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March 11, 2009 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:18
March 11, 2009, Wednesday, Hour #1
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Welcome to today's edition of the Rush 24-7 podcast.
Ladies and gentlemen and my fellow citizens, according to the latest polling data from the McClatchy News Organization, you are listening to one of the most popular Americans in the country.
Rush Limbaugh, host of the most listened to radio talk show in America.
Heard right here on the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.
It's great to have you with us.
A telephone number if you'd like to join us.
As always, is 800-282-2882.
Speaking of that, Open Line Friday on Wednesday today.
I'm out tomorrow and Friday on a long scheduled charity outing.
And Open Line Friday and Wednesday means that when we go to the phones, you can talk about whatever you want to talk about, not what I demand to be discussed here.
And by the way, that demand comes from the fact I'm a benevolent dictator.
I just don't want to talk about things that bore me because nobody's going to want to listen to that.
But on Fridays, I take a great risk for those of you new to the program and turn over the programming content here to lovable and adorable, but nevertheless rank amateurs.
I am the highly trained broadcast specialist steering this program through the currents.
But on Friday, we let the deck hands have at it, and it's always fun.
So we're going to do that on Wednesday today.
Again, 800-282-2882 and email address lrushbow at EIBNet.com.
The McClatchy Company.
It's just hilarious.
I used to work for them, by the way.
The radio station in Sacramento that still carries my program, KFBK, AM1530, is owned by McClatchy.
They own the Sacramento B. Newspaper there hated me when I was there.
But they have done a poll.
They have done a national poll.
And they have found that about a third of the American people have a highly favorable opinion of me.
Ladies and gentlemen, that makes me one of the most popular Americans in the country.
And yeah, they're the ones that found me.
I mean, McClatchy's the one that you'd have to say that gave me my big break.
But if I have an approval rating above a third, I mean, that makes me higher than Congress.
That makes me higher than lawyers.
That puts me with a higher approval rate than Hollywood.
And also that my approval number of 33% is higher than Obama's numbers are going to be when his presidency is over in 2012.
And also, if I'm my approval number, 33%, that's higher than Vice President Biden's IQ.
So this is fabulous news.
The Rasmussen poll has out today in the daily tracking poll, the president's approval numbers at 56%.
They are not climbing the presidential approval numbers and plus the presidential approval index.
That's the difference between strongly approve and strongly disapprove is now just plus six.
And those two lines, it started out when he was inaugurated at plus 30.
So he's gone from a plus 30, around plus 30, presidential approval index to plus 6, lost 24 points.
That's big.
Now, those two lines, there's a graph here on the Rasmussen website.
And there's a graph here.
And when those two lines intersect and get to zero, it's going to be big problems.
We've had another American titan, business titan, admit that he voted for Obama, but now says it's time for the Messiah to get rid of the chaos, to stop the chaos.
This is Andy Grove, retired now, but chairman emeritus, I think, at Intel Corporation.
And it's right out of the page of Jack Welch yesterday and Warren Buffett yesterday and Barton Biggs yesterday.
Oh, we love the guy.
Oh, have you seen the family?
They just look so great in the pictures there.
And a couple of people making, we just love the guy.
These policies are destroying the country.
But chaos out there.
But we love the guy.
We voted for the guy.
Oh, it's going to be a while before these people actually have.
See, they're all saying privately.
We know what they're saying publicly.
If they're saying publicly, hey, you got to stop the chaos.
Hey, these policies are not working.
They won't work.
Mr. President, you've got to do this.
Love the guy.
The family looks just, is it wrong?
Is it wrong for a man to love another man?
But you have to imagine what they're saying in private about this now.
I guarantee you, the people who know what they're doing in business, regardless of their political persuasion, have got to be concerned, especially, did you hear the president's press conference today?
Sorry, he doesn't do press conferences.
Excuse me.
President Obama does teleprompter conferences.
Have you noticed, by the way, that President Obama is now doing all of his appearances either before this program or after this program?
Do you know why?
Want to know why?
Because the White House is convinced, despite this latest poll from McClatchy, the White House is convinced that they have driven my polls.
I'm a radio guy.
Now, admittedly, my friends, I understand where I am now.
I understand what's happening.
I have transcended media now.
I have transcended mere broadcasting.
Still, I'm a radio guy.
They think that they have so successfully driven down my numbers that they're perfectly content for the president not to conflict with me now.
They believe that the more people who hear me, the better it will be for the president.
Now, I know there were no polls when Paul Revere began his ride, but I'll bet his numbers weren't very high.
Don't worry, folks.
I live in the world of principle.
I don't live in the world of polls, and I shall not be deterred in standing up for what I think is right and for my country.
Plain and simple.
So have no fear.
My brother, God love him.
My little brother David, noted columnist, attorney, broadcast agent, audio video expert, sent me a little note last night and said, are you okay?
How are you holding up?
I said, well, what?
Because it was about 9.30.
And he said, well, all this demonization.
I said, what demonization?
I haven't seen any tonight.
Oh, it's all over the place.
He said, well, I haven't had the television on.
I've been doing other things.
And I wrote back.
The thing that people don't understand is that this is not new.
This demonization has been going on for 18 years.
And, you know, I am not burdened.
So this is very, very key.
For those of you, and I love you, and you know who you are, for those of you who are worried about me, please don't be.
I am not burdened with the hope of expectations that those in the media and the Democrat Party are all of a sudden going to love me.
And as such, I'm never disappointed.
I'm never surprised.
I don't expect.
It's like I've told you, don't look to the media to determine whether or not conservatism is winning the day.
They're never, if you're looking to the wrong places for validation.
So I'm not burdened with the expectations of validation from places I know it's not going to come.
So it's not, I know what I'm into, and it is what it is.
I appreciate everybody's concern, but I'm actually having more fun here than I've had in years.
This is exciting each and every day.
Because I'll tell you what I see, and it's plain as day.
A lot of other people see it, but they won't admit it.
But there are huge problems inside the White House.
There are huge problems with the White House relationship with the world.
There are huge problems among the intelligent people, business people that voted for this man.
There is a lot of concern out there over this ain't the way to go.
We can beat this back.
Do you understand, folks, that if the Republicans can get their act together and somehow win back a significant number of seats in the House and Senate, we can stop and prevent a lot of the first stimulus package from going into play because it doesn't go into play until 2011 and 2010.
And now, by the way, did I tell you or did I tell you?
Stimulus 2.
The only thing I was wrong about is they're not waiting until the summer to talk about it.
We need a new stimulus.
Washington Post has it right here.
Congress may need to fund another stimulus.
Economists don't see the 3.5 million jobs being saved by the $1.6 trillion spent so far.
It's too small.
This was always in the cards.
There is no job being saved or created because there's no stimulus in the first bill.
This was nothing more than a head fake trick to get all of these liberal pet projects into law.
And now supposed stimulus will come.
And then there will be TARP too.
There's no mystery what's happening here.
It's just that people, like we were discussing yesterday, people are reluctant to admit what they really know about liberals and about liberalism.
Even though it's been in front of their faces for years, they have to see it happening at the moment.
And this is going to wake a lot of people up.
I'm encouraged.
I'm optimistic about this.
I see an administration on the run here.
I see a president who won't take questions in the press.
I see a president who won't sign this earmarks bill.
By the way, this omnibus, this is earmarkulous.
The earmarkulus bill was signed after he said he wouldn't sign it.
And after he delivers his little press conference in the White House, he ducks out, doesn't take any questions, and doesn't sign it in public because he knows he's a blatant hypocrite on this.
Here, let's listen to a couple of sound bites from President Obama this morning speaking about the earmarkulus bill.
The awarding of earmarks to private companies is the single most corrupting element of this practice, as witnessed by some of the indictments and convictions that we've already seen.
What?
Private companies differ from the public entities that Americans rely on every day.
When you give it to public companies, public entities like fire departments, and if they are seeking taxpayer dollars, then I think all of us can feel some comfort that the state or municipality that's benefiting is doing so because it's going to trickle down and help the people in that community.
When they're private entities, then I believe they have to be evaluated with a higher level of scrutiny.
Can I translate this for you?
Government earmarks are cool.
An earmark to your local fire department or police department or your local dog catcher, an earmark to any government entity, that's cool.
That's fine.
That's efficient.
But earmarks for private industry, we're going to have much more scrutiny on that.
Money trickles down from government, not from the private sector.
Timothy Geithner said, we've tried to do at the same time is make sure people understand that when recovery is firmly established, we're going to get back to living within our means as a country.
Capitalism will be different.
Capitalism will be different.
This is the warning call.
I have been shouting to everybody.
There won't be any capital.
Capitalism is capitalism.
When capitalism is different, it isn't capitalism.
This is what they're aiming for.
This is their objective.
It must be defeated.
It must be stopped.
Here's the second soundbite, specifically on earmarks.
Let there be no doubt.
This piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability that the American people have every right to expect and demand.
If we're going to solve our economic crisis, if we're going to put Americans back to work, if we're going to make the investments required to build a foundation for our future growth, then we must restore the American people's faith that their government is working for them and that it's on their side.
That's the government I promise.
That's the government I intend to lead.
He promises no earmarks.
He promises to lead a government of responsible spending while signing by the debt that's being run up.
Judge Gregg said this, the debt that is being run up by this administration in five years will trump the entire debt run up by the nation since its founding.
So after today, really, after today, you're going to get what I promised.
After today, only a few earmarks that I approve.
After today, only earmarks that go to government agencies.
So get this.
It is trickled down.
It is fabulous.
It is wonderful when government money trickles down to local and state governments.
That's great.
That's wonderful.
That's efficient.
And that's responsible.
But when government money trickles down to you in the form of tax cuts, and that, by the way, is not the correct way to put it, but for this analogy, it works.
When government money trickles down to you in the form of tax cuts, that's bad.
That's horrible.
We can't have that.
That's what he just said.
We can't have that.
Now, granted, tax cuts are not trickled down because all money originates with the producers in this country other than what these clowns are printing.
But all money originates with the people who produce it, and that's not government.
So it's not technically correct to call a tax cut a trickle-down.
But when the government, in their munificence, allows us to keep more of our money, that's horrible.
But when the government takes your money and then redistributes it to other government agents, whoa, I mean, that's orgasmic.
Well, that's cool.
That's neat.
That's exactly what Barack Obama just said.
By the way, In the ear markulus bill that was signed today, as predicted, the Democrat Party has sold out African-American school children in Washington, D.C.
They did sneak a provision into the ear markulous spending bill that cleared the Senate, which closes down the school choice program in Washington called Schoolmates.
What's it called?
Oh, it's a special scholarship program, but it takes African-American minority kids, gives their parents vouchers, and lets them go to places like Sidwell Friends, where the Obama girls go.
That program has been killed.
The teachers' unions win.
Inferior public schools win.
So here we have, let's sum it up, Jack Welch.
We got now Andy Grove.
We got Barton Biggs.
We got Jim Kramer.
We've got Warren Buffett.
They say, they say that they don't want Obama to fail, but they know he is.
We are back.
Rush Limbaugh.
By the way, here's another thing.
In addition to McClatchy determining that I am one of the most popular Americans in the country today with a personal approval rating of 33%, do you realize that I have achieved this 33% approval rating without pandering to anybody and without giving away your money to other people?
Can you imagine what my approval number would be if I had the ability to give away your money to other people?
Why, I'd be over 50% too.
But I, my friends, don't live in the world of polls.
I live in the world of principal.
Andy Grove, former Intel CEO, Washington Post today.
We've gone through months of chaos, experimenting with ways to introduce stability in our system.
The goals were to allow the financial institutions to do their jobs.
I believe by now the people are eager for the administration to reign in the chaos, but it is not happening.
And until the administration does this, we should not embark on attempting to fix another major part of the economy.
Healthcare system, energy, environmental policies.
Fine and dandy, but we're not ready for this yet.
This has caused the president to ask for time on this program to respond.
A message to the nation from President Obama responding to Democrat voters, big business tycoons who voted for him and now admit publicly to having reservations about his policies, not so much his vote for him.
That will come later.
The Democrats have run, started a new ad featuring me.
Ladies and snardly, it's not worth yelling at them.
If they're not qualified, just hang up and move on to the next caller.
Gee Wick.
We are back.
Rush Limbaugh Open Line Friday on Wednesday.
We will be getting to your phone calls.
During the course of the program today, Ras Musson reports latest poll 35%.
No!
Is this 53?
Just a second.
53 is it.
53%.
The American people say it is likely we will enter a depression similar to the 30s.
53% say it's likely we will enter a depression.
And they want me to believe that Obama's approval number is at 56%.
53%?
You know what that means?
That means President Brahma Obama has failed to bring hope to Americans.
How can there be any hope when a majority of Americans fear we are going to enter a depression?
And how about Nancy Pelosi getting her panties in a wad over the fact the military doesn't have G5s ready for her every time she wants to take one?
What about being tone depth?
Do any of you Democrats have any problems whatsoever with the arrogance and the sense of entitlement?
Nancy Pelosi gets mad when there isn't a G5 to take her family and friends wherever she wants to go.
And, well, I know she's a speaker to House.
Big whoop.
How many books did she sell?
She sold fewer books than David Fromm, and you've got to work hard to sell that few books.
You know, well, not keeping the aviation industry alive.
In fact, the people of Wichita want Obama to go out there and see what the private aviation industry means to Wichita.
You know what happens when she calls up?
She calls up, she calls the Air Force over at Andrews Air Force Base and orders an airplane.
They have to, it costs a lot of money to get an airplane off the line, out there serviced, fueled, and ready to go, and it takes people.
Then she calls and cancels.
That's money that is being wasted.
Then there's this sense of entitlement that she gets to fly around on a government airplane whenever she wants.
And if it doesn't happen, why, the speaker's going to be very, very mad.
Speaker is going to be very, very mad.
So 53% of the American people think we're headed into a depression like the 30s.
Nancy Pelosi's out there worrying about she can't get a G5 to go home on or wherever she wants to go.
Would somebody explain to me where is the hope?
Where is the hope?
53% think we're entering a depression.
By the way, illustration here of just how the media is totally in the tank for President Obama, the Democrats.
As I told you, as I predicted weeks ago, there will be a second stimulus package by summertime.
The only thing I was wrong about, they're not waiving the summertime.
They're talking about it now.
Congress may need to fund another stimulus, Pelosi says.
I have here, I am holding in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers, a summary of news stories backing up the need for stimulus too.
From the French news agency from yesterday, President Obama's pledge to create over 3.5 million jobs will fall short of its target.
Lawmakers have been warned.
From Dow Jones, Democrats were given a report by economists suggesting the initial recovery package will create or save 2.5 million jobs, far short of Obama's goal of 3.5 million.
Now, you have to understand, none of these stories are critical.
All of these stories push the notion, oh yeah, we need stimulus too.
ABC News.
President Obama has repeatedly said that his porculus plan would save or create at least 3.5 million jobs.
But today, House Democrats heard a sharply downsized prediction.
1 million fewer jobs.
Ooh, we need stimulus too.
And then here's, let's see, Congressional Quarterly, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, all chiming in.
I'll tell you something else.
We know they have this call every morning from the White House, from Rahm Emanuel, that coordinates with all these Democrat special interest groups.
And there's a new theme out there that we are at war.
The economy with the, we are at war.
And General Obama must have support from everybody.
Even Thomas Friedman has written a sadly hilarious, naive, and sophomoric piece in the New York Times today about the war on the economy and how to bring it back.
And it's soundbite city from people all over the media who are backing this up.
Details coming up in a moment.
But here's the latest Rush ad of the day.
Sterdley, I want you to put whoever you're talking to on hold.
I'm being distracted by the fact today that the people you're talking to are irritating you.
It's not worth, you are the one guy, other than in the media, You're the one guy who can hang up on anybody you want to.
You're a call screener.
If you determine in five seconds that they're not going to be any good, you hang up.
You don't argue with them and tell them how to get better.
You know it's a failing process.
The only other place this is going to happen is at a newspaper.
Call them up and tell them they're biased.
You get a dial tone.
It is your job to hang up on people that waste your time, not to sit there and argue with them.
So take a break.
I want you to listen to the ad, the latest Rush ad of the day.
This ad being run by the League of Conservation Voters.
Now, there's video here, of course.
Video of Senator Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, James Inhoff.
They use my mouth and my words.
And after that, you will hear Governor Schwarzenegger and Governor Charlie Christ of Florida.
I'm not in charge of the Republican Party.
Oh, really?
Ours is a world that runs on oil.
It always will.
Biofuels, windmills, hybrid cars, new light bulbs, a drop in the ocean.
They have a political agenda behind global warming, and it is more government, more spending, less freedom, higher taxes, so forth and so on.
Man-made global warming is a hoax.
When it comes to clean energy and global warming, Republican leaders in Washington sound a lot like Rush Limbaugh.
Fortunately, some Republicans are still speaking for themselves.
We have the chance, if we act quickly, to really stop the global warming.
There are so many innovative, new entrepreneurial opportunities that will stem from this.
The question is, are Republican leaders in Washington with us or are they with Rush?
I want him to fail.
Now, what they've done, when you heard my voice, they put my words in the mouth of Mitch McConnell and then John Boehner and then James Inhoff to make it look like they are parroting me, that I am running the show.
Now, see, here's what I like about the ad is that I firmly believe everything I said in this ad is true.
And I want to thank the League of Conservation Voters for helping to spread my message in your audiences to your audiences via your ad.
It's about time the American people heard the truth of the hoax of man-made global warming.
See, this is why, my friends, I am not down and out.
I haven't said anything I don't believe.
So why should I be upset that they're playing it all over the country?
I do want the president to fail at trying to socialize America.
I want the president to fail at trying to reorder the American economy.
In fact, it's not even a question of wanting him to.
He's going to.
This will fail.
The question we have is, can we bring about this failure soon enough so that we don't have to spend a couple generations undoing all of this for your children, your grandchildren, and all the others.
Brief time out.
We'll be back after an El Rushbo obscene profit time.
By the way, I normally would not release this kind of information, but there have been noted efforts to impugn this program's ratings and success as part of the effort to demonize me.
We here at the EIB network in the midst of a recession have just closed the first quarter of 2009.
Revenues at the EIB network in the first quarter of 2009 are up 13.5% over first quarter revenues of 2008.
And at our revenue baseline, that is not an insignificant percentage or amount represented by it.
Now, here's the difference, or here's the thing.
This fact that I have recently imparted, oh, and I can share with you that we have just finished an analysis of Arbitron listening data for, what is it, is it January, February, January, February, February, March.
It could be all three months.
I'll have to check the email.
But the CUME audience, which means total bodies, is up 32%.
Now, when you're starting at a baseline of 20, 22 million, 32% is a significant number in the CUME.
And that's total listeners.
That's not getting into demographics.
It's total listeners.
Now, there are certain people who are responsible for this.
There are certain people who made this happen.
And I want to take a brief moment to thank them.
They are you, every one of you listening to this program.
You are the reason that I can report these increased numbers.
Our wonderful sponsors and advertisers are having tremendous success because of you.
And through all of this, the one thing I know is that every effort the past 20 years to divide me from you, my audience, has only strengthened the bond.
And that above all else means the most to me in this.
So it would be ridiculous for me to get down in the dumps.
It would be ridiculous for me to get depressed and to get worried about being demonized because human nature is proving out.
Just as I told the Politico, they're elevating me at the White House.
They are strengthening the bond between all of us involved.
That means you in this program's success.
So thank you very much.
We'll take a brief time out for an obscene profit center break here and be back after this.
Okay, it's finally been posted.
I've been waiting for this.
When I got in here to our broadcast complex this morning, there was an email from Bill Salmon at Fox News.
He's the D.C. Assistant Bureau Chief there.
And he said, Rush, I'm working on a piece here.
I hope to have it ready by the time your show starts.
And here it is.
And I read this and I just smiled.
Mouth fell open a little bit and I just smiled.
And then Bill Salmon asked me for any input.
Would you like to reply to what I learned?
So I sent him a note back.
And the story has been posted at FoxNews.com.
It's also linked, by the way, at the Drudge Report.
The headline, flashback, Carville wanted Bush to fail.
But that is only half the story.
The press never reported that Democrat strategist James Carville said he wanted President Bush to fail before the September 11th terrorist attacks.
But a feeding frenzy ensued when radio host Rush Limbaugh recently said that he wanted Obama's policies to fail.
Here you go, folks.
Listen to this.
On the morning of September 11th, 2001, just minutes before learning of the terror attacks on America, Democrat strategist James Carville was hoping for President Bush to fail, telling a group of Washington reporters, quote, I certainly hope he doesn't succeed, unquote.
Carville was joined by Democrat pollster Stanley Greenberg, who seemed encouraged by a survey he had just completed that revealed public misgivings about the newly minted president.
Greenberg admitted, well, we rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I'm wanting them to turn against him.
Greenberg wanted to do a poll that would cause the American people to turn against Bush on the morning of 9-11.
You see, the dirty little secret is that an honest utterance by me, purely uttered for the sake of my country, is turned into a scandal.
And last week, it was the number two news item in this country, according to some media group.
Economy was number one.
I was the number two group.
Yet it is standard operating procedure for the Democrat Party to not do things in the best interests of the country, but rather in the best interests of their party.
I am not the Republican Party, and I didn't say what I said for the benefit of the Republican Party.
I said what I said because I love America and our people, and I want everyone to succeed.
After Greenberg said, yeah, we rush into these focus groups with these doubts that people have about him, and I'm wanting them to turn against him.
I want the people to turn against Bush.
Greenberg then said with a chuckle, they don't want him to fail.
I mean, they think it matters that the President of the United States fails.
So the people in their focus groups did not want Bush to fail, but they turned around and ginned up, or were prepared to gin up a bunch of research designed to convince the American people that Bush should fail, and they did.
You have to admit it.
However, minutes later, as news of the terror attacks reached the hotel conference room where all this was happening, Carville shouted to the media, disregard everything we just said.
Disregard everything.
These attacks change everything.
What'd they change it for?
Three weeks?
What was it, three or four weeks?
The Democrats, Bush isn't doing anything.
Bush isn't responding.
Bush.
Three weeks, and they were back on the case of Bush this and Bush that.
The press followed Carville's orders, never reporting his or Greenberg's desire for Bush to fail.
That omission stands in stark contrast to the feeding frenzy that ensued when Limbaugh recently said he wanted Obama to fail.
Here's what I told Bill Salmon in the piece.
Said the difference between Carville and his ilk and me is that I care about what happens to my country.
I'm not saying what I say for political advantage.
I oppose actions such as Obama's socialist agenda that hurt my country.
I deal in principles, not polls.
Carville, people like him breathe political exploitation.
This is all a game to them.
It's not a game to me.
I'm concerned about the well-being and survival of our nation.
When has Carville ever advocated anything that would benefit the country at the expense of his party?
That's what I told Bill Samon.
That's in the story.
We've got to take another obscene profit timeout.
Thank you.
Back after this.
Okay, the Democrat Party last night in the media picked up Warren Buffett's theme that we are at war with the economy.
I'm going to have fun illustrating this because they've included me.
So we'll get to that after this break.
Another obscene profit.
Well, this is news.
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