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Feb. 24, 2012 - Rush Limbaugh Program
32:16
February 24, 2012, Friday, Hour #3
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Time Text
What am I looking at here?
MSNBC Romney delivers speech at nearly empty footballs.
Well, of course.
Looks like he's at Ford Field.
Okay, it's the Economic Club speech.
We have a couple soundbites.
Grab soundbites 30 and 31.
Grab those first.
So the Economic Club of Detroit had their meeting at Ford Field, which holds, what, 60,000 people, 65,000 people?
I don't care who you put in there at noon on a Friday.
It's going to be largely empty.
You could have Obama come speak to the Economic Club of Detroit at noon on a Friday, and it would be largely empty.
Live from the Southern Command in sunny South Florida, it's Open Line Friday.
Look, Romney said that his wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.
My wife drives a couple of Cadillacs.
I know.
He just can't.
That's how you relate to the people of Detroit.
We got a couple of Cadillacs in our Michigan home.
We got a couple more Cadillacs in New Hampshire home.
We've got, let's say, it's a Mercedes in our Palm Springs home, but that's just to impress people on the golf course.
Greetings, folks, and welcome to Open Line Friday.
Rush Limbaugh here, 800-282-2882.
How many cars does your wife?
Oh, certainly he's not married.
If you were married, what kind of couple cars would your wife have?
What?
A beamer.
Your wife would have two beamers?
One.
One.
Okay.
Anyway, folks, it's Open Line Friday.
Telephone number is 800-282-2882.
The email address, LRushboyEIBNet.com.
I think I've got the audio soundbite of this too.
Let's see.
I have a Cadillac.
No, I just have one.
Escalating.
I'm looking for this.
I've got Geithner, but I don't have this.
Geithner was on, where was he?
He was on MSNBC.
No, CNBC.
He's on CNBC.
And Geithner, the tax cheat, said that the rich need to pay more taxes for the privilege of being an American.
He was on CNBC today.
The rich need to pay more taxes for the privilege of being an American.
Now, before we get to Romney, just a couple soundbites from his speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
I have to observe, you know, it is amazing to me.
It is, even though it shouldn't be, but it's amazing to me how Jeb Bush and Rudy and Chris Christie, you know, all these people, when Jeb Bush, we quoted him earlier today, is nervous.
He's talking about fear and emotion.
This is not what I want to hear our nominees talking about.
And Christie, a lot of these people say, you've got to stop talking about social issues.
Republicans are saying, we've got to stop talking about this abortion stuff, but we've got to stop talking about contraception.
It is the Democrats who are obsessed with this stuff.
Why can't our people go on offense?
Why can't our people say it's the Democrats who are obsessed with all of these social issues?
Look at Maryland gay marriage bill to governor's desk.
It's not a social issue, gay marriage.
We have a federal judge this week in San Francisco who ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act signed by Bill Clinton is unconstitutional.
Just took it upon himself to say that a piece of legislation is unconstitutional.
Defending traditional values is not modern.
It's off-topic.
Attacking them is modern and good politics.
That's what we're to believe here.
All we're doing is defending traditional values.
All we're doing is defending the institutions and the traditions that have made this country great.
And apparently that's what you're not supposed to do.
Don't do that.
Mr. Limbaugh, you're just going to make people nervous.
Women aren't going to understand.
You wouldn't believe the emails.
Rush, women's brains can't confute this way.
You're making a big mistake here by just bringing it.
Oh, okay.
So we can't defend all these great traditions, but the left can attack them.
The left can attack them and rip them apart and tear them down.
And that's good politics.
Is that what we're to believe?
We're supposed to sit by while great traditions and institutions like marriage are ripped to shreds.
Obama just, as a dictator would, demands that contraception be free and paid for.
He can't do that.
We're supposed to not say a word because Obama's on the right side here.
That's good politics.
We conservatives are on defense on these matters.
We're not trying to change the world.
We're trying to preserve it.
And I'm just going to tell you, for all of you, friends and not, who are telling me to leave this stuff, please take it somewhere else.
If you don't have the desire to defend this stuff, then don't get mad at me because I do.
Because I am not going to join the side of this that says the good politics, the smart politics, the side of this you want to be on politically is to tear down these traditions and institutions.
I am not going there.
I'm not going to go there to attract a larger audience.
I'm not going to go there to avoid criticism.
We're not the ones that issued the rule violating the First Amendment.
They did.
We didn't go to federal court to impose our will and to claim that the will of the people is unconstitutional.
They did.
We are not the ones doing social experiments with the U.S. military.
They are.
And yet, we're divisive.
We're anti-modern.
We're unfocused.
We're old-fashioned.
We're racist, sexist, bigot, homophobes?
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
I'm not gutless.
And by the way, I discuss economic issues and every other aspect of Obama long before anybody else got to the table.
While everybody else was afraid to be critical of Obama, I was not.
Here's Romney at the Economic Club in Detroit at Ford Field today.
We have a couple of sound bites.
Going to make and across the board 20% reduction in marginal individual income tax rates, 20% down across the board.
I'm going to reduce the corporate tax rate to 25% from the current 35%.
We're the highest in the world.
That's got to end.
And I'm going to end the job-killing repatriation tax.
And finally, I will repeal the alternative minimum tax, and I will abolish the death tax.
Soundbite number one, here's Romney and the second soundbite.
I make it clear.
These changes I will not allow to raise the deficit.
Stronger economic growth, spending cuts, and broadening the base will offset the reductions.
Americans will continue to enjoy the tax benefits that favor important priorities, including a home mortgage interest deduction, charitable giving, health care, and savings.
But there'll be some changes in the current deductions and exemptions for higher-income Americans.
Those who receive the greatest benefit from that 20% cut are going to see the most significant limits and some of the deductions and exemptions, so we can keep a code that's progressive.
Okay, and we'll take a brief timeout.
We'll come back.
More calls coming your way on Open Line Friday.
Don't go away.
Yeah, I still have some more pond scum soundbites.
I'm just trying to parcel them out and mix in all the phone calls.
And by the way, those of you out there who have already made up your minds in the Republican primary and grab number 25.
Grab audio soundbite number 25.
Those of you who have made up your minds and are for Mitt Romney to win the Republican nomination, I mentioned something at the beginning of the program, and I warned you that it was coming.
And I have waited and waited and waited.
I didn't put it in the news, but it's out there.
Romney at the debate said this.
It's audio soundbite number 25 in Mesa, Arizona.
John King, the moderator.
Governor Romney, the speaker compared you to President Obama, saying that you infringed on Catholics' rights in Romney care, Governor.
Did you do that?
There was no requirement in Massachusetts for the Catholic Church to provide morning after pills to rape victims.
That was entirely voluntary on their part.
There was no such requirement.
I worked very closely with the leaders of the Catholic Church.
I met with the Cardinal a number of times and with his emissaries.
Okay.
Now, that's what Governor Romney said.
There is, and I found on a blog, I mean, it's everywhere.
Now, I could have pretended I didn't see it.
And I could have said, you know what, I'm not going to skip by this.
This is too obscure.
It's off the beaten path.
And I don't want to hear about social issues.
But they fact-checked that.
There's a website called the Boston Catholic Insider.
And the headline of the post is, did Romney lie about the Cardinal and contraception during Wednesday's debate?
And it starts this way.
As readers know, if there's one thing that gets under our skin here at the Boston Catholic Insider, it's deception.
And this one by former Governor Romney about a situation here in Massachusetts affects how the country perceives values important to many Catholics.
So Boston Catholic Insider felt we could not let it sit without a response.
In the Republican presidential debate a Wednesday evening, Governor Romney said he never infringed on the rights of Catholics as governor by requiring a church to provide morning after pills to rape victims.
It was entirely voluntary on the part of the Catholic Church, he said.
If providing morning after pills was voluntary on the part of the church, then that would mean that Cardinal O'Malley volunteered to have Catholic hospitals give out abortive fashions, and that is simply not true.
That's right here, my nicotine-stained fingers.
And then they offer a link to the transcript of the debate.
I say some of the quick transcription is a little off, but the gist of it is accurate.
And they publish what I just played for you.
And after the text soundbite has been transcribed here, they then say, problem is that what Governor Romney said in the debate isn't correct.
Boston Catholic Insider reported all of the details in our post last month.
Pro-family advocates misrepresent Romney's record on life.
This goes on for three pages as they fact-checked it.
That's all I'm going to say about it, but it's out there.
Yeah, it is.
It's just what it is.
Who's next on the phones?
Where are we going?
Patrick in Arlington, Virginia.
Welcome to the EIB Network.
Hello.
Maha Rashi.
I consider myself a spawn of the great El Rushbo.
I've been listening to you since 1989.
Wow.
That's almost from the get-go.
I appreciate that.
Yes, sir.
Former Air Force air traffic controller, and I am not asleep in the tower I watch.
I got it.
You know, I am fascinated by what you do.
I'm fascinated by that job, air traffic control.
I'm just, I don't know how you guys stay sane and organized for as long as you do it on those shifts.
I have such respect for what you guys do.
Well, thank you, sir.
We're resilient and taught that way.
I'm also a Roman Catholic, and I appreciate you taking that thing off the microphone.
It is.
It's gone.
And by the way, in the interest of fairness and balance, we've got the sound bites.
Arlen Specter says that Santorum is lying, too, in the debate.
Yeah.
Well, having been lived in Florida, I don't care for jellyfish.
And I just wanted to call real quick, Russ.
When Obama's talking about drill, drill, drill, I thought he was talking about late-term abortion.
I wasn't sure.
I was a little confused there for a second, having been familiar with his late-term or Infant Born Alive Act.
I can understand how you'd be confused on that.
Well, air traffic controller and all yeah.
Mitt Romney.
Climb and maintain flight level 350.
You got it, sir.
Clear your takeoff.
Mitt Romney.
Oh, of course, it's not IFR conditions here inside the Beltway, which is why I'm shout out to my father in conservative upstate New York.
So I wanted to get to this.
In 2006, and this is where Governor Romney takes a turn downward.
Under Governor Romney, Catholic charities lost their tax exemption, not because of abortion, but because of gay marriage.
The Catholic Church does not promote adoption services to gay couples.
Now, you can find the article, of course, on our glowingly conservative public broadcast system.
Well, I understand.
I just need to check this with the Ron Paul campaign for veracity.
Not a big fan of his either, having no, I know military regulation and the Constitution, which is why I can't support Rick Santorum because I understand that all taxes should be uniform.
Well, as I was saying, Santorum said that our inspector promised him he would support all of Bush's judicial nominees.
So the news media went out and they got Spectre on there.
Inspector, I didn't make any such promise.
I didn't make any promise.
Like, I'm not going to make a promise to nominees.
I don't even know.
I didn't do that.
So Spectre threw Santorum under the bus today.
The Boston Catholic Insider threw Romney under the bus.
Meanwhile, as I told you, I thought that if Newt had a great performance, that he would maybe re-emerge.
And there's some stories in the media about Gingrich re-emerging.
He's not playing in Michigan.
And Ron Paul is not in Michigan.
He's running ads there, but he's not competing.
He's not contesting.
Nor is Newt.
Anyway, I appreciate the call.
Patrick, thanks much.
Lucy, Columbus, Ohio, Open Line Friday, and it is your turn.
Hello, Rush.
Hi.
Hi.
Yeah, I don't have a lot of time.
I realize that.
I want to get right to my point.
I'm a vascular specialist who sees a lot of blood clots in the lung and the leg, sometimes in the arteries, but a lot in the veins.
And probably one out of every three blood clots that I see in women is from the use of contraception.
Wait, just a minute.
Wait, just a minute.
Are you telling me, did I just hear you write, you see a lot of blood clots sometimes in the arteries, and one out of every three blood clots that you see in women is from the use of contraception?
Correct.
How do you possibly know that?
How do I know that?
Well, how do you know that it's the contraception in the one out of every three that led to the clot?
Well, it is a known risk factor for blood clots that, again, no one's talking about.
So if you go to any resource online about blood clots and risk factors for blood clots, I'll give you one resource, the Venous Disease Coalition.
What about would Planned Parenthood know anything about this?
Well, they should.
Yeah, but they'd probably cover it up.
Either one of them is not a problem.
You know what?
Unfortunately, they don't quant, no one really wants to talk about that.
Okay, so you do.
What's the point?
Well, my point is that Obama and Kathleen Sebelius get up in front of an audience and say that this is for women's health.
Well, unless they want to kill them with the pulmonary embolism, I'm not sure how to do it.
I don't know about your stat with contraception being responsible for one-third of all blood clots out there, but I do find it reprehensible that these people continue to portray pregnancy as the great sickness and abortion as the great cure.
I think I haven't heard of anything sicker.
And we're back.
Rush Limbaugh, half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.
We looked it up during the break.
It's pretty much true.
One of the largest studies ever to look at the link between blood clots and hormonal contraception has found that women who take newer birth control pills appear to get dangerous blood clots in their veins about twice as often as women on older pill formulations.
That was the finding of one of the largest studies ever to look at the link between blood clots and hormonal contraception.
And it says here, this is WebMD, I believe.
Yep, WebMD, blood clots are a well-known side effect, birth control pills.
I did not know that.
Exactly right.
What are we doing to our women?
What are we doing?
We're supposedly the ones that don't like women.
I have more audio here from Governor Romney at the Detroit Economic Club at Ford Field this afternoon.
Just feels good being back in Michigan.
You know, the trees are the right height.
The streets are just right.
I like the fact that most of the cars I see are Detroit-made automobiles.
I drive a Mustang and a Chevy pickup truck.
Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually.
And I used to have a Dodge truck, so I used to have all three covered.
Okay, the, uh, let's see.
We lost my place here.
The trees are the right height.
The streets are just right.
Let's see, a Mustang, a Chevy pickup, it's two, a couple that's four, Dodge truck is five.
Yep, you used to have it all covered.
Okay, moving on to CNBC's Squawk Box.
This is...
This is the Geithner bite, Timothy Geithner, the senior economics reporter Steve Leesman, and Leesman says, hey, Timmy, you propose $2.1 trillion in gross revenues the president has through 2022 in the budget, and yet it seems like almost all the additional revenue is taken up with additional spending.
Where's the real deficit reduction?
If you don't try to generate more revenues through tax reform, if you don't ask the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, then you have to, the only way to achieve fiscal sustainability is through unacceptably deep cuts in benefits for middle-class seniors or unacceptably deep cuts in national security.
If you don't ask the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being an American, so they're going to put a price now on the privilege of being an American.
All you had to do was be born to be an American.
That's the regime for that.
That's remember Joe Bite Me.
It was our patriotic duty to pay more in taxes.
Okay, Danny in Frisco, Texas.
Hi, Danny.
You're next at Open Line Friday.
Great to have you here.
Hey, thank you, Rush.
I appreciate you taking my call.
You bet.
A couple of years ago, I was on the sidelines of the Super Bowl, and that pales in comparison to this opportunity.
Thank you.
Wow.
Wow.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
Yeah.
Hey, I was on my way to my second job a little bit ago, and I was thinking, listening to your show, and I thought, you know, what we really need in America is for you to sponsor a presidential debate.
Hmm.
You're not the first to suggest that.
That has come up before.
You know my problem?
I don't know that my questions would be any.
In fact, I don't even know that I would ask any.
Well, that wouldn't be a bad idea, but you sure could direct the conversation, and they would definitely be known for who they truly are.
Well, something, look, I appreciate it.
You're very nice to say that.
I know precisely what you mean.
These incessant debates moderated by people who genuinely hope to see us embarrassed and then lose is irritates a lot of people.
Danny, you said you're on your way to your second job.
Yes, sir.
I thought the recession was over, and I thought the recovery was pretty solid here.
What do you mean, second job?
Well, I work in two full-time jobs.
I work at a managed care company in the morning.
I go in at 5.30 and leave there about noon or so.
And then I come and I work in the afternoon at a private school up in Plano, Texas.
Okay.
What do you do at the private school?
I am an athletic trainer.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, I take care of all the kids, their injuries, do the rehab, that kind of thing.
So you've got a long day.
It's a long day, but luckily my daughter goes to school here, and she's a student trainer, so I get to enjoy her during the afternoon.
And my wife just loves athletics, so that works out great.
Well, that's awesome.
Well, congratulations.
All the best.
You work in two jobs, but you like it, or is it an economic necessity?
Both.
Both.
I've been very fortunate that both of my companies have been willing to work with me on this.
And, you know, the morning is kind of tough, but the afternoon is a lot of fun being around kids and helping those guys out quite a bit.
But, you know, a couple years ago, I was laid off from my job, and I had developed an economic standard and kind of got myself in a, not a big pickle, but in a position where I needed to continue to earn a little bit of money or seriously downsize.
So being able to work both jobs has allowed me to keep mom at home and has allowed me now to put my daughter in private school and has kept me healthy and fun.
You know, you're breath fresh here.
You're simply accepting the responsibilities of the choices that you've made in your life.
We try.
We try.
I mean, that's the right thing to do.
The last thing I want to do is look for somebody else for help.
So, you know, we do what we need to do and try to have fun while we're doing it.
Well, God bless you.
Thank you.
I want to read something to you about the reason you called.
You're suggesting me to moderate a Republican debate.
The National Journal, which typical inside the Beltway, inside baseball publication, they do the hotline and a number of things.
They had a story not all that long ago.
Why don't right-wing radio hosts moderate Republican debates?
Conservatives say that the media is out to get them, but debates run by conservative talkers would be a catastrophe for Republican candidates and the party.
So they answer their own question.
People at National Journal think that a debate moderated by me would be a catastrophe for the Republican candidates and the party.
Now, why would that be?
Why do you think that would be the case, Danny?
Just off the top of your head, why would anybody think that?
Well, because you would definitely be able to draw out who the true conservative is, and it's obvious that the Republican establishment is not conservative.
The people out here who are going to vote, they're conservative.
People back there back east who never get east of Washington, D.C. or New York City do not understand the American people at all.
And you would be able to draw out the true conservative, and that person would go on to win just like Reagan did back in 80 and 84.
By the way, the story actually originally ran in the Atlantic, and it was reprinted in the National Journal.
I just, I find it fat that they think a moderate, the debate moderated by me would end up being a catastrophe for the Republican candidates and the party.
It would be a catastrophe for the party, not for the candidates.
Because again, I firmly believe, Russ, and I wish you would do this, that you moderating or directing or whatever you want to call it, a presidential debate, would actually get these guys to tell us who they truly are and what they truly believe.
And, you know, the way that the last debate was run, I mean, it was a setup for Santorum.
Santorum was pickled between those two guys.
Yeah, but it was a, but those two guys didn't need CNN to set them up.
Well, that's true, too.
That's true.
They didn't need that.
They came loaded for bear.
I mean, Santorum was the perceived frontrunner at that point, and he was going to get it from all sides no matter what.
No matter who moderated that.
I would just enjoy a debate where I got to hear the truth from the Republican nominee.
Not something like you hear all the time where they're giving out their talking points or they've already thought of the answer and they're just spewing out what they've already sought out.
I'd like to hear them speak from their heart, speak from their convictions.
I hear you.
I'm going to ask you a question here because I got to go, Dan.
Do you have a computer?
Do you like computers?
Yes, sir.
What kind of you have?
Well, actually, we are using my daughter's laptop because we bought her a laptop for school, and we really do not have a computer at home anymore.
Well, you do now.
My prize closet back there is I've got MacBook Pros.
I think I've got a 17 and some 15 inches.
And I've got 13 and 11 inch MacBook Airs.
You tell me which one you want.
Wow, I have no idea.
Okay, then I'll send you the 17.
It's the top of the line.
It's the bigger one.
It's got the DVD drive built into it.
And an Ethernet connection, which the heirs don't have.
They're Wi-Fi only.
Wow.
Yeah, that's cool.
I love them too.
Now, hang on.
Snurdy will get your address and all that stuff.
We can send it out.
And if you want it tomorrow, we'll FedEx it for Saturday delivery.
So don't hang up, Danny.
We've got a quick timeout.
We'll be back after this.
Don't go away.
Jim Danville, Virginia.
Welcome to the program.
Hello.
Hey, Rush.
Megadittos.
Hey, just give you a quick unsolicited promo for 2FIT, if I can.
I bought eight cases before Christmas to give out as gifts.
Everybody loved it.
But to get right to my point.
Wait just a second.
This blows me away.
How many people buy bottled ICT to give it away as a gift?
I can't thank you enough for that.
That's eight cases you bought.
It's awesome.
It's awesome tea.
But anyway, to get to my point, you made a comment earlier in the show, and I just want to call to confirm that you are 100% correct.
Not 99.9% correct.
You made a comment about that you felt in reality that conservatives and Tea Party members were actually upset with the Republican establishment because they were not screaming about what everything, I mean, about everything that's going wrong.
Yeah, this was the Jeb Bush.
We all love Jeb Bush here, but he was saying he used to be conservative.
When he was conservative and he did, he's looking at the nominees.
He doesn't like all this emotion and fear in the campaign.
And what I said was that I don't know if these people really understand what's going on with the voters.
You're already filled with fear over what's happening to the country.
And you're already emotional about it.
The nominees, the candidates, don't have to do anything.
It's already there.
The fear is palpable.
And I appreciate your calling to confirm it because I have no doubt about it.
Don't forget Act of Valor opening today at theaters nationwide.
Real Navy SEALs star.
It's not a documentary.
It's not a training film.
It's a genuine action-adventure movie about the SEALs starring SEALs.
It's amazing.
And we'll see you Monday.
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