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Jan. 22, 2013 - Rush Limbaugh Program
31:45
January 22, 2013, Tuesday, Hour #3
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Time Text
Hi, folks.
Greetings.
Great to have you back.
Rush Limbaugh once again executing assigned host duties flawlessly.
Zero mistakes.
And it can be announced I am lip-syncing my show today.
If you're watching on the DittoCam today, you can see it.
You can see that I am lip-syncing.
It seems to be the greatest claim to fame going.
And so that's what we are doing.
Happy to have you.
Telephone number 800-282-2882.
If you want to be on the program, the email address, lrushbow at EIBnet.com, Charlie Wrangell, member of Congress, Harlem, was on TV back on January 16th.
He says, some of these southern areas have cultures that we're going to have to overcome when it comes to gun control.
We're going to have to overcome some of these cultures in the South.
They're telling us exactly what they're going to do.
Marginalize the South.
That's where all you gun control nuts are.
See, Lincoln didn't finish the job.
Back to the phones.
Anthony in Plainview, he didn't finish what he wanted to say in the massive amount of time we had for his call before the break.
So I wanted to hold him over and allow him to get to his point.
And you had just left off saying you're in advertising, therefore you know well the barometers of a poor economy and so forth.
And we're not in one.
I mean, we're well, we're trucking right along.
The government.
Are you having trouble getting your unemployment check?
No.
Are you having trouble getting your food stamps?
No.
Are you having trouble getting government health care?
No.
What's wrong with the economy?
Well, Rush, you know, we could go in that debate for a long time talking about what's wrong with the economy.
You know, we're overspending, basically.
And, you know, when you overspend and GDP is low and spending is high and you're borrowing 40, 50 cents of every dollar, there's no way that the economy is ever going to bounce back.
And they want to double down on that.
But my point is, that I was trying to make, that I wanted to make, was that, you know, you're right.
The GLP is letting Obama and the left just destroy them.
And, you know, four years ago when Obama was elected and, you know, we all were kind of laughing at him and scratching our heads saying, this guy seems to be campaigning for four years.
He's already got the job.
Why does he still sound like he's campaigning?
Oh, he's still campaigning now.
And he's still campaigning now.
He's not only still campaigning, he's still fundraising.
But you see, there was a brilliance in that in that he or his people understand that to reach the low-information voters, which kind of made things count.
And to reach them, you have to speak in effective soundbites.
And you have to use the media and social media to your advantage with speaking in these soundbites.
That's why they always speak in platitudes and soundbites.
Let me, are you?
And he just does it on and on.
Wait, wait.
Is your point that Obama won because he never stopped campaigning and he came up with clever ways to reach low-information voters?
Yes, he kept talking in soundbites that were used over and over again.
Okay, so your solution is for Republicans to do what?
To use effective, to use soundbites effectively and use new media effectively, which we don't do.
Like, I'll give you a for instance.
Remember when Harry Reid was attacking Romney about his taxes?
Yeah.
Romney could have nipped things in the butt and looked very strong and even, well, maybe not presidential, but looked like a fighter if he came back to Harry Reid and said, well, look, Harry, I wouldn't worry about a private citizen's taxes.
If I were you, I'd worry more about setting a budget.
And you think that's going to appeal to low-information voter who doesn't even know what a budget is?
Not so much.
I think the soundbite would get out that you know how that'd be reported?
I know how it would.
Yeah, I know how it would be slanted.
It would be slanted.
You know, we have an uphill battle.
We don't control the media.
We don't control the schools.
You know, we have.
Yet we still could have won if the Republican base had turned out.
Yes, we could have.
We could have.
Well, but soundbites and that stuff is not going to be the reason the Republican base turns out.
Conservatism is.
We have to pick a conservative candidate, and Romney wasn't the strongest conservative candidate.
Well, but he was the only candidate we had, and had the Republican Party not run away from conservatism, had the Republican Party not acted ashamed of it, they would have won.
You're exactly right.
You know, you made a great point.
Everyone is afraid of Obama now.
But I'll tell you what, Reagan wasn't afraid.
He wasn't afraid of the liberals.
He wasn't afraid of the media.
And he wasn't afraid of the rhinos in our party.
Nope.
And he didn't have any media in his back pocket helping him along either.
By the way, you're in advertising.
You probably know Obama won the award for Advertiser of the Year in 2008, given out by Advertising Age.
Obama and his campaign.
So what you're saying is, see, I know what you want.
You want what everybody wants.
You want us to be able to compete in the soundbite war in the media.
You're forgetting.
So let's use your example.
Harry Reid says, a friend of mine told me that Romney hasn't paid taxes in 15 years.
Romney goes out and says, Harry, instead of talking about taxes, why don't we talk about the fact that you're being irresponsible with your budget?
Story, Romney does not deny he hasn't paid taxes.
And the story, we cannot, you know, this business of trying to get the media to be fair to us is not going to work.
It's my whole point today.
There are days I throw my hands up in frustration, say, why am I even doing this?
I have to say these things 25 times to be understood.
That's not where we're not going to get fair treatment, equal treatment in the media.
We're not going to get respect.
We're not going to have if Romney had come out with a soundbite that really embarrassed Reed, they wouldn't report it.
It would never see the light of day.
The only thing that's going to happen is Harry Reid's going to continue to get media time saying Romney hadn't paid his taxes.
And the only thing the media is going to care about is getting Romney to either deny it or admit it.
And nothing else Romney says is ever going to be a factor.
So we're not going to succeed here playing their game.
This isn't going to happen.
I know how unfair it is, and I know how frustrating it is.
I know you get sick and tired of the unfairness of it all, especially listening to a bunch of people wail and moan about the unfairness of America all day long and why they've got to do all these massive changes in our culture and our politics, such as the racism, the sexism, and the bigotry and the unfairness of all that stuff.
In the meantime, you're just concerned about the basic unfairness of the media, but their job is to destroy conservatism.
It always has been.
They're just now admitting it.
So, in the light of that, it's foolish to think that we can impress them.
It's foolish to think that we can come up with a soundbite here or there, or a Twitter post, or a Facebook post that's going to make them go, oh, wow, maybe these guys aren't so bad after all.
It isn't going to happen.
Simply isn't going to happen.
But look, I'm glad you called, Anthony.
I appreciate it.
Thanks much.
David Pluff, the Obama campaign whiz, was on this week with Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning.
And Stephanopoulos said, the president said he doesn't want to negotiate over the debt limit.
But if Congress passes this proposed three-month extension of the debt limit without spending cuts, there's some breathing space.
So will Obama then start negotiating on the big budget issues after they pass this?
The barrier to progress here is in our position of the president.
We've moved more than halfway, which is a fair definition of compromise.
And we are going to require some more revenues.
All right.
So you see this.
I don't know, folks.
I get blue in the face.
Every time one of these budget snafus comes up, the Republicans cave in and then say, we'll get them next time.
We're going to take Obama to the cleaners when we get to the debt limit.
We get to the debt limit, and they say, you know what?
Let's let Obama just give a three-year debt limit, and then maybe he'll negotiate with us on spending cuts.
And so they go ask the Obama, like, okay, the Republicans have now said no debt limit problem for three more months.
Will you negotiate?
Pluff said, what do you mean negotiate?
Hell would you?
We're going to come back for more taxes next.
And my memory is that we put the tax issue behind us back in the fiscal cliff deal.
I remember Senator McConnell said that.
I remember a lot of Republicans.
Okay, we put the tax issue behind us.
I remember people like Bill Crystal and others in the media saying, we got to let Obama have this.
You know, going to the war, going to the Met on the fiscal cliff is a mistake.
We need to keep our powder drive for the debt limit deal.
It's only a tax increase on the rich.
Go ahead and get it off the table.
Oh, it's off the table.
They're coming back for more.
Chuck Hugh Schumer.
This is two days ago, yesterday, Chuck Hugh Schumer said that the U.S. Senate will only fulfill its legal obligation to pass a budget if the budget, which hasn't been passed since 2009, includes new tax increases.
Chuck Hughes said, we need a budget.
I saw meet the press yesterday.
We need a budget.
It's a great opportunity to get some more revenues.
Oh, hold it a minute.
The Republicans told me that we'd put the tax issue behind us.
We never, I don't know, folks, we don't ever put issues behind us.
We just concede and then go to the next one thinking somehow I'm going to really take it to them then.
We concede then kick it down the can down the road.
We're going to really take it to them then.
We've been doing this for, I don't know how many years.
They're coming back for more taxes and we think we put the tax issue behind us.
It's, I don't know, if the opposition doesn't even know what's happening to it, you know, what hope is there of and by that if the Republicans don't even know what's happening to them, there's no hope that they're going to end up doing anything right here.
Now, the Phil Mickelson story, there are two stories, actually.
Golfer Phil Mickelson may call it quits due to climbing tax rates.
Was Forbes.
And the author here, Tony Nitty, is making some fun of Phil Nicholson.
He's being a very rich golfer who works so hard for his money and now complaining about taxes.
Word is, Phil Mickelson's mad as hell about rising tax rates and he's not going to take it anymore.
What follows is a brief portion of an interview Mickelson gave earlier today, this is yesterday, after carting a final round 66 at the Palmer course of PGA West in La Quinta, which I assure you is not associated with the La Quinta next door to your local Dennis.
Typical snarky comment.
I have played the Palmer course at La Quinta in the Bob Hope Chrysler class.
It's a wonderful, it's a great golf course.
And this guy has to make fun of your little La Quinta all-sweets hotel.
It's not that.
Don't get confused.
Mickelson's not hanging around in some fleabag winning a golf tournament is what this guy says.
Anyway, he says that Mickelson hinted that he's considering drastic career changes because of a combined tax rate nearing 62 to 63 percent.
Question, when you're asked about Stricker's semi-retirement, Steve Stricker, with the political situation the last couple of months, blah, blah, blah.
What do you mean by that?
Do you find it an unsettling time in a way?
Mickelson, well, it's been an interesting offseason, and I'm going to have to make some drastic changes.
I'm not going to jump the gun and do it right away, but I'm going to be making some drastic changes.
You mean leave California?
Mickelson, well, I'm not sure.
You mean move to Canada?
Well, I'm not sure exactly, you know, what I'm going to do yet.
I'll probably talk about it more in-depth next week.
I'm not going to jump the gun, but there are going to be some.
There are going to be some drastic changes to me because I happen to be in that zone that's been targeted both federally and by the state.
And, you know, it doesn't work for me right now.
So I'm going to have to make some drastic changes.
Then the author of the story says, look, to be honest, it's hard to blame Mickelson.
He's compiled a net worth approaching $180 million by repeatedly striking a tiny white ball until it falls into a hole.
But let's take a look at what Mickelson's up against 2013.
And they go through what his federal rate is and his state rate, and then what Prop 30.
And what the icing on the cake here is that Nick Mickelson was going to buy into a portion of the San Diego Padres.
Then they passed Prop 30 in California, and he pulled out of the Padres deal.
He said, look, I'm looking at a combined rate here, 63%.
This doesn't make any sense.
So anyway, the story got reported.
It was in Forbes.
It was all over the place.
In November, California passed Prop 30, increases the top income tax rate on resident millionaires to 13.3%.
A drain on Mickelson's take-home pay that may force him to sell his 9,500 square foot mansion and flee his home state in search of more friendly pastures.
Okay, so that was real, and Mickelson said all that, and it was reported.
There's a follow-up.
Fox News, Mickelson backtracks on further comment on taxes after speaking out over high rate.
Golf star Mickelson says he regrets publicly commenting that he may have to leave California over high taxes, saying he should not have spoken out on such a personal topic.
In a statement to Fox News late yesterday, Mickelson apologized to anybody he may have upset or insulted with the comments that his high tax bracket was causing him to consider drastic changes.
He's apologizing.
Phil Mickelson found it necessary to apologize for saying, you know what, 63% tax rate combined, that may be too much.
I may have to leave.
Something happened that made him think the wise thing to do was apologize.
And what's he apologizing for?
Essentially, for being selfish, for putting himself first.
He's apologizing for thinking about himself.
And he said, you know what?
He doesn't say the word selfish.
It's not in what he's comments or anything, but it's what it means.
I got to take a break as I look at the clock.
Back with more in a moment.
Don't go away.
So, ladies and gentlemen, what's the lesson here with Phil Mickelson?
You will not speak against the revolution.
You will not speak against the tax collectors.
You will not speak against high taxes without getting into trouble.
Somebody paying 62, 63% of their taxes and complaining about it is somebody to be shamed, is somebody to be targeted.
If you are finding yourself paying 62, 63% of your income and taxes, you're going to sit there and take it and understand that there's even more coming your way because you are the reason we have the problems we have in the first place.
It's because you haven't been paying your fair share up to now.
So that 62, 63%, we're just getting even with you for all the breaks that you've had in the past.
So somebody saw the Forbes article and somebody said, Phil, you know what?
You can't act selfish like that with all these endorsements or something.
It had to be something like that.
I mean, if your income, well, again, I'm going to stop there.
Another one of these instances where I can only get into trouble by being right.
And being right is very politically incorrect.
So I'll dial it back.
Look at the bottom line, folks.
I don't want anybody to be under any illusion here.
Obama has already defeated the GOP.
I mean, all this talk about taking them out, we're talking degrees.
I don't mean Republican voters, but I mean the rhinos, the Republicans in name only, the establishment.
They're on the run.
Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, they've changed sides.
Condoleezza Rice, GOP's got to stop turning off large segments of the population.
I didn't know we were.
But she thinks we're turning off large segments of the population.
I know what that means, Hispanics and other minorities and gays.
And we have to stop that.
And then Colin Powell, I mean, he's long ago left the Republican Party, but not in name.
Not in name.
And see, the difference is, folks, you and I, we the people, have not accepted this defeat.
Not yet.
We conservatives have not accepted this, but the Republican establishment has.
And now the media and Obama have joined forces, and they're going for the full-blown elimination of the Republican Party.
And the Republican Party is helping out every phase and step of the way.
I got to take another brief time out as it is.
This is the fastest three hours of media time is really racing by today.
But sit tight.
We got more of your phone calls coming up.
And we're not through with the sound bites that document the predictions/slash warnings I have been issuing for the past month or so.
Sit tight.
Back before you know it.
No, folks, I'm not making this up.
I'm checking the email here in the brick.
Phil Nicholson apologized to anyone he may have, quote, upset or insulted with the comments that his high tax bracket was causing him to consider drastic changes in his life.
Phil Mickelson is apologizing for upsetting anybody who might have been offended at him saying he didn't want to pay a 63% tax rate.
Now, something happened.
Nicholson makes the statement, 62%, 63%.
I'm going to take drastic action.
I have to leave state.
I don't know.
Something happens and he issues an apology for offending people over that?
Oh.
You do not speak against the revolution.
You do not speak against the tax collector.
So now the right thing to do is to apologize for thinking that a 63% rate on your earnings tax rate is not fair.
That's unseemly, and you shouldn't do it.
And you need to apologize for offending people.
Here's Aaron Chico, California.
Great to have you on the program.
Hello.
Aaron, hello.
Yeah, hi, Aaron.
How are you doing today?
How are you doing today, Rush?
Very fine.
Thank you very much.
Good.
Hey, I want to try and take a stab at what you were wanting to say but didn't want to get in trouble for.
And I think that's the fact that the media holds up today in our pop culture and our society really morally depraved, bankrupt people, while the ones that are people with integrity and character and honor are just slandered and derided to all hell.
And even just the latest, you have to look at RG3, the way he's been characterized as a quote-unquote cornball brother, when the guy has a very strong family background, religious background.
And you can take your pick from everyone.
Tim Thibaut, Sarah Palin, compared to, say, Bill Clinton, Obama, Ted Kennedy, you know, Anthony Weiner, he's running for the office again.
But I think the media is just purposefully, by design, going after people with character.
This has been going on for as long as I've been doing this program.
You're right.
I've been doing this.
We're in our 25th year now.
And that has been something that I've noted frequently and loudly throughout all these 25 years.
Now, there's a reason for it, too.
Partly it's pop culture.
Partly it's people love renegades, rascals, and this kind of stuff.
But in this case, there's the political element.
And the political element is if you're conservative, you're a reprobate.
If you're conservative, and what does that mean?
Whatever it means, if you're a conservative, you are to be dispatched.
You're to be lampooned, impugned, laughed at, made fun of, on purpose and by design.
You are hated and despised if you are a conservative by the liberal political establishment.
And that, of course, creates the pop culture, which conveys that image in all of its doings, be it movies, books, newspapers, music, what have you.
But I'm not afraid to point that out.
I know what you're talking about, Wes Welker's wife and the Ray Lewis business and what she was really mad about.
I know what you're referring to there.
But the fact that really decent, good people, throw Romney in there, are destroyed and people that you would consider to be moral failures, genuine reprobates, are heralded as icons and stars, and people you should be like, people you should emulate.
It's a very frustrating thing, and I don't have the answer to it.
It used to be that all that was the minority.
It's not now.
It is the majority.
And it is what it is.
Aaron, I'm glad you called.
Philip in Dallas, you're next.
Great to have you on the program.
Hi.
Rush, I had to talk to you today.
I'm so disgusted.
Our president cannot negotiate at all with the GOP.
He stated that repeatedly.
He, however, is perfectly willing to negotiate with the Taliban.
He's negotiating our surrender in Afghanistan right now.
Things will go back to the way they were.
He is willing to negotiate with Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime at the expense of Iraq.
Well, there's a difference.
None of those people are going to give up and quit.
Yeah.
Why should he negotiate with the Republicans?
He's willing to negotiate with all of America's enemies at the expense of our nation and at the expense of our allies, but he will not negotiate with a co-equal branch of the government of the United States.
I don't know why Republicans won't be out pounding this point home.
Because it'll sound like they're whining.
It'll sound like they're complaining.
No.
The Taliban's not the enemy.
The Republicans are the enemy.
Conservatives are the enemy.
Yeah, well, for all the lip service liberals give us about wanting to see little girls learn to read and all this, the Taliban is executing them for it.
The Taliban is executing people for listening to music.
Yep.
And we're being silent about this.
The president, it's non-negotiable.
He will not speak with us, but he will negotiate with the Taliban.
He will negotiate with the Russians to disarm America for no good reason.
Well, in the president's view, the Republicans are to blame for everything that's wrong in the country.
And why should he negotiate with them?
All this tells you who Obama thinks his real enemies are.
I mean, that's basically what you're saying.
He would never accuse the Taliban of being hostage takers.
He would never accuse Ahmedine Zahn of pointing a gun at the head of the American people, but he has no problem accusing Republicans of it.
You're exactly right.
And in so doing, he's opening himself up.
I mean, he's really telling us who he is.
Yeah, well, I think Republicans just ought to be quietly highlighting that extremism and that hypocrisy, pointing out to people he'll be America's ally or enemies.
He won't even speak with a co-equal branch of government.
He won't negotiate with his own fellow Americans.
Right.
This is how extreme the man is.
You're not wrong.
You're exactly right about it.
I appreciate the call.
Thanks much.
Back after this.
Don't go away.
Back to the phones we go to Kansas City.
It's Tom.
Great to have you on the EIB network, sir.
Hello.
It's so great to be here.
22-year listener, first-time caller.
Thank you very much, sir.
Appreciate that.
I just am so upset with our people that don't see what is happening here.
All they need to do is use some common sense.
We have a president that has told us repeatedly, we can't expect to live in homes that are air-conditioned at 72 degrees year-round.
What cars we have to drive, now our guns, endless, endless, endless list of things that they want to take away from us.
And yet, this same president is living higher on the hog in the White House than any president we've ever had in our history.
Yeah, so what's the point?
The point is the hypocrisy of all of it.
Don't do as I say, or do as I say, not as I do.
Okay, when you say our people are going to have to realize, who do you mean?
I mean, the people in the country need to wake up to this before it's too late.
The people of the country are totally supportive of what's happening.
Oh, I don't think all of them are.
No, I'm very outspoken with.
Well, a majority of the ones who vote are totally down with it.
But the ones that they got out to vote do.
I think the only person really unhappy with Obama is the Oprah.
You know, it's fascinating.
Four years ago, the Oprah was all over the inaugurations, all over everywhere.
And then Michelle Maybell said, you know, we've got to keep fat women out of the White House because they're a bad example.
And ever since then, Oprah's had nothing to do with the Obamas.
And she wasn't even in it.
She jetted out of the country for the emaculation yesterday.
I think outside of Oprah, I don't think there's anybody that voted for Obama that's got the slightest problem with him.
And a majority of the people who voted voted for Obama.
But I do believe that there are more people that didn't vote that don't agree with him.
Yeah, well, a lot of help they were.
A lot of help they were.
When I talk with people in my group of friends and what have you, or neighbors, whatever, the most common reply I get is, well, both parties are the same.
That's because the Republicans don't stand up for anything that's different.
Yeah, that's true.
Republicans suck.
I don't know what else to say about it.
Well, they don't suck as much as the other party.
But my only point to you, you can talk to people all day long and claim to be upset about it, but if they're not voting, then what good are they?
Well, we need to fire those people up to get out and vote.
Yeah, but apparently what's happening in the country is not enough to make him show up and vote, so I don't know what it's going to take.
You've got to say, Obama's not a president.
He's a celebrity.
He's not looked at as a president.
He's no different than Leonardo DiCaprio.
You think any Hollywood actor is ever going to be held to account for his lifestyle?
No.
Everybody's going to wish that they could live the same lifestyle, be on the same TV shows, be in the same movies.
Obama's not a president.
He's a celebrity.
He is the celebrity of the United States.
You think people are out there calling Kim Kardashian a hypocrite or Beyoncé or hypocrite?
So people aren't even looking at this in the political terms that you are looking at it.
You happen to be, right now, anyway, in a minority of the people who vote.
That's an important distinction to make.
I don't think we've lost the country per se, but we have among people who vote.
We're outnumbered among the people who vote.
Anyway, Tom, I appreciate the call.
Thanks much.
Okay, folks, for some reason, I feel like I didn't quite explain myself properly today, which is okay because there's always tomorrow in my case.
So I'll give it another stab tomorrow because it is something I want to be perfectly clearly understood about.
Because I happen to think it's important where we are, where we're headed, and how to stop it.
And we'll see you tomorrow.
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