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June 24, 2011 - Rush Limbaugh Program
33:22
June 24, 2011, Friday, Hour #3
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Time Text
We have one big exciting hour to go.
There's not a whole lot of time in an hour.
Well, depending on who's in charge of it, sometimes an hour can sound like it.
Sometimes it can sound like five hours.
Sometimes you don't even know it's been an hour.
That's how it is here.
So we got to get going quickly and you got to listen fast.
It's Friday.
Live from the left post at our satellite studios in Los Angeles.
It's open line Friday.
That's exactly right.
We are here at Satellite Studios in Los Angeles.
But our telephone number remains the same for those of you that want to risk it.
800-282-2882.
Our email address, lrushbo at eibnet.com.
The White House spokesman Jay Carney, also known as Mr. Claire Shipman, just said in his daily briefing: raising the debt ceiling is not a vote for spending.
You people don't understand.
We don't want to raise the debt ceiling, so we want to spend.
It's a vote to meet our obligations and to pay our bills.
They're still haggling out there, and the fact that the Republicans are resisting raising the debt ceiling is where the Democrats are focusing in now and saying, see, see, they're sabotaging the economy.
They want unemployment to pay high.
The Republicans are purposely destroying the economy.
That's the result of the debt ceiling arguments.
But isn't the point, folks?
I'll speak for myself.
I don't want to speak for the GOP, but it comes to me.
Am I thinking on the debt limit?
Isn't the point that we have to lower these obligations that we have?
We have to lower the costs of our debt service.
We can't keep raising it.
To me, this is not about paying our bills and meeting our obligations.
It's lowering all of that.
Smaller obligations.
That's what this argument is all about.
Instead of trying to find new and creative ways to pay for more and more stuff, the bottom line is, even now, at this late date, and we are literally here at the 11th hour, the Democrats will not admit that we don't have a revenue problem, that we have a spending problem.
It is so obvious now that this is a spending problem, and they won't admit it.
We have a spending problem, and that's not how they look at it.
They look at it, we don't have enough revenue flowing in out there.
We need more revenue flowing in.
And no matter how much more revenue flows in, we're still going to stay in debt with these people in charge of the debt service or in charge of the spending.
So there needs to be some massive intervention here.
There needs to be just a giant slow down, a timeout on this.
We can't afford this anymore.
And I know I speak for gazillions of you when I articulate this whole debt ceiling discussion that way.
We're not doing anything here except taking serious, taking very serious the notion that we need to reduce our obligations.
And we need to spend less.
I mean, it's no more complicated than that.
Ladies and gentlemen, the verdict is in, and I say this with great pride.
I had hoped this would be the case.
It was the case in our house, but our brand new tea, which have been out there now 10 days, we introduced this tea to the world on Wednesday, June the 15th.
It's now been, what, 10 or 9 or 10 days.
And the tea has exceeded all the projections and expectations that we have.
We were very realistic about it, by the way, too.
That's the one thing we are, is that we are profoundly honest with ourselves, talking about projections and so forth.
But this tea is the best iced tea you have ever tasted.
And I say this with entire confidence.
I thought it when we finished all the taste tests.
Why would I think otherwise?
We spent two months taste testing this stuff.
I can't tell you the number of recipes we tried or, yeah, mixtures with the various levels of sweetener and how much tea, dealing with whatever aftertastes that might incur.
It was a long, monthly process, multiple month process.
And the things that we were insistent on at the end of it was whatever flavor, be it regular or raspberry, and there will be additional flavors coming on the pike, whatever they are, you better be able to still taste the tea in it.
We're not making fruit juice here.
This is tea because we have enough tea.
So both the flavors that we have, diet, well, regular and diet, sweetened and diet in raspberry and regular flavors.
And as I said, there are more to come.
This raspberry, I'm violating my own tenet.
I said I wasn't going to hype one particular flavor because we would have a run on it.
People would go after what I, but I have never tasted a better tea than our diet raspberry.
And the sugared raspberry is not high-fructose corn syrup either.
It's sugar.
The sugared version of raspberry tastes just like the diet version, just like the regularly sweetened standard tea.
It tastes just like the diet tea.
And now we're getting email feedback from people who have had the tea delivered.
They have tasted it.
They've sampled it.
They're sending us pictures of what they're doing.
This is exactly as I thought.
They're not throwing the bottles away.
They're using the bottles for flowers and any number of things.
Because the artwork is the finest that you will see in any tea that's out there.
The packaging, the shrink wrap, the tea itself, there's nothing better.
We are jazzed about this.
It's called Two If By Tea, T-W-O.
You know, one if by land, two if-by tea.
We got so much stuff planned as this rollout continues, but it's primarily for sale at our website, 2IFBT.com.
And there you'll find the answers to a lot of questions you have about why this and why now.
You will also find the price is $23.76.
The shipping is free.
And let me say something about that.
You know, because people wouldn't, you wouldn't believe a number of snide comments, even from friends who think they know how we're running the business.
Hey, Rush, you know, that's really clever of you to say free shipping.
The word free, people think that they're actually not paying for it.
But it's really clever the way you've done it.
Folks, we did a lot of research here.
You know, tea beverages are primarily purchased at the store.
You walk in, you walk down the aisle, there's the beverage you want or not, and you walk out with it.
Well, we're not going to get shelf space all in every 50 states in every town at first.
We're not even going to try that.
That's a whole different game.
So here we are, cutting edge, doing something in the unusual, non-conformist way.
We got a beverage.
And you don't get it the minute you pay for it.
You have to wait for it to be delivered.
So how do we price point this stuff so that we don't take a bath on it all plus the shipping?
Everybody works out.
We still have a price that people will pay.
It's been actually kind of fun to put this all together.
But the entire shipping price is not built in.
I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail here, but we are doing a lot of things here, public service-wise, customer service-wise, that enhance the value here.
But most important is the tea itself.
It's just delicious.
It's served in 12 packs, sold in 12 packs, and there are no returns.
We knew people would try that.
Take a sip of one bottle and want to, I don't like it.
So no returns, folks.
We're not going to take back returns.
You won't want to return it.
You are going to be chugging it.
You don't even think about returns.
2IFBT.com.
There's also a phone number if you don't have a computer or you don't like ordering on computer.
Telephone number is 866-662-1776.
Also at our website, you will see we've got, I don't know if we've closed this or not.
I haven't a chance to so many entries, but we're going to send a refrigerated 2F by T truck into some winner's town, and we're going to provide the 4th of July barbecue and picnic with free 2F by T.
And people are submitting entries on our website as to why their community to register.
What's that?
What's that?
Yeah, okay.
That's why I said still open.
Still open.
We have not closed that down.
And it does not mean that you have submitted applications are bad.
It doesn't mean that your applications are lacking.
We're just keeping it open for thousands and thousands of these pouring in.
And we're going to make a determination.
We're not going to tell you how, but we're going to make a determination as to who wins.
So the opportunity to register for a truckload of 2F by T for your town on 4th of July, still wide open at 2IFBT.com as our general over-the-counter sales via the website at 2IFBT.com.
And it is time to start thinking about 4th of July and afternoon barbecues.
And this tea will be perfect.
And if you serve it, and people who've not tasted it before are going to absolutely freak and love it because I'm telling you, it is the best iced tea you've tasted.
You won't put it down once you've opened it up.
And you won't throw the bottle away.
And you're going to find a way to want to keep the shrink wrap that it comes in.
You're going to want to keep every aspect of this product as close by as you can.
2IFBYT.com or 866-662-1776.
Our 4th of July contest opens until June the 29th at 6 p.m.
You have until 6 p.m. on June 29th to fill out the form at 2IFBT.com to explain to us why your town's the best town to receive a truckload of chilled, refrigerated 2F by T for your 4th of July bash.
And it will announce the winner on July 1st, right here on this program.
It's Open Line Friday.
And who's next?
Richard in Nantucket.
Great to have you on the program, sir.
Hello.
Hello, Rush.
It's a pleasure to speak with you.
Thank you very much.
Comment and a question.
I am both a social and fiscal conservative, and I worry greatly about our country's accelerated demise with the socialists in the White House.
I agree we should not nominate candidates who are either near rhinos or middle of the road because we need a return to conservative values.
But given how leftist Obama is and the need to beat him, doesn't it make marketing sense to at least position the Republican more to the center and to the right of Obama in the campaign rather than the far right?
Stated differently, the farther we go to the right, the more votes we risk losing.
And frankly, as a conservative, and I think there are a lot of people out there like me, I'd vote for almost anyone against him, so my vote's not at risk, and yet the independents' votes might be.
Well, tell me, give me a definition, if you will, of far right.
Give me a person who is far right.
Well, I'm far right in that I believe in No, but you're not going to be nominated.
We want to nominate somebody who is to the right of Obama, but we don't want to nominate somebody far right that's going to tip off the independent.
In my view, the farthest right candidate out there now is probably Michelle Bachman.
And you think she's too far right to get the nomination?
I think that a lot of independents would not vote for her.
Why?
Not only for her ideology, but also for other reasons.
Okay, but whoa, no.
Well, come on.
No, no.
What other reasons?
I can't read your mind.
She's a female.
Oh, okay.
It's okay.
We're not ready for the first female president, particularly a right-winger.
Correct.
Why?
What does that mean?
Well, I think it's a double standard.
I think if you're, as in a lot of other things, if you're a Democrat or a liberal and you're a female, that's a plus.
If you're a look how the female Republicans are treated by the media and by virtually everyone who isn't a conservative, they're not.
Okay, now, let me just ask you a couple quick.
This is what I ran into last night.
We've got to focus on winning.
Whatever it takes, we've got to get rid of Obama.
And the assumption is, and I think it's incorrect, the assumption last night, the assumption in your call is that a conservative is not going to win.
Because that's what you mean by conservative.
You mean, when you say far-right-winger, I know what you mean.
You mean a conservative.
And my point of view is that if we don't nominate one of those, we can kiss it goodbye.
If we try to go Obama white to please these mythical independents, we lose.
Yeah, well, if we lose the election, I think we lose the whole country.
Yeah, but I'm to know, I'm telling you, I disagree with you.
If we nominate the person you want, we lose.
If we nominate a watered down anything, because we don't, we're afraid to be who we really are, because that'll turn people off.
I just, that's, that's.
Well, I wouldn't like it, but I would hold my nose like I did the last time and still vote for the Republican.
Where else am I going to go?
Well, look at, you know, we find ourselves in a real dilemma here in this country.
On one side of our mouth, we say, we've got to get rid of this guy or we're going to lose the country.
And then we want qualifications on saving the country.
Now, either you are for the Constitution or you're not.
Either you are for traditional values that have defined the institutions and traditions that have made this country great.
Either you're for them or you're not.
You are either for capitalism or you are not.
When we start calling ourselves what the left calls us, we start saying we can't nominate one of us is too far to the right.
We are responding to the characterization that the left places on us.
And we are accepting this assault and legitimizing it by responding to it.
Where is it written that a woman would not appeal to independence?
I think that a woman could appeal to the so-called independence.
I also don't think it's another thing I've been told.
Rush, you ought to act like you love the independents.
You ought to act like they're your favorite people.
That way they do what you want.
You ought to, Rush.
If you criticize the independence rush, they're just going to run away from the Republican Party.
I don't criticize them.
I criticize the way they are characterized.
At any rate, we've been there, done that.
I think a woman would appeal to these so-called independents.
The fact that media liberals trash our women doesn't mean they can't attract votes.
But I'll tell you, that's what so many of our people think.
I can't get away from it.
I can't get away from people who think Palin's a guaranteed loser.
And they're cool with it.
I say, you know, I take it out to the logical next step.
I say, you're telling me we're going to have to nominate somebody the media doesn't dislike.
We're going to have to nominate somebody the media doesn't criticize.
Sorry, it isn't going to happen.
A lot of contradictions in what people tell me.
Now, if we had nominated, let's say this, if we had nominated Gerald Ford against Jimmy Carter rather than Ronald Reagan, what do you think the outcome would have been?
Remember, Rinaldus Magnus was said to be too far to the right.
Rinaldus Magnus, the Republican mainstream, says he's weight.
He's just too far out there.
It's the guy that did the Goldwater speech.
You know, come on.
This guy's too unstable.
We want this guy in charge of nuclear weapons.
We have Republicans saying that.
Right.
Okay, so let's go out and find the equivalent of Gerald Ford to put up against Barack Obama.
And you tell me what happens.
You just tell me.
We go out and we find your favorite moderate up against Obama, and you tell me what's the outcome.
I just, this notion that traditional conservatism, fealty to the founding of this country, can't win is, I think it's, I think it's preposterous.
I think it's responding in total defense to the left, exactly how they want us to.
Who's next?
Jerry.
Jerry, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Hi, you're on Open Line Friday with El Rushboat.
Great to have you here, sir.
Rush, good to talk to you.
Mega Dittos.
Thank you.
I think you have left your putt a little bit short on your analysis of Herman Kaine, though, and why the media is ignoring him.
I agree with your first premise that, hey, they don't think he's going to win, so let's ignore him.
But I think the overriding factor is the traditional media sees the world through this prism of liberalism, and they can't see straight.
And they see a black man with conservative, articulate values as a threat to Obama.
And that's why they're ignoring him.
I mean, can you imagine Obama and Herman Cain having a debate with the topic of race in the United States or minorities in the United States?
Kaine would school Obama just like Netanyahu schooled him on the Palestinian issues.
I hope you're right about that.
I think that's exactly right.
I mean, this is how these people think.
I know how they think.
Obama, I told you at screen of this.
Obama went to Oxford College for two years.
I know how they think too, and in a lot of cases, they're not really threatened by some of our nominees.
In other cases, they are.
I hope you're right about that with Kane.
You could well be, too.
Open Line Friday, Rush Limbos, serving humanity simply by showing up, opening my mouth one syllable at a time.
Let's see, not good, not good news here.
This is from the American Spectator blog.
Have you ever, there's a Norwegian electric car company called Think, think Global.
You ever heard of them?
Think Global, a Norwegian electric car producer that styled itself as a pioneer of battery-powered driving, filed for bankruptcy Wednesday afternoon after failing to find long-term financing for its business.
Or this is what happens when you can't find a government grant to support your losing idea.
This is a U.S. lithium-ion battery producer, Enert, which led a capital increase of Think last year, said that it planned to take a charge on the earnings worth about $35 million relating to loans receivable from the company.
So more green jobs go poof before there were any green jobs.
Another electric car, poof kaput.
This one never had a chance because it never had subsidies, never had government financing, never had government money to make up the slack for the lack of public money because nobody wanted the product.
So we could say the electric cars on a bumpy road went into the ditch, not being driven by the Republicans.
Wall Street Journal, why Americans are so unhappy with this economic recovery.
The Federal Reserve ending its second round of quantitative easing this month.
And Chairman Ben Bernanke was asked recently if he thought the $600 million in bond purchases had worked.
Yeah, he replied, because the stock market had risen sharply in value.
Then this week, Mr. Bernanke was asked why the economy was lagging.
Well, we don't have a precise read on why the slower pace of growth is persisting.
Well, folks, maybe we shed a little light in this in a way that explains why so many Americans feel so unhappy about this economic recovery.
This is the Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Bernanke was right about stock prices.
There's a chart that accompanies this story, and it shows a steady climb in the S ⁇ P 500 following the QE2 announcement at Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of last August.
Bernanke was attempting to promote what economists call wealth effects or an increase in spending that accompanies an increase in perceived wealth.
Watching their assets rise in value, the argument goes Americans will consume and invest more.
And by the same token, if you tell Americans that their neighbors are losing their jobs and their neighbors are out of work and the price of everything is going up, you're going to have people cutting back their own lifestyles.
So what Bernanke has essentially said here was that we wanted to create the perception, because in politics, perception is reality.
We want to create the perception that our quantitative easing is working, that it is resulting in newfound wealth.
This is also, I think, why Obama's releasing the oil reserves, as prices are going down.
Obama releases oil from the strategic reserves while the price is going down.
This also helps explain the demonization of the Republicans on the economy.
Here's a quote from the story.
The monetary policy, so favored by liberal economists and the White House, has actively favored the wealthy over the middle class, which has been their goal all along.
The Democrats have an unholy alliance with the rich on Wall Street.
We've pointed out to you who gives to who?
Who donates to who?
Who is it that populates Obama's civilian boards on job creation and so forth?
In that case, Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE.
I mean, these guys are soulmates, bedmates, blood brothers, if you will.
The idea that the Democrats are hated by big business and vice versa is one of the biggest jokes being perpetrated on the American people.
It's a symbiotic, almost a almost an incestual relationship that big business on Wall Street has with the Democrats these days, particularly in the White House.
So Americans are perceiving that they have no wealth, which is why they're crappy.
That's the point.
Americans are perceiving that people at Wall Street are doing really well.
Americans are perceiving that some people are really driving bigger cars and buying bigger houses.
And really, it's going well for them.
And they're not.
And so they're unhappy with the recovery.
And of course, most of this is the result of imagery.
Really, if you haven't done it, I suggested that you do this.
If you haven't rented and watched that movie again, go do it.
It's hilarious.
And it's still place today.
It's still relevant.
Who's next?
Derek in Ozark, Missouri.
Derek, great to have you on the EIB network.
Hello, sir.
Hey, Rush.
I just want to remind everybody again to go to 2ifbytea.com.
Get that tea.
I haven't got it yet, but it sure sounds good.
Thank you, sir.
I also want to.
That was unsolicited, by the way.
I just wanted to, second, I wanted to discuss an article, and third, I wanted to throw out a challenge to all your listeners.
All right.
Okay.
The article is by Alex Johnson from MSNBC.com.
Have you heard of him?
Nope, but that doesn't mean anything.
Okay.
Well, I'm not sure what political leaning he is, but the title of the article is Prices Soar on the Used Car Lot.
Now, why do you think that is?
Cash for clunkers.
There you go.
But it takes him two-thirds of the way through the article to mention that.
He starts with the tsunami in Japan.
But who depends on the used cars?
The poor people.
That's right.
And so there's 700,000 less used cars on the market.
So all the used cars are going up.
And the poor people depend on the used cars.
As they get older, they should get cheaper.
But now they're skyrocketing.
And you've also got the problem with parts.
If you've got fewer used cars, you've got fewer parts of the cars.
Some people have had to go to Cuba to get parts or 57 Chevys.
It's bad out there.
Yeah, that's so, I mean, whenever the government gets involved in the private sector, they mess it up.
Big time.
Hey, the challenge I wanted to throw out there is the real estate market's in the dumpers, right?
Theoretically, yeah.
We need to get it going.
And I know they've made the loan requirements so hard now it's it's hard to to get the houses sold.
No, no, no, no, no.
If you're the right qualifier, it's as easy to get a loan as it was when they're passing them out for nothing.
I'm not kidding.
You might think that they have tightened up on lending requirements, and certain people they have, but if you qualify by virtue of you don't have enough income, if your job is not steady, in other words, if life's not treating you fairly, you may in fact qualify for at least a mortgage.
Maybe not a loan to start a business, but you could get a mortgage and you don't even have to lie.
That's what the market needs to get something a fire lid underneath it.
And if you'll allow me, there's an ultimate real estate website called lookylose.com, L-O-O-K-K-E-E-L-O-U-S dot com.
And all real estate agents, buyers, sellers, renters, and landlords can put their information on there throughout U.S. and Canada for a 30-day free trial.
And it's only $7 per month.
All right, I got to stop.
I got to stop.
We can't give away that kind of information.
I appreciate the call.
Thanks so much.
That was a long, circuitous way around getting to the guy's website.
I checked it.
You can't get any two of by T at the guy's website, so it's up to you as to whether or not.
Boy, here we are.
We are smack dab in the summertime.
June the 24th.
And the time is just going by here.
I mean, you start thinking, you realize the days have already started getting shorter.
That's amazing.
June 21st, the longest day of the year.
Now the days are shortening.
And we haven't even gotten into the worst part of the summer, much less the hurricane season.
But here we are, just chugging right along.
I remember when I was a kid, summertime working in radio started when I was 16.
Every day of the summer I was cognizant of.
So into it.
Every day I was well aware of it.
Now, they just go by so quick.
They just go by so fast.
Okay, Skip in Middletown New York.
Great to have you on the program.
Hello.
How are you doing, Rush?
Next talk.
Take my call.
You bet.
This MTA tax in New York for people in Orange County, Rockland, upstate.
Yeah.
Shelly Silver won't let this come to the fore for a vote.
Now, common sense tells me if it doesn't come to the fore, it don't get voted on.
Therefore, to me, that's taxation without representation because my elected official cannot vote on it.
It already passed in the Senate, but the Assembly won't, he won't let it come to the fore.
Am I wrong or right?
I don't know.
Well, you're probably right, but good luck with it.
That helped me a lot.
Yeah, well, no, you are probably right, but you're going to have to have a whole lot of people carrying the water on that and then and making an issue of it.
Well, you you are you talking about the the MTA tax?
Yeah.
Yeah, it passed the Senate already, but it won't, but Shelly Silver won't let it come to the fore in the Assembly.
So, therefore, if it doesn't come to the fore, they don't vote on it and it just falls.
Where, yeah, where it effectively is implemented, even though there hasn't been a vote on it, right?
So, Common Simpsons tells me that I'm being, you know, the MTA tax is a taxation without representation, in my opinion.
Oh, Common Simpsons.
Sounds to me like it, too, on the surface.
Still?
Yeah, on the surface, without knowing what intricacies they may have written in legislation to accommodate this.
I don't, you know, every piece of legislation has its own set of rules.
And without seeing the rules that have attached itself to this piece of legislation, nor the signing statements, I really am not equipped to accommodate a comment, but I can understand why you'd be ticked off about it.
Well, I appreciate that.
I mean, because the way you're looking at it, and this is where I have to agree with you, the way you're looking at it, you're represented, but you're screwed nevertheless.
Okay, yes, you got it.
You hit the nail right on the head.
Yeah.
All right.
I got a gun.
I got to run.
I'm glad you called.
We'll be back and continue right after this.
Okay, programming note and reminder.
And that is this.
Monday and Tuesday, Il Rushboy, will be out, and we'll have Mark Davis in from Dallas on Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday, we're back in it, and we've got the Ditto Cam back up and running on Wednesdays.
I promise you that.
Look forward to it all.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend.
We will.
And look forward to joining you here again on the EIB Network back from our Southern Command on Wednesday.
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