powell. But this is a conservative country.
If this country were in the image of Obama and Sotomayor, they would have no problem being honest about what they're doing. But Obama doesn't even have the guts to tell people what he's doing. He's telling them he's creating jobs, not destroying them. He's telling them, well, we gotta go through a little transformation here, yes, we're going to move to green energy, we're gonna lose some jobs, like in St. Louis at Boeing, they might lose a thousand jobs out of 16,000 employed there, in the St. Louis area. And Boeing is making high-tech defense systems in St. Louis, and Obama, well, we gotta get rid of that, we're moving into green technology and of course we're going to lose jobs here but we're going to gain two for every one we -- it's the exact opposite. We're going to lose two jobs for every one we create in the green business and the green business is going to be artificially created because there's no market for it, so it's going to be a big loser.
But Obama, he's not telling people that he's destroying the economy, he's not telling people of the pain this is all causing, that it's intentional. He's trying to make people think all this is going to work. They don't have the guts. My point is this is wide open for a true, red-blooded conservative Republican to walk in here and start immediately contrasting conservatism and the founders of this country with what's happening now, especially with all they're proposing so fast. It's a golden opportunity. This is not a time to be depressed. It's not a time to be down because we don't have the votes here or the votes there. This is golden. Liberals, they don't even like to be called liberals. Of course progressive is the new term.
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RUSH: Abbeville, Louisiana, this is Pam. Nice to have you with us on the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Hi. Can you hear me?
RUSH: Yeah!
CALLER: Okay. My question is what difference does it make what Sotomayor rents, watches? What difference does that make to her character, who she is, why she should be put...?
RUSH: Oh, oh, okay. Well, you are relatively new to the political process or maybe you're not old enough to have seen or paid attention to previous confirmation hearings of Republican nominees.
CALLER: No, I'm pretty new to it.
RUSH: Okay.
CALLER: After Obama got into office is when I really started getting in it.
RUSH: That's believable. All right, now --
CALLER: I know.
RUSH: --, in 1986, I believe it was, Ronald Reagan nominated a brilliant man by the name of Robert Bork to sit on the Supreme Court. The liberals immediately went to the video stores in the neighborhood in Washington where he lived trying to get a list of the DVDs he rented, so as to impugn his character. They wanted to see if there was any pornography. They wanted to see if there was any racy stuff, Smokey and the Bandit kind of stuff that he liked to watch. The same thing happened with Clarence Thomas when Anita Hill claimed that he had sexually harassed her. There was talk of pubic hair on a Coke can and that Justice Thomas had rented movies, pornography movies and so forth. It's a standard Democrat tactic to try to impugn and destroy not just the character, but the lives of Republican nominees. I was simply making the point that these Republican Senators are in no way treating Sonia Sotomayor with the disgrace and the disrespect that Republican nominees are treated by Democrats. I illustrated that by saying, "And these hearings aren't complete 'til we get a list of her DVDs." It is irrelevant. You're exactly right. But the Democrats traditionally try to get that kind of information on Republican nominees to try to destroy them.
CALLER: Okay, I understand them. She's a lawyer. I mean, she's crawfishing out of everything that they're asking her.
RUSH: Have you noticed something else?
CALLER: What?
RUSH: Have you noticed that when she... I think the Democrats sent her their questions, because when she... This observation was made to me just moments ago. I hadn't noticed it myself, but it rings true now that it's been put in front of my mind. When the Democrats ask her questions, she's smooth and clear and right on the spot, and the answer is there. When the Republicans ask her questions it's hem-haw around, not sure of what's when a she's saying. That's where these lying and crawfishing around. She doesn't have the Republican questions in advance. She did get rehearsed on what they might ask, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Leahy and the boys sent her their questions in advance.
CALLER: Exactly. That's what it sounds like to me.
RUSH: All right. Well, I'm glad you called, Pam. I'm happy to help explain this to you.
CALLER: Thank you very much.
RUSH: My pleasure. It's always a thrill and a delight to be able to inform a relatively new arrival of the political process, and there's no better place to come than this program for that kind of education and information.
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It’s not fair the American League always wins. What are you going to do about that Mr. President?
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RUSH: You want to hear some racism? Dick Durbin, Senator from Illinois, talking to do the media. "When we asked questions of the white male nominees of a Republican president, we were basically trying to find out whether -- to make sure that they would go far enough in understanding the plight of minorities, because clearly that was not in their DNA." So Republicans are genetically racist, genetically inferior, Dick Durbin said that yesterday. There is a bunch of racism in this country, and sadly, most of it's on the left side of the aisle.
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RUSH: I was not kidding when I told you what Dick Durbin said before the end of the last hour. It's from the State-Run Associated Press. Greetings, friends. Welcome back. Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network and the distinguished and prestigious Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. In fact, I'm going to contrast something for you here. Sotomayor is relying on her 17 year record as a federal judge to rebut criticism that she's conceiving a liberal agenda that will show up if she is confirmed to the Supreme Court. And later on, it says Republicans are not satisfied with her answers. Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty, Republican, South Carolina, said he could end up voting for her, but he wants to make sure she's the judge with what he called a moderately liberal record, not a liberal activist. That's what we're trying to figure out, who are we getting here? They already know. The woman, liberal law professors are already accusing her of committing perjury. Liberal law professors at Georgetown. And Dick Durbin, in a story here that's basically about how Democrats enjoy being on the other side of the confirmation process defending a Democrat nominee.
By the way, I know Sotomayor doesn't have any kids, but her family's there, and these hearings are not going to be complete until one of them starts crying, like Alito's wife was forced to cry. This is all just poppycock. But here's what Durbin said: "When we asked questions of the white male nominees of a Republican president, we were basically trying to find out whether -- to make sure that they would go far enough in understanding the plight of minorities, because clearly that was not in their DNA." This is like Algore's extra chromosome statement in describing conservatives as people with Down syndrome. This kind of thing would not be tolerated if it was said by a Republican about Democrats.
And to prove it, we now go to a different writer for State-Run AP. The headline of this story is: "'Senator Ricky Ricardo?' -- Sen. Tom Coburn evoked a 1950s TV show Wednesday in a quip responding to Sonia Sotomayor's scenario about what he might do if she -- hypothetically, of course -- attacked him. 'You'll have a lot of 'splainin' to do,' Coburn said, to laughter from the crowd and Sotomayor. What he said -- and how he said it -- was a riff on a Hispanic television character, Ricky Ricardo, whose accent is now widely considered a broad parody.
In the famous 1950s TV show 'I Love Lucy,' the Cuban bandleader Ricardo (played by the equally Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz) would often admonish his scatterbrained wife, Lucy, by saying she'd have some 'splainin' to do. The phrase, 'Lucy, you have some "splainin" to do,' has since become part of the popular culture. Calling Coburn out for this might be going too far -- those who know him say he often speaks like this -- but it was hard not to notice his inflection and choice of words. At the very least, it suggests a tin ear -- particularly when speaking to a woman who would become the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice."
So they rip Coburn, AP rips Coburn and just for this little innocent thing that even Sotomayor laughed about, and approve of Dick Durbin saying, yeah, we were basically trying to make sure these white male nominees go far enough in understanding the plight of minorities because clearly it's not in their DNA. You got a lot of 'splaining to do. By the way, Coburn really got to the nub of things in one of his questions to Sotomayor, and that was, "Do you think people have the right to self-defense?" Second Amendment question, do you think people have the right, forget legalese, forget cases, do you think people have a right to self-defense? The laughter started after Coburn said, you got a lot of 'splaining to do, Sotomayor said she might go back home and get a gun and shoot him, and that's when the laughter started. Yeah, she said it before the 'splaining to do comment was made. The question was basically do you have a right to defend yourself, Second Amendment question, the laughter started, of course. So here's this liberal activist who probably doesn't have a gun -- probably does have a gun, they're hypocrites -- threatening to go home and get a gun and come back and shoot a senator, everybody laughing about it.
Now I said we're going to have to praise Senator Lindsey Grahamnesty. Lindsey Grahamnesty made this point to Judge Sotomayor yesterday. He said, "Do you understand, ma'am, how if I said anything like that, and I justified it as saying I was trying to inspire someone, they would have my head?" The thing is, Lindsey Graham would never think that way, we don't think that way. This is the dirty irony of this. We don't think that white male judges are better than anybody else. We think white males are better football players than women but we don't think they make better judges. We never think to ask or make a comment like this, like she did. I'm telling you, these people, Barack Obama's people are oriented -- like Durbin, everything is about minorities and racism, country's unfair, unjust, gotta level the playing field, doesn't matter how we do it, we gotta return the nation's wealth to so-called rightful owners. It's all wrapped up in this. So Grahamnesty, he says, "Do you understand, ma'am, how if I said anything like that, and I justified it as saying I was trying to inspire someone, they would have my head?"
And Sotomayor said, "I can understand how it could be hurtful, particularly if read in isolation." And Grahamnesty said, "I don't know how you can justify -- if I said that because of my experience as a Caucasian male I am a better person to represent the people of South Carolina, and my opponent was a minority, it would make national news, and it should. I am not going to judge you based on that one statement … I just hope you appreciate the world we live in, and how you can say something like that, meaning to inspire someone, and still have a chance to get on the Supreme Court. Others could not," and let's talk about fairness. She's running around thinking that she's got one arm tied behind her back, she's discriminated against, Latina, the deck stacked against her and so forth. It's just the exact opposite, and that's the point that Grahamnesty was making. He said, "If they had said anything remotely like that statement --" I mean, you can say that and still get on the court. I couldn't say that and live. "Does that make sense to you?"
And Sotomayor says, "It does." None of it matters, folks. Well, it's not that none of it matters. It was actually a pointed and good question from Senator Grahamnesty and an illustration. You know, if Drive-Bys are out there saying the Republicans are afraid to hit hard here because they're pandering or they're afraid they're going to be compared to me and they're pandering to me, I think from Sessions on down they're doing a great job with this, given what they've got to work with.
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RUSH: Here's that sound bite from Dick Durbin. This is him actually saying it. This is at yesterday's hearing on Sotomayor.
DURBIN: When we asked questions of the white, male nominees of a Republican president we were basically trying to find out whether, uhhh... to make sure, eh, that they would go far enough in understanding the plight of minorities. 'Cause clearly that was not in...their...DNA.
RUSH: This is a detestable man. This is a reprehensible figure. This is the guy who compared American interrogators to Pol Pot's brigades, Nazis, and Stalinists and so forth in the way they treated prisoners. He had to apologize for it. Now he says that white male Republican judicial nominees are genetically racist. It must be remembered that Miguel Estrada, nominated to the federal bench by George W. Bush, did not even get a vote on the Senate floor. Miguel Estrada, a brilliant jurist, did not even get a vote. He's Hispanic. So I guess it was not in Durbin's DNA to allow a vote on the Senate floor for a Hispanic. It just wasn't in Durbin's DNA. Here's the Tom Coburn, Sonia Sotomayor exchange.
SOTOMAYOR: If I go home, get a gun, come back and shoot you, that may not be legal under New York law because you would have alternative ways to defend --
COBURN: You have lots 'splaining to do.
SOTOMAYOR: Ha, ha, ha! I'd be in a lot of trouble then.
RUSH: So the question was do people have a right to defend themselves. Now, the "'splaining to do" is a distraction here. Do people have a right to defend themselves? "Well, if I go home and get a gun..." Self-defense is not going home and getting a gun! Self-defense is you're attacked at the moment and you defend yourself. It's not you go home and get a gun. But you've got other ways to defend yourself? Golly! This woman is just I under... (interruption) All right, okay. All right. In all fairness... We are totally about fairness here, we are about a level playing field here at the EIB Network. (interruption) She made that point earlier on in her testimony.
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CALLER: Yeah, hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: You know, one of reasons I think the main reason the market, stock market has been ticking up lately even though the employment situation is getting much worse is because the investment community is prospective -- and if they see that cap and trade is going to fall and that they see the health care is going to fail, and that they see that Obama is going down in popularity like that he's failing -- then that's good for business in the longer run. So the irony is as Obama fails and his programs look like they're not going to go through, the market will go up, and then the irony will be, Obama will take credit!
RUSH: (laughing)
CALLER: (laughing)
RUSH: See how this is working? You just paint a brilliant picture here and then destroy it by saying it's all going to be credited to Obama. I don't know enough about the market to say whether or not the people in the investor community is already guessing that cap and tax is going to bomb out, health care isn't gonna work, popularity is going down. There could be more intricate reasons than that, but your theory is as sound as anybody else's. Look, like I said earlier: If the growth in the economy the next quarter is up, they're going to credit the stimulus. They're going to credit Obama left and right. But until we know whether these things are going to happen and become reality, we can't predict the economy's future -- other than if they pass, we're finished. Cap and trade... And, by the way, we need to stop calling it health care "reform." It's not about health care "reform." Like everything else in Obama's agenda, this is about health care destruction.
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RUSH: By the way, in the stock market -- I mentioned this yesterday. The stock market is not up. The stock market is up 236 today, the last time I looked. But the stock market's flat. It's up 231 one day, down 79 or 179 the next day. The stock market is stuck, folks! We're down from a high of 13,000. The stock market is not up. It was at 13,000. The stock market isn't going up.
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RUSH: Health care presented by the House yesterday, $1.3 trillion price tag. BS. There's no way they can score the cost of this. Nobody knows. This is an abomination, this health care proposal and they want to ramrod this thing through by August. As I said yesterday, they want to do this before people figure out just how bad all of this is going to make this economy. And, by the way, Kathleen Sebelius is out there saying we can't wait, it has to be done now, it's a crisis, it's an emergency. They tried this with TARP, they did it with stimulus, and now they're doing it with this. It can't wait. It's got to be done now, $1.3 trillion. Heritage Foundation ran the numbers here. It's a thousand-page bill, 1,018 pages, and the admitted price tag is $1.3 trillion. That comes out to $1.264 billion per page of the bill just as a comparative note. But wait 'til you hear some of the taxes on this, like the 5.4% surtax on millionaires, but there is a 1% surtax on -- How many of you making $250 are adding up all the tax increases you already face? You face tax increases to pay for stimulus, you have tax increases coming for cap and trade, and now you have another tax increase coming on health care, and your Bush tax cuts expire at the end of next year, starting in 2011.
So you people at $250,000 and up, your effective tax rate by the time Obama gets through is going to be close to 45 to 50% by the time you add state taxes into it, and it has been proven economically, scientifically, that once combined tax rates hit 50%, people stop. They stop earning, they stop investing, they stop. Once the combined state and federal, payroll, once it goes 50% or over then you have a net negative return on all the money you're taking out of the economy because people just at some point -- (interruption) For the millionaires, for people over a million, the top marginal rate after health care, 45-point-something percent, state added on, they're going to be 55 to 60% in some states, depending on what the state income tax rate is. I'm telling you, folks, that 45% is just with the health care tax. That doesn't count the carbon tax, and it doesn't count the stimulus taxes that are coming. It can't happen. It cannot happen. There isn't the money to pay for this.
Even the Washington Post is editorializing today. You cannot pay for all this from the rich. You just can't do it. The money isn't there. Now, if the Washington Post is editorializing that you can't pay for any of this with the rich, it means they've reached their personal tipping points on paying taxes. It means that the millionaires that work there, that can tell the editorial writers what the hell to write -- the editorial writers don't make that much money; they pick 'em up from homeless shelter and take 'em back every day. But the executives look at this and say, "Whoa, baby, I am not, by the time DC gets through with me and I pay FICA and I pay Medicare and I'm losing the Bush tax cut, and then this on top of it, I'm over 50%," and then you look at 43% of the American people paying no income tax, it ain't going to fly. But the Democrats are going to ram this through, going to try everything they can, and, remember, there's nothing to stop them other than certain Democrats in both the House and the Senate seeing the light. And it isn't going to happen in the House. The House may as well have satellite headquarters in Havana.
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RUSH: Rose Garden at White House this afternoon during a break in the Sotomayor hearings, a little rev 'em up on health care out there.
OBAMA: If you like your doctor or health care provider, you can keep them.
RUSH: They won't be around.
OBAMA: If you like your health care plan you can keep that, too.
RUSH: It won't be around.
OBAMA: But here's what else reform will mean for you, and this is for people who have health insurance. You will save money. If you lose your job, change your job, or start a new business you'll still be able to find quality health insurance that you can afford.
RUSH: Note he didn't say it's portable. People that lose their jobs lose their health care and they want portability. His plan doesn't have that, folks. If that's your big deal he does not have portability in his plan. The point is the public option is going to wipe out everything in the private sector. You're going to see businesses off-load their coverage to the public option. A lot of them are eager to do it even as we speak. So your doctor, your health care provider, you can keep 'em, your insurance. It may not be there. The odds are it won't. And Tom Coburn, by the way, who has some 'splaining to do, introduced an amendment yesterday that actually got some Democrat votes. It will never pass or see the light of day, but it was resolved that we will abandon our current health care plan for the public option. This is something that's gaining steam. We urged you to do this two or three weeks ago. Call your congressman or your senator and say, "Hey, babe, are you going to give up your current plan for the public option you are mandating that we join, going to do that?" They won't. The elites will have their own plan set up as they do now, and it will not change.
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RUSH: Memphis, Tennessee. Mark, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. It's great to have you here.
CALLER: Hey how you doing?
RUSH: Just fine.
CALLER: In this entire debate about health insurance -- and let's call it what it is. It's not "access to universal health care," because we have that; it's access to insurance -- there's a component of this that really hasn't been talked about, and that's the role of the insurance agent in the whole process. My understanding of the public plan is that the role of the agent will be either virtually eliminated or drastically reduced. The point being is that millions of Americans -- business owners, individuals -- depend on their agent to help them cipher through all this stuff. Agents are deemed to be an unnecessary cost, but in reality agents only represent about two-tenths of 1% of all health care spending.
RUSH: But it only stands to reason, Mark, doesn't it that if eventually we have a single-payer system and the "payer" is the government, that you're not gonna need an agent? You're just going to have to have some federal bureaucracy or a series of them that you're going to have to deal with that will, in effect, take the place of the agent. But the problem is you're not going to be able to pick and choose things. You're going to be told what's available. If you don't like it, tough, because there won't be anywhere else to be and there won't be another company that offers a competing plan, eventually, and that's the Obama intent. So you're right. There won't be any need for agents other than the people behind the counter at the DMV are "agents," and the people behind the counter at the post office are "agents."
CALLER: To that extent you're right, but it's the sole reason why agents are taken out of the picture is because of the perceived cost, look, there's going to be a toll-free number somewhere that people have to call. Those people have to get paid. And the bottom line is there's not cost savings recognized when agents are taking out of the picture. In fact, my impression would be that costs would increase, because you've got to pay so many more people.
RUSH: Of course, costs are going to go up! The idea that costs are going to come down is absurd. There's no such government entity where costs have come down. Even when they've shut them down the costs don't end. Let me ask you a question about this insurance agent business. Are you one?
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: Okay. Have you heard or read from the plan or heard Obama say that part of the cost savings is going to be eliminating health insurance agents?
CALLER: Well, in the public plan, from what I understand of it, the role of insurance agents is either going to be completely eliminated or it will be drastically curtailed.
RUSH: Well, yeah. By definition it has to.
CALLER: Right, and --
RUSH: The job that you do is going to be replaced by a government union worker behind the counter or on the other end of a telephone.
CALLER: You know, and the flip side to that is here in our organization, you know, we employ people to help us manage that part of our practice -- and if that part of our practice goes away, it's going to be very, very difficult.
RUSH: Here's what you have to understand. I'm sure you know this. It's two things. You are an insurance agent and therefore you work for an insurance company.
CALLER: Well, I'm independent, so I represent a number of companies.
RUSH: Okay, that's even better. You're an independent agent and you represent a number of insurance companies. The Obama Democrat tactic has been to demonize the insurance companies. So getting rid of your job and your companies and eliminating those costs is a sales technique. That's why I asked you where you had heard this, because this is right out of the class envy playbook. HMOs, all of the doctors, the insurance companies who decide who gets what treatment and who doesn't, they've been demonized and villainized. The drug companies have, too. And that's how Obama's hoping to garner public support, by focusing public anger at people like you, and, "We're going to get rid of these people! You won't have to deal with these cheating, lying agents and cheating, lying companies. But if you like what you have you'll certainly be able to keep it," but you won't be able to keep it 'cause it won't exist after a certain passage of time. There's no private sector anything that can compete with the government when the government doesn't have to make a profit.
CALLER: That's true. Because if there's losses, all they have to do is print more money to cover them. As I see it... You know, me being on here may sound a little bit self-serving, but I can tell you that the clients that I have that I've spoken to about this are adamant. And I'm not trying to pat myself on the back or pat the rest of the agents in the country on the back, but the clients that we have are adamant about being able to maintain our services as part of the health care model.
RUSH: I totally understand this. There are a lot of people who don't want to give it up. In fact, most Americans, according to polling data, Mark, when they find out... We're a compassionate country. The idea that everybody has insurance, oh, everybody loves that. That's fair. It's just. It's right. When they find out what it's going to cost them to give health insurance to everybody else and how it's going to change their coverage, that's when they drop off. That's why Obama's trying to ram this through by August before people actually get a handle on the life circumstances that are going to change dramatically for the worse when this stuff gets implemented. I have no doubt that they want you. If you represent several companies, you're able to go out and get the best deal for your clients.
CALLER: That's what we do on a daily basis.
RUSH: Right. Those days are going to end and that's why you're not going to be needed.
CALLER: Well, it's unfortunate -- and, you know, we would hope that business owners across the country would get in touch with their legislators and make sure that they are aware of the values that we bring to the table.
RUSH: Let me tell you something. There are people getting hold of people in Washington in record numbers. There are people making donations to various special interest groups trying to stop this. You're just not hearing about it 'cause the State-Run Media is not focusing on the opposition to this.
CALLER: Actually today, over a thousand insurance and financial services representatives have descended upon Washington and are in meetings with their legislators today.
RUSH: Yeah. Well, I hope it --
CALLER: These are people that represent a number of different professional organizations.
RUSH: Yeah. Well, remember, you're no different than Big Oil. You're considered the enemy. You're cheating people. You're robbing people. That's how the Democrats are portraying what you do. It's a shame. That's what people need to know about how this party works. You were close when you said this is not about health care, it's about insurance. It's not even about that. It's about power. It's about people in Washington. Once they get this they'll be able to regulate every aspect of every human life in this country on the basis of the cost impact that behavior has on government health care costs and the idea we need to keep them down. So it's hideous, it's insidious, and I want to say one more thing to you. Never, ever be afraid to pat yourself on the back because if you don't do it, who will?
CALLER: Well, fortunately we have a --
RUSH: If you're proud of what you do, if you're proud of what you do, be proud.
CALLER: I am and we have a very large client base that does for at that for us often enough.
RUSH: It ain't bragging if you can do it.
CALLER: Well, after 20 years we like to think we're pretty good at what we do.
RUSH: I'm sure you are, and I don't doubt for a moment you've got satisfied clients. I appreciate the call, Mark. Thanks much. Hickory. I have been there. Rush to Excellence Tour in the first year or two of this program, a big furniture capital of North Carolina. Hickory, this is Jimmy. It's great to have you on the program, sir, hello.
CALLER: Rush, I'm glad I was able to get on your show.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Yes. What I would like to talk about is, you know, they keep saying, "You know, it's going to cost $1.5 trillion," and so forth, and --
RUSH: Oh, is it 1.5 now? It was 1.3 this morning.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: (snorts) 1.5? It's going to be 2.2 minimum!
CALLER: Yeah. Well, what I don't understand is they say that they're gonna pay for part of it by these "savings" from Medicare and Medicaid. Well, why don't they do that savings already?
RUSH: There's a problem there. There aren't any savings in either program. They're about as broke as everything else is on the entitlement side of things. Save money? The only way that they can save money here is to ration care, and they're ration it against the elderly. Grandma. Grandpa.
CALLER: Yep.
RUSH: And they're going to say... Look, folks, I'm telling you the honest-to-God truth. You get the government and Obama and his people in charge of it, the only way they can save money -- if they even really care about that. I don't think they even care about that. They're just saying they do to get it passed. But if they do want to save money, the only way they can do it is to tell somebody close to life expectancy who's got a disease: "Sorry, you're going to die, anyway. It's not worth the cost to save you. Take a pain pill." Obama as much as said so in a health care address recently. (interruption) Oh, yeah, yeah. If you have any complaints go to Justice Ginsburg.
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RUSH: This is Shannon in Summerton, South Carolina. It's great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Rush, mega dittos. This is a real honor to talk to you.
RUSH: Thank you very much.
CALLER: I am the wife of a recently retired United States Marine Corps officer, 21 years served, and I am seeing things in this in this country that are absolutely shaking me to the core. I'm in the middle of raising two girls -- who, by the way, do not throw like our current commander-in-chief.
RUSH: All right!
CALLER: (giggling)
RUSH: Right on, right on, right on, right on.
CALLER: But I'm seeing more and more that the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill being able to come to a compromise in the Oval Office are over. There's a line that's being drawn that needs to be drawn in this country. Republicans need to quit being afraid of being called racist, of being called bigots, of being called small-minded for standing up for what is right. And then this line... I see two sides now where you're either going to stand on the side of everything that made this country great, or you are going to stand on the side of what is going to be the fall of this country and everything ever fought for and worked hard for.
RUSH: You know, that is profound. We are at that point where it's time to choose sides. You're either going to stand aside and let this country be remade in ways our Founders would not recognize --
CALLER: Ever.
RUSH: -- that will end the days of prosperity or you're going to stand up for the country. Standing mute is not an option right now.
CALLER: No.
RUSH: So what are you reacting to? It's a great point, but what are you reacting to? The Republican --
CALLER: No, I just see -- whether it's in the House; the Senate; these hearings; the White House using our Bill of Rights, the Constitution pretty much as a hand towel to wipe their hands with -- I mean, it's all over the place. The media is in the back pocket. You know, people are afraid to be... You know, Senators don't want to be aligned with you because they're afraid they'll be seen as small-minded or in the minority. And it's the minority that they're thinking about and that they need to be fighting for, because that is the backbone of this country. It always has been and it always will be, and we've gotta start standing up straight and be heard.
RUSH: Forgive me here, but my ego is my ego --
CALLER: (giggling)
RUSH: -- and it sounds to me like what you are saying is that these senators who it is said are timid because they are afraid of being compared to me or they are pandering, what you're saying is they should be in my back pocket, not running away from me, right?
CALLER: Absolutely. My neighbor is afraid to be called, you know, right-wing conservative Republican.
RUSH: We know all about it. Look, there's genuine fear the left has made this happen. There is genuine fear in this country over speaking out. Great call. Thanks much.
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RUSH: All right, remember the week before last, I had a somewhat lengthy monologue on how fruitless and ridiculous it is to predict the future of the economy until we see every program the Democrats are going to pass and sign into law. For example, until we know that cap and trade is actually going to be passed and signed into law, we can't tell anybody -- we can't predict -- what kind of economic growth there's going to be, what the employment numbers are going to be. And we can't do it because if cap and trade happens, it's gonna devastate the US economy. And if health care happens on top of that it's going to double devastate the US economy.
So all these predictions that you're hearing from Obama, "Yeah, well, we're gonna start to have a jobless recovery. It's gonna start turning around. We're in the end of the recession here, economic growth," doesn't mean diddly-squat. Even if in the next quarter it shows growth -- and if it does, then they're gonna be all kinds of celebration, "The stimulus worked!" and so forth -- but then they passed these two things? If they do, bye-bye growth forever, folks. That's how bad all of this is. Bye-bye, sayonara growth for a generation or two -- and I'll tell you something about health care. People ask me, "Rush, you keep saying once they get that, we can't roll it back. How is that? Why can't we just...?
"If they pass a law, they nationalize health care and it goes back, why can't a future president and Congress simply pass new law saying, 'No, we're not going to do it anymore'?" Here's one of the reasons why, and this is just one of the reasons. Where is Obama going to get these promised cuts in health care? He's going to doctors, the AMA, hospitals. He has announced that he's going to squeeze insurance companies and doctors, meaning they're gonna earn less. Now, if you are an enterprising person, you have the aptitude, the education, or the intelligence to go to medical school, graduate, either be a GP or a specialist. Why are you gonna bother? Why you gonna bother, if you're not going to make any money?
After all it's going to cost you to go to med school. You want to go for altruistic reasons to a point but it's also a living, and if it's not going to provide you the living because you're going to be squeezed in order for government health care to so-called be affordable. So with fewer doctors in the picture, you just can't say, "Okay, we're getting rid of this," 'cause where will the doctors be? We will not have a supply of doctors to pick up the demand once you go back. With tax cuts, but if they raise taxes say to 90% -- you could roll back tax rates, tax increases you could say roll them back -- but with the intricacies of health care and all of the interdependence of thousands of government agencies and doctors and Medicare... And, by the way, it's being modeled after an abject failure, Medicare. So rolling it back is not going to be easy, and it's not something that can be done on a dime, stopped on a dime like lowering tax rates can.
Now, when you talk about predicting the future of the economy, you can't, as I said, until you know what of this agenda is going to pass. If any of this madness gets crammed down our throats, every economic prediction you're hearing today is worthless. This is such an opportunity for the Republicans right now, given Sonia Sotomayor illustrates it. The idea is a contrast like our last caller said: This is it. You stand up, take a side, choose. There are two sides now. We don't have time to pander to moderates. We don't have time to pander to people that don't have the courage of their own convictions. We don't have time to pander to people that don't know what they think until they figure out what the majority thinks and then agree with them.
The two choices are: Are we going to remake America and destroy the elements that made it great and have permanent poverty and lack of opportunity disguised and called fairness, or are we going to maintain this country as it was founded: as a beacon of freedom and liberty around the world to people everywhere who wish to come here, that offers unbridled economic opportunity, depending on how much you want to put into it? Those days will be over if the Obama agenda succeeds. There won't be enough capital. There won't be enough money in the private sector. It's all going to be taken over by government. The car companies are an example, the mortgage industry. Health care, that's one-sixth -- one-sixth! -- of the US economy, one-sixth of our GDP. You take that out of the private sector. That means the private sector has shrunk by one-sixth. That means there's less capital for people to compete for and earn, and there's less opportunity for that remaining five-sixths (and it's going to be less than that because all this other stuff's going to take even more of the private sector) to grow. So it's time to choose sides.
It really is. And for the Republicans, this is not the time to start debating the future of the Republican Party and, "Do we need to get rid of the social issues? Do we need to get rid of the conservative Christians? Do we need to become more moderate and seek out the Hispanic vote? Do we have to go out to the black vote? Do we have to go out to the female vote? Do we have to go out to the Asian vote?" We don't have the luxury of playing those kinds of political games because the future of the country is at stake, and there is only one choice in opposition to Obama. We cannot say that as a party to survive, "We must recognize that the American people want big government. They like government doing things for them and we must find a way to reach them and the people in the middle class, and we must find a way to get there and tell them that we can do it better for them." This is not a time to compromise on the belief that limited government, personal freedom, is the definition of greatness of this country. It's time for the Republican Party to put aside its primary calculation of, "How can we win elections?" and instead focus on, "How can we save America?" and in the process, they will win elections if they are oriented toward saving the country, 'cause those are the two choices. The lady from Louisiana was right.
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Throws like a girl, does everything else like a barbarian.
Methinks you would have done better ;-)
It would have been close. ;-)
Wasn’t even close.
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