Posted on 11/16/2013 6:53:21 PM PST by markomalley
One of the leading critics of Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton’s effort to delay the onset of certain provisions of Obamacare has been conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
“This would be a tone-deaf disaster if the Republican leadership lets Fred Upton ascend to the chairmanship of the House energy committee,” Limbaugh said on his radio show earlier this week. “This is exactly the kind of nannyism, statism, what have you, that was voted against and was defeated last week. No Republican complicit in nannyism, statism, can be rewarded this way.”
On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Friday night, Upton suggested Limbaugh check with him before launching into his criticism, pointing to the reactions from conservative groups and the media to dispute Limbaugh’s notion.
Partial transcript as follows:
HEWITT: OK, now you have tempted me into breaking my no first name rule, because I’m going to use two of them. So Fred, yesterday, Rush urged the House not to touch this, because it in essence, it’s throwing a lifeline to the President and saving a bill that’s collapsing, don’t get near it, don’t ruin the brand, go for full repeal. What’s your response to that?
UPTON: Well, a couple of things, and you know, it would have been nice if he had maybe checked in with us and gotten information. We had a lot of groups, Club for Growth and others endorse our bill. A couple of things — first of all, what do you say to those millions of people that are all of a sudden out of luck come January 1? That’s not what we ought to be doing. We ought to be thinking about those people. The other thing is I’m just looking at the headlines today, Hugh. And in The Wall Street Journal, I mean, these are headlines that are like war is over. ‘Obama Retreats On Health Rules,’ left to right, right underneath the banner. New York Times: ‘In A Reversal, Obama Moves To Avert The Cancellation Of Health Policies,’ and it’s got a pretty sour face in his picture right underneath it, right underneath the banner. USA Today: ‘Health Law Shakes Presidency,’ left to right. Washington Times: Same picture of the president, ‘The Obamacare Retreat.’ Washington Post: Picture of a — not very flattering pictures of the president, ‘Obama Offers a Insurance Fix,’ ‘And you know, that’s on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this health care law.’
HEWITT: Yeah.
UPTON: We’ve done in a week’s time what a shutdown and everything else, where we didn’t have the numbers, let’s face it, to try and reverse the fix that we’re in.
As for why Upton put the delay at just a year, Upton said that was the best way to ensure it got passed.
“We wanted to pass it,” he said. “That was our objective. We wanted to provide some immediate relief to the people that were bitterly concerned about the prospects of their own plan. We thought a one year was good enough that we would not only keep most of the Republicans, and we did, but have a good chance of getting a number of Democrats as well, which we did. Remember, we won by more than 100 votes. Had we done a longer period, it might have been more of a showpiece than an actual piece that you could actually get done, and we wanted to, again, two days ago, before the president undercut us with what is in essence his executive order. We had more than 300 votes for this.”
Upton is the evil monster who funded Obamacare back in 2010 .
I recall this DC lobbyist troll was doing the K street lobbyist bidding by funding it.
He also gave us those vile light bulbs thanks to him being owned by the GE lobbyist moneyman.
bingo
you have nailed it.
yes, that us why Upton funded it back in 2010 .
K street lobbyist troll or Working for the Lobbyist bagman Upton ,
Why did Upton find this monster after he had the power to not fund it back in 2011 ?...
Nothing at all - The Dems need this ACA Train to crash and burn so they can roll out their Single Payer Solution
Its a joke. I pay Rush sixty dollars a year so I can joke about him.
Drivel and blather…not a single coherent explanation in the entire stream of froth from his mouth.
Levin said it best on Friday…”Stop trying to come up with bandaids. Instead, REPEAL the unconstitutional, anti-captialist, anti-liberty monstrosity.”
Kansas58: “The conservative movement owes a great deal to Rush Limbaugh.”
Rush owes even more to the Conservative Movement. We are what made him. He isn’t as brilliant as he proclaims to be and he isn’t always right. Rush reminds me of the Monday morning quarterbacks hanging around the coffee shop in the fall. They always know more than the coaches, players and other fans.
Carrying the football analogy a bit further, the Conservative Movement (and Republican Party for that matter) is like a football team and every player wants to call the plays and play QB.
Uptown is just like the CFL light bulbs he pushes - an overpriced, overrated dim-bulb.
So because he did something bad in the past, he cant possibly do anything good in the future... that’s your argument?
And because of that, we should stand with Progressives railing against the Bill instead of with Tea Party members voting for it? Seriously?
*sigh*
...no matter how you feel about Upton, HIS BILL REPEALS A MAJOR PART OF WHAT MAKES OBAMACARE EVER POSSIBLY WORK, and likely crushes the Exchange to the point it will never get back on track - how is that in any way possible bad?
We are being offered 90% of what we want and people here are screaming ‘nooo, that would be the worst thing in the world! He’s eeeeeevvvvviiiiilllll!!!1!’ - its straight pitiful how entrenched the stupidity seems to be on the topic...
Or here let’s put it this way; Headline at the Washington Post:
“The Insiders: The Upton bill is the biggest threat to Obamacare so far”
...yet so-called “conservatives” here: “nooooo, don’t do it!!!1!”
But go ahead, stand with the Progressives screaming bloody murder over this bill if you like; I’ll instead stand with the TEA Party Reps who voted for it
Why should anyone need to “check in” with the guy responsible for banning Edison’s light bulb?
What about the Landrieu bill in the Senate?
“Its a joke. I pay Rush sixty dollars a year so I can joke about him.”
Ok, if it was a joke (which was not obvious) you’re off the hook. However, a lot of people have truly been slamming Rush for hawking his book, and I can’t understand them at all. What do they expect he would do, remain silent, and how would that be a winning strategy?
I realized years ago the Hewitt was a GOPe water carrier.
Full repeal will get those who have had their plans canceled back into their plans just as much as a one year extension, and it will last more than a year.
For some reason, the GOPe has a vested interest in NOT repealing Obamacare. They've got the momentum to push for repeal, and they keep talking delay.
Upton does not seem too bright, but his legislation may have some good (unintended) consequences. The GOP is now on record trying to “fix” the unfixable, and the Dems will look uncooperative. Luckily, the stupid legislation will really go nowhere. And it will stall other legislation (bad) until after the 2014 election.
UPTON: Well, a couple of things, and you know, it would have been nice if he had maybe checked in with us and gotten information.
Rush to get information from you? Rush is an information powerhouse and more than that he has brilliant insight whereas you Upton are blind, shallow and impotent.
UPTON: We had a lot of groups, Club for Growth and others endorse our bill.
And all will walk off the cliff together. The Club for Growth is a loose organization united by broad conservative principles but with no strategic thinking other that to react to events and to 'score' legislators according to a flawed application of conservative principles. For example, the Club for Growth scored Rubio highly as a conservative while ignoring that his singular progressive stance on immigration reform would doom the republican party for generations to come.
To be more graphic, the Club for Growth is more interested in counting the ribbons and medals that adorn the flag ranks rather than illuminating who has the 'right stuff' to win wars.
As conservatives we are not interested in drawing attention to our lapel pins. We are interested in defeating the Left and their progressive movement. Delaying Obamacare allows it to live to fight another day, and as the President has shown he will spend and do whatever it takes to push his brand of progressive politics down out throats.
A couple of things — first of all, what do you say to those millions of people that are all of a sudden out of luck come January 1? That’s not what we ought to be doing. We ought to be thinking about those people.
What nonsense. You don't comfort a rape victim by telling them their rapist won't be allowed to have contact with them for a year. You indict and convict the rapist and put them in prison. Then you promote self-defense education.
The other thing is I’m just looking at the headlines today, Hugh. And in The Wall Street Journal, I mean, these are headlines that are like war is over. ‘Obama Retreats On Health Rules,’ left to right, right underneath the banner. New York Times: ‘In A Reversal, Obama Moves To Avert The Cancellation Of Health Policies,’ and it’s got a pretty sour face in his picture right underneath it, right underneath the banner. USA Today: ‘Health Law Shakes Presidency,’ left to right. Washington Times: Same picture of the president, ‘The Obamacare Retreat.’ Washington Post: Picture of a — not very flattering pictures of the president, ‘Obama Offers a Insurance Fix,’ ‘And you know, that’s on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this health care law.’
This news is 'on Obama' because of Ted Cruz and Mike Lee. If not for them, this news would be on the likes of you Upton!
So now that Cruz and Lee have successfully cornered the President and held him accountable for the real and life threatening damage he is causing Americans, you want to call a time out and let him off?
UPTON: We’ve done in a week’s time what a shutdown and everything else, where we didn’t have the numbers, let’s face it, to try and reverse the fix that we’re in.
Say what? Upton you are delusional and in this context dangerous. The partial shutdown allowed for all this criticism to be placed on Obama! It certainly wasn't due to your attempt to preserve Obamacare for later.
How about, Elections have consequences?
Allowing the sheeple to go through yet another election cycle completely ignorant of the pain, horror and destruction of ObamaCare serves nobody's interest -- except Obama's and the Democrats'.
Forward, Comrades! We've passed the bill, now let us see what is really in it, so that all can vote accordingly in November 2014!
I believe Obama has already said he would veto it.
What has Upton gained if those Millions of people are just as screwed in January 2015 instead of January 2014? If we strike when the iron is hot, we can get rid of this monstrosity. But if we let Obama delay and adjust, we’ll be stuck with it forever.
I think that Fred Upton is all for government control, as long as he is the one doing the controlling. We need politicians who are willing to decrease their own power and prestige. Fred Upton is not one of those.
11am CST...
I do not often dissagree with the aforementioned radio entertainment personality...One thing is for sure, he has changed the way most of us approach issues, and most of the time his program these days is about 24 hours behind what most of us already know...And know what and how to interject in these crisis...
That is where we are succeeding...And we need to be rpoud that we are becoming a base of conservatism second to none...
He reinforces our conservatism now, and when there are differences of opinion, like now, I do believe he understands, and should be proud that he has been a part of fomenting this ressurgence of conservatism in this country...
Just my opinion...
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