And by the way, Rush continues to rest very comfortably in the hospital in Honolulu this afternoon or this morning.
He was taken to hospital yesterday after experiencing chest pains.
And while those chest pains can be an indicator of a cardiac event, we just won't know until all the tests have come in.
And obviously, out of respect for Russia's medical privacy, we'll wait for him to provide the detailed information.
And you can get the detailed information at rushlimbaugh.com.
We'll just keep everybody informed when there's information to share.
And know this, the Rush is in good and state.
Rush is in good and stable condition.
He's as comfortable as one can be in a hospital while on vacation.
And he's in the best of hands.
And you are in the best of hands with Walter Williams, substitute for Rush Limbaugh.
And by the way, I left you guys hanging the very first hour.
For those of you who are around the first hour, I was saying that I exercise four or five times a week.
And the lady who runs the gym, she brought me a tank top with a cutoff.
And I asked her, I said, look, Lisa, I'm getting cold with this.
And so I said, why are you getting me one of the cutoffs?
So she says, well, to provide eye candy.
And I'll say, I'm 73 years old.
I don't know what eye candy is.
And so she said, something for the ladies to look at.
And so that's why I'm not going to wear it anymore because I'm tired.
But I am just a very, very attractive man.
Oh, we have the senator on now.
Okay.
I just, I'm sorry.
I was just, I didn't know.
I thought we were waiting to get Senator Kay Bailey Hutchins on.
And welcome to the show.
Well, Walter, I wanted to know more about the eye candy.
Hey.
That was very interesting.
Welcome to the show, Senator.
Well, Walter, thank you.
And I was so glad to hear the report on Rush.
As one of his many fans, I was so glad to hear that he's resting well and that things look good.
And so I will certainly be anxious to hear that he is out of the hospital and back on the beaches in Wauke.
Okay.
And holding forth at EIB.
Okay.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Now, here's something, Senator, I want to ask you.
Are we doing enough in the protection of the American citizens when they travel on our airplanes?
Oh, Walter, that is such a relevant question and on everyone's minds now.
And clearly, there's a problem.
And for a person on the terrorist watch list to just get on an airplane without a delay or a complete body search is just astounding to all of us.
And we are going to have a hearing certainly in the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of the Transportation Security Agency.
And we're going to try to find out from the Secretary of our department, Janet Napolitano, just what in the world is going on and why the information either didn't get to the right people or if it did and wasn't acted on, that would be egregious as well.
So we're going to try to get to the bottom of it and talk to our Homeland Security.
I wish you luck, you know, because sometimes I used to fly commercially.
I don't fly commercially anymore because I've developed somewhat of a low tolerance for the behavior of the TSA people, and so I just don't fly commercially anymore.
But when I did, I was really searched, and I'm saying to myself, matter of fact, this has happened a number of years ago.
I was going through the security, and one of the bag handlers told me, one of the security people told me, well, I had an eyeglass repair kit, and he said, well, you can take the screws, but you can't take the screwdriver.
And so I told the guy, I said, it's nonsense.
Whoever heard of an airplane being hijacked with an eyeglass screwdriver?
So he said, wait here.
And so he called the supervisor, and the supervisor comes over and he says, what's wrong?
And so I repeat to myself.
He said, it's on the list.
Either you get on or you don't get, or you leave it here or you don't get on.
Now, and I've hear many stories like this.
And here, you know, if I were a terrorist, I would be happy to see these security people checking 86-year-old women, people with walkers, people who would exhibit no threat to the airplane.
In other words, what I'm saying, and I know maybe people in politicians or people in Washington can't say this, I think that there should be some kind of profiling.
Well, Walter, I think that, first of all, I think all of us have had experiences with security and even, oh, you know, you feel so bad when you have your arms up and they are, you know, putting the wand on you and all of that.
But I will say that in the instances where those things have happened, they've been very professional and they've been very courteous.
And I know some of them are not, but many of them are, and they have a tough job.
But I think that we have to be very factual.
And if someone is on a terrorist watch list or is acting strangely, I think that we have to act on that.
And I don't think political correctness has any place when you're talking about the terrorist threats that this country has faced and also the actual terrorist actions of 9-11.
I mean, and then not to mention what happened at Fort Hood.
I mean, that's another one where the information apparently was known to some government agency, and yet this Major Hassan was able to have free reign in and out of our military base and kill our innocent military people who are fighting for our freedom.
And I don't think that America wants that tolerated, and I don't either.
Well, you know, that's a nice segue into my next question for you.
And that is, we have people who shown some deficiencies in handling our security.
Now they want to take over our health care system.
The same people who handle the security and other, you know, who cannot officially handle that, they want to take over our health care system.
And tell me something.
Is there any constitutional basis for what Congress is proposing now?
I believe there is a constitutional basis to overturn what Congress is doing right now.
And I think there are several areas that I hope will be pursued.
The attorneys general of 13 states are saying right now to Congress, if you don't make Nebraska the same as every other state with regard to the increase in Medicaid responsibilities and taxes, then we're going to file a lawsuit on equal protection grounds.
And I think that's very valid.
In addition to that, one or actually two Nebraska insurance companies are going to get different tax treatment than the other insurance companies with whom they compete.
And that's, I think, a constitutional issue.
And then third, the individual mandate is going to be tested.
Can you be forced to buy something that you don't want and that is for your own use?
And so I think that's going to be tested.
And then I just think that everything that can be done to challenge this incredible government takeover of our health care system needs to be done.
And as you know, the Republicans were 100% in the Senate in voting against this bill.
It's egregious.
It's a tax bill.
It's a Medicare cut bill.
And for what purpose?
I mean, I don't think that we're going to lower the cost of health care nor make it more affordable for more people to have coverage.
That's right.
And now, I don't know the answer to this question, but is it possible and what is the probability that if the Republicans take over the House, if they win enough elections to take over the House and the Senate in 2010, what are the prospects of their repealing all these measures that have been taken, not only in health care,
but the stimulus package and many other things that are clearly, in my opinion, un-American and unconstitutional?
Walter, I think you've hit on the one silver lining in this very gray cloud, and that is the bill takes effect in 2014.
There are two elections between now and then.
2010 is congressional elections, and then 2012 is the presidential election and more congressional elections.
And I do believe that if we can take over Congress with Republicans who are committed to fighting against this health care takeover, we still have a chance to stop this incredible change in our health care system.
And I think that's what we're going to be left with doing.
We're going to have to gear up and we're going to have to be so grassroots active in this country to say we want our country back.
And I think that that ought to be a campaign pledge among Republicans when they're running.
Oh, absolutely.
I think it will be the focal point.
I mean, not only do you have this, but you've got the stimulus package, the debt that is being racked up by the Democratic majority.
You've got cap and trade following right along after this health care takeover.
We're talking about changing the way America lives and the way we have always known that free enterprise and freedom were the hallmark of American life, and we're losing so much of it in such a short time, it's breathtaking.
Yes, and I think that if you ask the question, which way are the American people heading?
And it's not just with the Obama administration, but which way are we heading?
Tiny steps at a time.
Are we headed towards more liberty or are we headed towards more government control over our lives?
I think would have to clearly be the latter.
Oh, I do too.
I mean, just in this one year, we have gone to $12 trillion in debt.
I think we're going to start seeing the weakening of our whole economic system if we don't get control of this spending.
And I think that we're marching toward the European system of government as Europe is wising up and going the other direction.
It's just amazing.
Yeah.
Well, look, Senator Hutchins, thank you very much for giving us this breathing.
And I wish you and your colleagues good luck.
And also, I'd like to congratulate you on one thing, and that is Representative John Shadegg from Arizona, since 1995, each new session of Congress, he introduces the Enumerated Powers Act.
And the Enumerated Powers Act, I believe the maximum number of co-sponsors it's ever had in the House has been around 54, and they never had any co-sponsors in the Senate until this year, until this session.
And I would like for you to thank your colleagues on my behalf, those who are co-signing, who are co-sponsoring the Enumerated Powers Act.
And for those of you listeners who don't know what the Enumerated Powers Act is, it's just a couple of sentences.
It says, whatever bills that Congress would pass, it has to specifically identify in the Constitution their authority for doing so.
What do you think about that, Senator?
I think it's great.
And, you know, maybe the reason there hadn't been a Senate sponsor before is because we didn't fear so much takeover of our government and the encroaching on the individual rights and the states' rights that are protected in our Constitution.
But we are in fear today.
The overtaking of states' rights, the Tenth Amendment is being run over.
And individual rights are being run over.
And we need to stand up and say no.
And I think we've got two elections that are going to be crucial to that in 2010 and 2012 where we can take our country back.
And I know that Rush will get back on the air and he will help us in that endeavor.
And we're going to all have to do our part, that's for sure.
And thank you very much, Senator, and good luck.
And thank you very much.
I want to thank you for substituting for Rush.
And I think it's great that Rush is doing well.
And we will all pray for him and pray for his family and hope that everything turns out fine.
And he is back with us and helping us in the march to stop this health care takeover and cap and trade and the debt that's being run up because he has certainly played a major role in helping to point out all of the bad things that are happening.
Well, thank you, Senator.
We're back, and it's Walter Williams sitting in for Rush.
And updates on Rush are available at RushLimbaugh.com when Rush lets us know what's going on.
That was K. Bailey Hutchinson we had on just a few minutes ago.
And you know, I was listening to one congressman giving a justification for mandating that people buy health insurance.
And he was saying, to show you how these people are and how they can just get over on Americans, he was saying, well, states mandate that you buy automobile insurance, so Congress can mandate that you buy health insurance.
What's the fuss?
Well, look, it's no comparison whatsoever because driving a car is a licensed activity.
And when you engage in a licensed activity, you agree to whatever terms are in the license.
And one of the terms, in order to drive a car, in most states, you have to know how to drive in the first place.
You have to be, you can't be blind.
And you have to buy health insurance.
I'm sorry, you have to buy automobile insurance.
Well, that's not the same thing with health insurance.
I mean, to make it comparable to health insurance, states would have to require everybody to buy auto insurance, whether they owned a car or not, whether they were blind, whether they were two years old, or whether they were 105.
It's no comparison whatsoever.
And then just the whole idea of Congress having some kind of authority to tell us to do that.
I mean, it's almost like, you know, Congress has no authority to order me to have turkey for dinner.
It has no authority to order me to have turkey.
Now, how would it look if I'm debating with a congressman how I should cook the turkey or whether I should have a small turkey or a big turkey?
Those are irrelevant.
They have no authority to tell me to have a turkey.
It's the same thing with this health care.
They have no authority to control our health care system.
And so why debate over how much it's going to cost, whether this is in it or whether that is in it?
You just tell them, look, turkeys, you have no authority whatsoever.
It should be cut and dry like that.
But see, you people don't have the nerve to do it.
You don't elect people to represent you that have the common sense and the nerve to protect your constitutional rights.
You just let these people say, oh, I'll take care of you.
We care about you.
Well, damn, don't care about me.
Leave me alone.
And by the way, look, I don't have anything against socialism and communism.
If you people want to have socialism and communism, you go on and do your communist thing, but leave me alone.
Leave me out of it.
But most of you want me in it.
And we're going to talk more about that in the next hour.
But keep in mind, Rush is going to keep us updated at rushlimball.com.
We'll be back.
We're back.
And it's Walt Williams sitting in for Rush, and we'll get updates on Rush on RushLimball.com.
You know, yesterday, Wednesday, he was taken to the hospital in Honolulu after suffering some chest pains, and he's going to be examined today to find out just what the problem is.
You know, there's something else about education in America.
Now, take this whole global warming stuff.
Now, look, look, folks, I think it was less than a million years ago when we had what geologists call snowball earth.
And that's when the whole planet, or just about the whole planet, our whole planet Earth, was covered by ice.
And in some parts, a mile of ice.
Okay, so, okay, stick with me and answer this.
Answer my questions at home.
Just yes or no.
Answer them to yourself.
Okay, now if the Earth was covered with ice some time ago, And it's not covered with ice now, what must have happened?
Was there any, was there global warming or global freezing?
It must, I would say, global warming.
Okay, so you agree with that?
There must have been global warming.
Now, what was the cause of that global warming?
Was it coal-fired electric generation plants?
People using incandescent bulbs?
Or was it SUVs tooling up and down the highway that caused it to warm, cause all that ice to melt?
I bet the rent money that it wasn't.
I bet the rent money that it was probably the sun or something, some other phenomena.
Now, the point here I'm making is that to think that mankind can make significant parametric changes in the earth, that's the height of arrogance.
We're hardly nothing on this earth in terms of having an effect.
Okay, oh, whoa, you say, yes, we, yes, we are.
Well, let me ask this question.
There are roughly six and a half billion of us on earth.
Suppose we all jumped up and down at the same time.
Do you think we would send the earth out of its orbit or change its rate of rotation?
Yes or no?
You probably say, I don't think we can.
Do you think there's anything mankind can do to change the direction of tsunamis or hurricanes?
Well, I don't think so.
So why in the world do you think that mankind can make changes in the Earth's temperature?
He can't.
Now, the global warming people, see, global warming is a religion.
And with religion, the evidence doesn't mean anything.
You act on faith.
And a lot of people have a great stake in global warming in making you believe that there's man-made causes of global warming.
I mean, and even companies.
For example, General Electric lobbied for a ban on incandescent bulbs.
Now, why did General Electric do that?
Is General Electric concerned with the warming of the Earth?
They don't give a hoot.
The reason why General Electric lobbied for a ban on incandescent bulbs and have these little funny screw bulbs that we have now, CFLs or something like that, was because they wanted to reduce their competition in the United States and make these bulbs in plants in China and the Philippines.
And so they get money from it.
They run their competition out of business.
And a lot of this global warming, BP and others are participating in this global warming nonsense because it means bucks out of our pockets into theirs.
It's in their best interest.
Now, what they have in this global warming, they have a lot of what I call useful idiots.
That is, many Americans saying, oh, it's getting warm.
I'm worried about the earth.
Well, you know, and these people, many Americans don't have any agenda whatsoever.
They're just useful idiots who vote in support of the global warming.
And some of these environmental mentalists, these are evil people.
Now, you say, Williams, aren't you getting emotional?
Are you wrong about this?
Consider this.
Now, in Russia's latest, the Limbaugh Letter of 2010, he has an interview with Horner.
Let's see, what's this guy's first name?
Christopher Horner.
And Christopher Horner gives a quote in here, and it's from his book, The Politically Incorrect Guide.
And he says, when someone pointed out that banning DDT could kill millions of Sri Lankan babies and sentencing them to a painful malarial deaths, the Environmental Defense Fund chief scientist Charles Worcester said, quote, so what?
People are the cause of the problems.
We have too many of them.
We need to get rid of some of them.
And this is a good way as any.
That is evil.
The late Cornell, University of Cornell, Cornell population guru, Lamont Cole, he once said, to feed a starving child is to exacerbate the world's population problems.
These are environmentalists, and you people are supporting them.
You're saying, oh, what nice people.
They care about the earth.
These are evil people.
A whole lot of them are just plain evil people.
They're not uninformed.
They're evil intellectuals.
They're the kind of people that Professor Thomas Sowell is talking about in his books.
And we'll come back with your calls after this.
Well, sitting here winding down the, is it the decade for, no, sitting down winding down the year.
We're going to go to a few phone calls.
And my voice is getting a little frog in here.
So excuse me a second, folks.
You know, they have a cough button, and if you push the cough button, you know, you can cough, and nobody can hear you.
Actually, you can say bad things to the engineer and Bo, the call screener, and none of you can hear them.
And by the way, folks, Bo just told me, he says, how long have you been winding up the year?
Well, I think I missed 2007, but I've been doing it most of the years, I think.
And I've been sitting in for Rush since 1992.
That is, what is it, 17 years?
Almost two decades.
Okay, let's go to the phones and let's bring in Ryan.
Ryan from Indiana.
Welcome to the show, Ryan.
That's Brian from Hope, Indiana.
Okay, Hope, Indiana.
Okay.
All right.
Hey, what really got me calling was Kay Bailey Hutchinson.
And I really wanted to talk to her because we're so frustrated.
It doesn't seem like our representatives are doing anything.
And what can we do more to try to make something happen, try and make the change happen?
Well, you know, the representatives, for the most part, are doing what the American people want them to do.
And, you know, I didn't think of this.
I used to blame politicians a whole lot.
And it was during the Reagan years.
And I used to have lunch with Senator Jesse Helms from North Carolina.
And I've written many columns against crop subsidies.
And Jesse Helms told me at lunch, he says, you know, Walter, I agree with you 100% about these crop subsidies.
They're bad.
But could you tell me how I can remain senator from North Carolina and vote against them?
He said, because if I vote against the crop subsidies, they're going to run me out of town and they're going to put in somebody worse than I am.
And that was kind of a revelation to me, a revelation to me, because you have to ask the question, is it reasonable for us to expect a politician to do what he considers to be political suicide?
And I say, no, it's not reasonable for us to expect a politician to commit political suicide.
And so that means that we can't be talking about changing politicians.
We have to talk about changing the American people.
You know, well, we're working on that here.
I mean, I've joined the We the People Indiana, and I tell you what's so frustrating is you don't believe how uninformed the people are.
That's right.
That's right.
And if you ask the question, your question was, well, what can we do?
Now, here's what Thomas Jefferson said.
That he says, when government fears the people, there is tyranny.
When the people, no, I'm sorry, let me go back.
When government fears the people, there is liberty.
When the people fear their government, there's tyranny.
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms as a last resort is to protect themselves against tyranny and government.
That's what Thomas Jefferson said.
And we, the American people, we fear government, and there's tyranny.
There's absolute tyranny.
As I asked the senator, and this is, that doesn't take a conservative talk show host or a liberal, but if you ask the question to anybody with an ounce of brains, which way are we headed, tiny steps at a time, are we headed towards more liberty or are we headed towards more government control over our lives?
It would have to unambiguously be the latter.
More government control over our lives.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is tyranny.
And we as American people, we have to reject it.
See, we have an awesome responsibility.
We American people have an awesome responsibility.
And that is, if liberty dies in America, it is gone for all times and all places on earth.
If America loses its liberty, then it's gone everywhere.
We'll be back with your calls after this.
Welcome to the show.
Welcome back, folks.
We are holding forth on the last Few hours of the 2009.
Let's go to Mark in San Diego.
Welcome to show, Mark.
Hi, Dr. Williams and Dodos.
I had a quick question.
Well, one thing I thought about is: I think one of John Adams said, Never give up your freedom in the name of compassion.
And I'd add in there, emotion, religion, and false evil fears.
But I wanted to ask you, what do you think the carbon tax is going to do to the economy over the next few years?
Well, it'll just impose very high costs on the economy.
And for really no good reason.
I mean, there is no global warming.
And all the statistics on it and all this data that the UN has been getting by these emails that have been released, it shows that it's all bogus science.
Now, the Earth, one of the things about the Earth's temperature is that it changes.
I think less than a million years ago, I forget the number, it's going to be on my website next week.
No, it's going to be in my column next week.
At one time, the Earth's temperature was much, much warmer than it is now.
During the, what do they call it?
I don't remember, but obviously there were giant mammoth dinosaurs clear up in Canada.
That's right.
And matter of fact, yes, here it is right here.
It says that during the Cambrian period, CO2 levels were 18 times higher than they are today.
During the Jurassic period, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the CO2 levels were nine times higher than today.
And then also.
I've seen an article in the Geophysical Review today.
Somebody's pointing out that the human fraction of CO2 has not risen in 150 years.
It's less than 4% of the total amount.
Much less.
And then that's a short term on the economy.
What?
I see it as a nested tax.
Adds on top of another as it goes down the system.
Yeah, you're right.
It's going to destroy things.
You're absolutely right.
Thanks for calling in.
Let's go to Art in Mesa, Arizona.
Welcome to the show, Art.
Hello, Dr. Williams.
Thank you for taking my call.
You know, we lost our way back in the Great Depression when Congress, where we, the people, decided to shred the Constitution and get rid of property rights.
In my opinion, property rights are the foundation for all other rights.
Without it, you have nothing.
You can't produce anything unless the government says you can use that.
And in essence, we've lost our way.
The American people do control Congress.
There's no gatekeeper.
And as far as compassion is concerned, compassion at the point of a gun is still stealing.
We are on our way to.
That is absolutely right.
And the very good points you make.
Thanks a lot for calling in, Art.
Let's take one quick one.
You have about 30 seconds, Jim.
Hey, great.
What a pleasure and an honor to speak with you, Dr. Williams.
I'd just like to say real quickly that our liberty is in great peril because of parental irresponsibility in not taking control of their kids' education.
That is absolutely right.
That's absolutely right.
And we've got to go.
We're up against the clock.
But look, stay tuned.
Tomorrow, there's the best of Rush.
And you can keep up to date on Russia's progress by checking out Rushlimbaugh.com.
But know that Rush is in good and stable condition, and he's comfortable.
And as I said, as comfortable as one can be on vacation in a hospital in all of all places, Hawaii.
And James, I mean, Bo has asked me, we're going to celebrate the end of the decade?