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April 11, 2011 - Rush Limbaugh Program
34:24
April 11, 2011, Monday, Hour #3
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Having more fun than the human being should be allowed to have its rush Limbaugh and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies as usual, just to make it fair, to demonstrate my compassion.
Half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.
Telephone number 800-282-2882 and the email address lrushbo at EIBNet.com.
All right, next up, folks, of course, is going to be the battle over raising the debt limit.
State-controlled media already girding for this one.
We have a couple of sound bites here from Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington, and her guest, Charlie Cook, this afternoon on Andrea Mitchell repoints.
NBC News, Washington.
And they have this little discussion about the debt ceiling.
Here's the first of two bites.
We've talked about the debt ceiling.
When you look at the NBC News, Wall Street Journal poll numbers, 46% oppose, only 16% support raising the debt ceiling.
And after being told that the U.S. would default without raising the limit, 62% oppose.
How do you get past that kind of lack of understanding of what's going on out there?
What we were just facing Friday night was sort of a government slowdown, not a shutdown.
I mean, there were all kinds of safeguards, and it was not what it should have.
But this would be Social Security checks don't go out.
Nobody gets paid.
The U.S. goes into default.
This is nuclear, and never in the history of this country, we've never defaulted on debt.
Wait a second.
That isn't true.
I'm going to have to go back to my archives.
But we operated without redoing the debt limit.
It's either 2006 or 2009.
I'm going to have to find it.
But we've done this before.
We've operated without a formal agreement to raise the debt limit.
It has been done.
These people are shameless.
We've operated past the debt limit before, and we do it frequently.
And now they set the stage.
It's nuclear.
It was.
It was December 2009.
The last time that we operated above the debt limit without authorization to do so was December 2009.
This would be Social Security checks don't go out.
Nobody gets paid.
The people in the private sector will get paid.
Those relative few who have jobs in the private sector would get paid.
Never in the history of this country.
We've never defaulted on the debt.
Well, that may be technically true, but we've certainly operated without the authorization to go above the debt ceiling.
We've done that before.
But even for that, that's Charlie Cook.
You heard Aenrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington.
She's just beside herself here.
That's 62% of the country oppose raising the debt limit after being told what the result would be.
You don't think there's a backlash going on out there about this?
You know, I said last week on this program that if the deal announced to avert the shutdown is less than $61 billion, there's going to be hell to pay.
I told that to the heritage audience on Friday night.
There's going to be hell to pay.
I've got a record amount of email, and we've got every, well, all but one phone call today.
We can't do anything scientific with phone calls.
I don't take enough to even guess that that's an accurate representation.
But it is what it is in terms of that universe.
We've had one call.
I think we have a second one up there that disagrees with me.
Is that right?
What is this line five?
It says, I don't get it.
That somebody disagrees with me.
Okay, so there's two.
Two.
So, and that guy is coming up soon.
He's in Northridge, California.
That's Mike.
Mike, hang in there, be tough.
We're going to be getting to you here in a minute.
But still, Andrea is all upset.
The public's lack of understanding on the debt limit.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
What are we going to do?
How do you get past this kind of lack of understanding?
Andrea, it's not a lack of understanding.
It is a total understanding of what's going on.
We just can't keep doing this.
And then Andrea, amidst a sigh of resignation, says.
Well, Charlie, I guess it's part of our job too to try to educate people, but the president is going to take a stab at it on Wednesday.
Well, Charlie, I guess it's part of our job too to try to educate people, but the president's going to take a stab at it on Wednesday.
Well, Charlie, I guess it's part of our.
Wouldn't you think that journalism is about education every day?
I mean, in its raw form, you're telling people things they don't know.
Well, of course, snurdily, the assumption that she knows everything and nobody else does.
Yes.
But I mean, even, you know, beyond that, well, Charlie, I guess it's part of our job to try to educate people.
You doddering fools.
Do we have to do everything for you here?
Can't you do anything for you?
Can't you figure out for yourself that we got to spend whatever it takes to keep our precious government running?
Here's Jay Carney at the daily press briefing this afternoon in Washington about the debt ceiling.
The consequences of failing to raise the debt ceiling would be Armageddon-like in terms of the economy.
On the impact on interest rates, on job creation, on growth would be devastating.
Okay, here it comes, folks.
They're already setting the table.
This is what this weekend's all been about.
These cuts, devastating.
Big, big win for Boehner.
Oh, my God.
These cuts.
I don't know if we can go on.
This is the first major cuts.
My, the Democrats really took another chance.
Now here comes the debt.
Oh, my God.
The country may end next.
Unless we raise taxes.
Mark Knoller, CBS, December 16, 2009.
Latest calculation: the national debt as posted by the Treasury Department has at least numerically exceeded the statutory debt limit approved by Congress last February.
The ceiling set at $12.1 trillion.
The latest posting by Treasury shows the national debt at nearly $12.135 trillion.
So last December, we were operating above the authorized debt limit.
And lest we forget, Obama had raised the debt ceiling with his stimulus bill to $12.104 trillion just back in February.
And we blew past it in December, and we kept operating.
Now, Jay Carney's out there saying Obama really wishes he had that debt ceiling vote back when he was senator.
He's really learned his lesson on that now.
But that's not all.
Harry Reid, 2006, raising the debt limit is the last thing we should do.
It would weaken the country, would hurt the economy.
He said, if my Republican friends believe that increasing our debt by almost $800 billion today and more than $3 trillion over the last five years is the right thing to do, they should be upfront about it.
They should explain why they think more debt is good for the economy.
How can the Republican majority in this Congress explain to their constituents that trillions of dollars in new debt is good for our economy?
How can they explain that they think it's fair to force our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren to finance this debt through higher taxes?
That's what it'll have to be.
Why is it right to increase our nation's dependence on foreign credit?
This is Harry Reid in 2006, five years ago.
This is Harry Reid so concerned about the economy in 2006 when it was really rolling the wrong economy was really good, rolling along fine in 2006.
But this is the ruling class.
This is how they work.
He didn't mean it then.
He doesn't mean what he says now.
He's going to have the exact opposite approach now.
We've got to raise the debt ceiling.
We'll destroy the U.S. economy if we don't.
Five years ago, how can we destroy the economy by raising the debt ceiling?
Five years ago, Harry Reid said, how can we consciously destroy our economy by raising the debt ceiling and trillions of dollars in new debt for our children or grandchildren?
Five years later, this week, Harry Reid will say, we will destroy our economy if we don't raise trillions of new debt.
Is it any wonder the voters of this country have become properly cynical?
Is it any wonder the people of this country look at our elder statesman in Washington with little or no respect anymore?
Five years ago, folks, five years ago, you just heard it.
Harry Reid, how can we destroy the economy for our children by raising all this debt?
This week, Harry Reid will say, how can we destroy the economy by not raising our debt?
The world is going to end.
We had to pass TARP or the world was going to, we had to pass the stimulus or the world was going to end.
Five years ago, no, we can't pass TARP.
The world will end.
Tough to take any of them seriously.
And your best bet is not to.
In fact, let's go back to Obama January 27th, 2010, just a reminder of how he can't be trusted or believed.
You know, Obama's speeches are carefully crafted, deceitful.
They are lies delivered on teleprompter.
President is a con artist.
He said, now, if we had taken office in ordinary times, I would have liked nothing more than to start bringing down the deficit.
But we took office amid a crisis.
And our efforts to prevent a second depression have added another $1 trillion to our national debt.
I'm absolutely convinced that the right thing to do was that.
But families across the country are tightening their belts and making tough decisions.
The federal government should do the same.
So tonight, I'm proposing specific steps to pay for the $1 trillion that it took to rescue the economy last year.
That was January 27, 2010.
A little over a year ago, Obama said he would cut $1 trillion.
He has since added more than that to the deficit.
So that makes this statement a greater than $2 trillion lie.
Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years.
Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security will not be affected, but all other discretionary government spending will.
Like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget to invest.
And they didn't even present one.
So you see.
Reed, Obama, Pelosi, the exact opposite one year ago, five years ago, of what they are saying today.
And speaking of Obama lies, we have this whopper from the New York Times, Jackie Kalmas, February 22, 2009, where he said he would cut the budget deficit in half by the end of his first term.
Jackie Kalmas wrote, after a string of costly bailout and stimulus measures, President Obama will set a goal this week to cut the annual deficit at least in half by the end of his term.
The reduction would come in large part by cutting with Iraq troop withdrawals and higher taxes on the wealthy.
And look at how he had to be dragged fighting, kicking, and screaming into cutting a measly $38.5 billion.
He said, folks, the bottom line is the Democrat Party and everybody in it is lying through their teeth every time they open their mouth.
And that sounds extreme, I'm sorry, but that's how you have to understand liberals, and that's how I always get them right.
Cut the deficit by half after his first term, and yet drag, kicking, and screaming even to $38 billion in cuts.
Now regrets his vote against the debt limit when he was a senator.
Dingy Harry talking about how raising the debt limit would destroy the economy.
Five years ago.
Today he's going to lead the effort to raise the debt limit.
What the hell are we to do?
Defeat them is what we are to do.
So like I said in the first hour of the program, the worst lesson to come out of this whole budget thing, this continuing resolution thing, the worst lesson, if they take it, is that compromise is the way to go.
Because it's not.
These people are going to have to be defeated.
There's nothing new about that.
It's just going to require a continuing commitment to Northridge, California.
Mike High, I'm glad we got to you.
Hello, sir.
Hi, Rush.
Thanks for taking my call.
Love you.
I just have to disagree with you on one thing.
What's that?
And, you know, so much of what you say resonates so, so well with me over the years.
But on this one, I really believe I've sat and looked at this for years.
Republicans on the budget now.
I'm not talking about social issues, abortion, but on the budget, Republicans and Democrats, they see our money, it's their money, and they all vote for budgets.
And they all have voted deeper and deeper and bigger and bigger budgets.
There's been not one president in the last 50 years that walked away without increasing the national debt.
So I think this whole thing that's gone on in the last two weeks, it's all been a dog and pony show.
It's all been a Playhouse 90.
You've got to have the good guys fighting the bad guys so that they look like they got scarred up in war so they can go back to their constituents and say, you know, look, we suffered some anguish here.
We got the best deal we could.
I mean, where are they?
Remember when Representative Cantor a couple of months ago said there were hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars citing the GAO report in duplication waste?
And now we're talking about a drop of water in the ocean.
To quote somebody named Rush Lindbaugh.
A drop of water.
So what are you disagreeing with me about?
Well, because you single out Pelosi, you single out Reed, as rightly you should.
And right behind them is going to be the Republican leadership saying, yeah, we need to increase the national debt ceiling.
Wait a second.
I don't think if you call Boehner's office, I'm going to be popular there today.
That I would agree, but I think they're going to ask to have the ceiling increased too.
They're all in bed together is all I'm saying.
More so than I think you give them credit.
No, I think you and I agree.
The difference here, we're talking ruling class versus Tea Party.
The Tea Party represents the first legitimate chance to get our hands in this till.
Absolutely.
And the promises were made.
to the Tea Party because the Tea Party was responsible for the Republican victory, and it's a Tea Party that is being snookered here.
And they should all get together on the steps of Congress and have a mass press conference and say how vehemently opposed they are to this sham.
This isn't a deal.
This is like walking out of a car dealership with just the control to the radio, and they keep the car.
This is nothing.
I didn't know there was a separate control of the radio you can hit.
Well, look at it.
It's nothing.
It's just a PR joke.
I would be surprised that the DNC or the Obama administration is now talking points to all the big media.
There still are differences.
This is why, though, that there has been the focus in the last year and a half on the whole concept of the ruling class or the D.C. inside the Beltway elites.
But Harry Reid and Obama are being entirely hypocritical on the debt ceiling.
The Republicans, of course the debt ceiling is going to be raised.
See, that's what everybody knows.
The government at some point has got to be raised.
The question is, what are we going to get for it now?
And this is an opportunity.
More debt.
Pardon?
More debt.
Well, yeah, we're going to get more debt, but here's a chance.
The Democrats love the spending side.
They want it to balloon.
Your theory is the Republicans do too.
Absolutely.
Well, look what happened when Bush, too, tried to reduce the rate of budget increase.
His own party, which had the majority, okay, just crucified him.
And all he wanted to do is slow down the rate of budget increase to maybe 4%.
Remember that?
Well, not entirely that way.
But what I was going to say here is that now we're going to see, okay, we've got this big victory here of $38 billion.
And now they're talking, okay, now we're going to start talking trillions.
Now we're going to start talking serious money with the debt ceiling.
Well, a lot of people are upset here because we had a lot of leverage here to force what we wanted before we got to this deal.
We could have shut down the government, sent a real message going into this debt limit argument.
It's the pedal to the metal rubber beats the road, whatever, Cliche, you want to say this is where the Republicans have the opportunity to show that they are not on the same page as the ruling class Democrats in Washington.
That's why this debt ceiling is going to be so important, even more so now because of the way the continuing resolution ended up.
And that the debt ceiling is a fait accompli.
They've already worked that deal out.
They all know that they're going to agree to an increased debt ceiling.
They knew about this 60 versus 20 million compromise.
They had to play it to the last minute to convince the voters that they were really fighting each other.
They were fighting each other over nothing to make it look like it was important.
A lot of stupid people out there think that Republicans came away with a win.
It's kind of like we got nothing.
And you called to disagree when you told me I don't get it.
And you're simply repeating my first ⁇ you are repeating my first hour to me.
I heard the first hour.
I just think they're more in bed than you give them credit for.
No.
How can you say that when I have said the whole left wing has gotten together with a ruse here to portray Boehner's the big winner?
Well, that part, I agree with you on the part that I don't think you're understanding.
Maybe I haven't explained it well enough.
That part is that Boehner doesn't want to cut spending.
They don't want to cut it.
Uh, uh, gotta go to a break.
And we be back.
Now, look, folks, seriously, in all candor here, having a little fun with the last caller.
There is no comparison.
To say that the Republicans equal Democrats as spenders is a bit too far.
That's just having a little fun with a guy, but he's simply mistaken if he believes that Republicans are as big a spenders as the Democrats.
It may have been true for other Republican Congresses, but it isn't true of this one.
Now, whatever else can be said about this deal, there are some real cuts in the budget here, not rates of growth cuts.
It's not enough.
But they are real.
These are not reductions in the rate of increase.
That is something new.
But they should have been bigger.
They could have been bigger.
They could have kept their original promise.
Boehner would probably be the first to agree they should have been bigger.
All I'm hearing is, well, this is the best we can get.
And a lot of people on our side of the region, it's the best we can get since we don't control the Senate, or it's the best we can get.
Obama would veto it.
It's the best we could get.
Try for more.
Try for more.
The best we can get never won anything.
Yeah.
You know, coming in number five in the market, it's the best I can do.
As I got fired.
Yeah, it's the best we can do at the time.
No, that is not the attitude that wins.
It's the best we can get.
It's a cop-out.
It is an excuse.
Or even worse.
But everybody that's called here today, you notice how much of the talk is about individual Republicans.
Cantor's name has been mentioned.
Boehner's name has been mentioned.
So little talk about the people.
That's how you know the conservative inside the beltway types are working with the Republican leadership.
I really look at all of the excuses that are being made here.
Well, it's the best we can get now.
We don't control the Senate.
I just, I tried my best and so forth.
Well, you didn't try hard enough.
Could have tried for a whole lot more here.
But if you're going to go in with fear, fear kills.
And if you're going to have, if you're going to go with a defensive posture as opposed to an aggressive or offensive posture, then you're going to end up with this kind of result.
With questions being asked and a lot of, I mean, you raise people's expectations and then you come in and say this is the best we could do.
It's not going to fly.
Just Isn't going to fly Here's Marty in Washington D.C. Great to have you on the program sir.
Hello.
Oh, thanks Rush look I think you're the only one who can answer explain this to me Why would Boehner pass up a chance to shut down the government when Obama was on record saying he would veto any bill to pay the military during a shutdown?
Am I missing something here?
I mean forget $100 billion $61 billion $38 billion It seems clear to me Obama handed the Republicans a golden opportunity for a clear distinction between the two parties in a PR coup.
If I'm Boehner and I hear Obama say he won't pay the military in a shutdown, I'd say no deal.
Shut down immediately and run to the microphones and let the cameras roll.
I have your answer.
What is it?
He didn't want to be Newt Gingrich.
But you don't think the public would get irate about the military not being paid?
No, no.
I'm telling you, he was afraid he would end up being portrayed as Newt Gingrich, the Grinch that stole Christmas, all this stuff.
He was afraid that the press would come after him and destroy that.
He would be personally blamed for destroying people's lives.
But Rush.
The party would be.
I'm not.
You're right.
Don't miss it.
I mean, it's a golden.
It's what we've been talking about here.
It was a golden opera with tremendous leverage points that we didn't use.
I mean, in 95, Clinton said, all right, we're going to pay the military anyway.
So, yeah, so Newt had a tough time.
But you got Obama on record saying, no, I'm not going to pay the military.
My gosh, shut it down immediately.
Let the cameras roll.
I agree.
I'm just telling you that that 95, what is the worst thing that ever happened to you in your professional life?
Whatever it is, 95 was it for these guys.
And they think that you have to understand, they do not think they will ever win a battle where the press is against them.
They do not think no matter what that they will ever win that.
They were, I mean, Boehner publicly said he's not going to shut this government down.
It's no political benefit to doing it.
They remembered 1995.
The thing that they forgot about 1995 is the Republicans picked up two seats in the Senate in the next election.
They kept the House.
All they lost was the PR battle.
Well, Clinton won the White House, but who was our opponent?
I mean, we were really serious about that presidential race.
But, Rush, how could we lose a PR battle when the Democrats say we won't pay the military and the Republicans are saying you've got to pay the military?
How can we possibly lose a PR?
Look, I don't want to sit here and have to take their side, but you ask, how do we lose a PR battle?
How in the world does the U.S. military get accused of rape and killing kids and having it stick?
That happened.
Time magazine accuses us of rape at Haditha, the military, the Marines there, they got brought up on charges.
It was all made up.
All those stories of atrocities, all made up.
Look at, I mean, if the media sets its sights on you, look, I'm not trying to excuse it.
I'm trying to explain to you their mindset about it.
Hey, Rush, can I ask you a quick question related to that?
Yeah.
I mean, you're the consummate broadcasting professional, all kidding aside, and I know you understand the Republicans have serious problems with their branding.
I mean, you know the public's having a hard time figuring out who's the winner at whatever the cut level.
But why doesn't Boehner just phrase it in terms of how much the national debt is going up every day?
I mean, if we're sinking $5 billion further in debt every day, why doesn't he just say future cuts have to be at least $5 billion every day because operation?
Well, this question is asked of me for the last 23 years.
We basically say, why don't the Republicans do X?
And all I can tell you is what they've told me when I've asked them that.
And they say, well, they won't cover us properly when we do it.
They'll misline it.
They'll misreport it.
They will impugn us.
And we'll end up not being, the truth won't be told about us.
I can't accurately describe the fear that they have of the Washington Press Corps to you.
I'm not excusing it.
I cannot accurately describe it for you.
Well, I can't impress upon you enough just how much of an influence it is over what they do and don't do.
They are literally petrified of the Beltway media.
Yeah, that's just hard to believe.
But I just can't believe that.
Well, what do you think it is?
I'm not arguing with you.
I'm curious if it's not that.
What do you think it is?
Well, I'm not kidding.
You really are.
Your thing says, here's the difference, though.
But it isn't.
You really are the consummate professional.
But I can survive and even thrive being hated.
An elected official cannot.
Getting an audience and getting votes is two different things.
People that hate you don't vote for you.
People that hate you will listen.
You just have to keep giving them a reason every day, which I've become an expert at.
I just have to be me.
But it's a whole different baby.
I know how to brand myself.
We all sit here and we say to ourselves what we would do if we were in their shoes.
And I still, I think I would, I don't think I'd be any different if I got up there.
Well, you're a genius because you're able to phrase the thing, phrase any issue or frame any issue in the proper context.
I can't believe with all the money they've got over down there on at Capitol Street there.
You know where it's at.
They can't figure out how to frame the issue.
We're sinking $5 billion in debt further every day, and then the public's trying to figure out, okay, who wins when it's $100 billion?
Who wins when it's $60 billion?
Baloney, you just say we're sinking deeper in debt.
We're going to put a finger in the dike.
If the government's going to stay in operation, we have to stop the debt clock.
Yeah?
If we're sinking $5 billion in debt, you said it just in the last hour, how much we're losing every day.
Whatever that figure is, Boehner says, fine.
We cut that much every day.
He can say all he wants.
He can say, but if he's not willing to close the government down or shut it until he gets those kinds of restrictions on spending, the words aren't going to mean anything.
So it all boils down to what you're willing to do, no matter what you say.
And, you know, that's, I don't know.
I think probably for as long as I live, I'm going to get this question, why don't the Republicans do X?
I used to get frustrated by it, and I used to get frustrated by there's still people out there who are only, us, I said, only going to think we've won when the media starts agreeing with us and promoting what we believe.
And that's never going to happen.
So those people are forever, ever going to feel victorious.
And it's sort of a sad thing.
It's a hard thing to realize that or deal with this forever unbalanced playing field.
It's not level.
It isn't fair or whatever.
But you have to have an adult attitude about fairness and say nothing is.
You have to deal with the obstacles that are in front of you.
Why their messaging is off.
You know, it could just be as simple as they aren't as conservative as we are.
It could be no more complicated than that.
Might surprise people, but it could be nothing simpler than that.
They're just not as conservative.
It's just not in their heart.
Like it is in yours or it is in mine.
We hope that it is and we expect it to be, but maybe it isn't.
Anyway, look, I'm really over the limit here on the programming format's obscene profit timeout.
I got to take it, but I'm glad you called.
We'll be right back after this.
We roll on, East Lansing, Michigan.
This is Rod.
You're next on the Rush Limbaugh program.
Hello, sir.
Hi.
Thank you for taking my call, Mega Dittos.
You bet.
My first car was also a 72 Le Mans.
Great car.
Really?
Yes.
70.
Well, mine was a 69.
Right, thank you.
I knew that, but we had the Le Mans thing in common, and I just thought I'd mention that.
The reason I called is I was explaining to my wife how small $38 billion was in the context of the national budget.
And I came up, my wife is Japanese, so I came up with a way to explain it to her.
And if you have a six-digit figure, say you make $100,000 a year, you're probably not doing too bad.
But if you made $360,000 a year, you're living pretty good.
And if someone decided to say, hey, we need to take $3,800 out of your $63,000, I mean, sorry, your $36,000, what did I say, $360,000, it doesn't hurt too bad, does it?
You see what I mean?
Wait a second.
To take how much out from your $360,000?
If you had $360,000 and you took $3,800 out of it, it does not hurt that much.
I'd miss it.
Well, I mean, we all would because we use it as we use it, but it's not that bad in the context, you know, when you think of $3.6 trillion and then you're only taking $38 million.
You got to be able to hurt her.
$36 billion out of $3.6 trillion, we're talking pennies.
Exactly.
Not thousands.
I realize that.
Your relationship to, if you make $360,000 and you lose a couple of quarters is what we're talking about.
That's what you wouldn't care about.
We need to cut dollars on the dollar.
True enough.
True enough.
When you drop the zeros off and you make it a smaller number to deal with, it just made it more easy to understand.
And I thought that would be helpful.
I appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
You bet.
Okay, Rod.
And we've got a brief, brief timeout.
I've often said don't try this at home.
A Treasury Department official now saying it'll take between $1.6 and $1.9 trillion increase in the debt limit to get through 2012.
$1.6 to $1.9 trillion new dollars to get through 2012.
So, hey, Obama, so much for cutting the deficit in half by the end of your first term.
All right, that's it, folks.
Have a happy rest of Monday, and we'll see you back here tomorrow.
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