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Sept. 17, 2013 - Rush Limbaugh Program
33:09
September 17, 2013, Tuesday, Hour #2
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Hi folks and welcome back.
A thrill and a delight to have you here, Rush Limbaugh and the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.
Phone number, if you'd like to join us, 800-282-2882, the email address, ilrushbow at eibnet.com.
Okay, let's go back to healthcare for just a second, because it is a curiosity.
Warren Buffett has come out and suggested the whole thing be scrapped and start over.
And there's one way to do that that is active right now, and that's defund it.
And there are a few people involved in this, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz, and they're being assaulted and they're being targeted.
But they have the support of millions of Americans.
I don't care what poll you look at.
Support for Obamacare never has been majority and it continues to dwindle.
It is an issue that the American people have never, once Obamacare became law.
Now, before Obamacare hit and the whole idea of health care reform presented as keeping your doctor and lowering your premium $2,500, oh yeah, everybody loved that.
But when this became known, even the idea that the government was going to take it over, it has never had majority support.
Democrats don't care.
Obama doesn't care.
They live in an illusion.
Whenever they speak publicly, Obama makes it sound like the vast majority of American people want this.
He's living in an alternative universe.
Warren Buffett, an early supporter of Obama.
I don't want to speculate why, even though I know within 99% ontological certitude.
And Warren Buffett was an early supporter of Obamacare at the same time.
I don't—no, I think Buffett—I'll tell you what I think, Seth.
I think that a number of people like Buffett, and there are lots of them, are beginning to see what an absolute mess this administration is.
And it's been building, and there have, I think they've been tempted to speak out before now, but they haven't had the courage to do so.
They haven't had the guts to do so.
I think Buffett coming out now and suggesting that we scrap it is an indication of a lot of things.
And I think he's not alone.
He may just be one of the first such prominent people to speak up.
But I think, and I can't prove this.
I mean, this is just a sense that I have.
And in thinking about it, you know, I've stopped myself.
So don't engage here in wishful thinking.
Don't end up telling people what you hope is happening as though it is what you think.
I'm not doing that.
I don't think anybody with common sense looking at what is happening to this country can in any way sign on to it.
I think there's some real, I'm not going to call it panic, but there's some people who are really, really concerned about what is happening to this country, what's happening to the economy, by virtue of policies that have been put into place.
But there's been a fear and a reluctance to speak out for the obvious reason that I don't even need to detail here.
But Buffett coming out and suggesting, and by the way, Buffett has written this.
It's not that he just casually tossed it out there on a CNBC interview.
The story on this comes in the Weekly Standard.
You know, things are bad for Obama when even Warren Buffett is soured on Obamacare and says that we need something else.
Healthcare costs in the U.S. are like a tapeworm eating at our economic body.
That's what Buffett said.
We have a health system that, in terms of costs, is really out of control, he said.
And if you take this line and you project what has been happening into the future, we're going to get less and less competitive.
So we need something else.
And then he really hammered a nail by saying, if we don't change this, it's going to hurt the little guy.
Remember now, this thing is pitched as being the salvation for the little guy.
This thing is going to insure the uninsured.
It's going to make health care affordable for the downtrodden.
Buffett is out saying they're the ones that are going to get hurt.
They already are, by the way.
People are losing full-time work.
It's being converted to part-time.
People are losing their jobs.
People are having their salaries cut.
Insurance companies are getting out of the game.
I throw out as an aside, you know, my contention is that Mr. Buffett had to know all of this from the beginning.
And why he didn't speak out then, I think we all know the answer to that too, but he is now.
So the question is, is this going to have any impact?
And if it did or does, how will that manifest itself?
Will the press glom onto this?
It has been suggested the press loves Buffett.
Yes, but they love Obama more.
The press is in the process circling the wagons even after Obama goes out yesterday and makes a really low-class move by attacking the Republicans on a standard, ordinary, everyday political issue moments after acknowledging this tragic shooting at the Washington Navy Yard.
It's uncouth.
It was immature.
It was childish.
It was insensitive.
It was all the things liberals are not supposed to be.
And it surprised a lot of people.
And so the press now doing everything they can circle the wagons and make sure Obama's image doesn't suffer from that by trying to explain his jobs very hard.
And we just don't know.
There's so much at Obama's plate, we have to cut him some slack.
Here comes Buffett in the midst of all the other health care news.
All the jobs being converted full-time to part-time, the job losses, the salary cuts, the insurance companies getting out of the business, the rising costs of basic health care.
All of this is happening.
The vast majority of American people want nothing to do with it.
So here comes Buffett.
Now, will this give anybody any confidence to join him?
Will it give the Republicans the Republican leadership?
Will it light a fire under them?
I have no idea.
Will it change press coverage?
I have no idea.
But I doubt that.
I don't see, I really can't envision anything that's going to cause the press to abandon Obama and adopt a position that is counter to something that he wants and particularly a signature issue.
But you never know.
And I don't even know how much play this is going to get.
Right now, this is in the Weekly Standard.
I don't know if Buffett says it once and that's it.
It's forgotten.
Nobody ever asks him about it.
He's not asked to expand on it.
If he's not asked, does he do it on his own?
But regardless, I think it's an indication that a lot of people who were early on board with Obama are really troubled.
You'd really have to be wearing blinders and have no heart and no compassion at all to not be concerned for everybody in this country, particularly as Buffett describes here, average Americans in his vernacular means the little guy.
The little guy's getting creamed every day in this country, not just with health care, but everything this regime is doing.
Responsible people, and Buffett is one of those.
Responsible, self-reliant people cannot look at this and not see what an utter disaster it is.
The question they have for themselves is: all right, I score points by supporting the guy.
I score all kinds of points by supporting the guy.
And I insulate myself from the hordes who might want my money by supporting the guy versus what's happening to the country.
And this is going to be the equation that they try to balance.
And it's going to boil down to how much they really care about damage to the country and if they think it can be rectified and repaired with the change of leadership in 2016.
But the news continues to come in.
This is Washington Examiner huge boost for conservatives trying to trim or kill Obamacare.
A new Rasmussen report survey just out.
51% of voters are in favor of shutting down the government until major cuts are made in Obamacare.
Now, this is new, and I know it's Rass Mussin, but it really isn't because they kick Rasmussen out.
Did you know that?
Rass Musson's gone.
Rasmussen's not at Rass Musson anymore.
Rass Musson's gone.
Whoever's running this is not Rasmussen.
51% favor a government shutdown.
The actual verbiage from the poll: 51% of voters favor having a shutdown until Democrats and Republicans agree on what spending for the health care law to cut.
40% would rather avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending for the health care law at existing levels.
Now, there are a lot of polls out there, as you well know, that show the Republicans would get creamed if the government got shut down.
But the Rasmussen poll finds that if the main reason for the shutdown is because the Democrats and the president fail to give an inch on this, that the Republicans would win public support.
Now, we also have to consider that this is a setup poll.
Remember, the Republicans are paranoid of a government shutdown and being blamed for it because of 1995.
And they just, they don't want any part of another one.
This is really what is guiding the leadership in opposing the Ted Cruz Mike Lee effort to defund it and all the other efforts that are out there to deal with it.
They're just afraid they're going to take the hit.
The press is going to cream them.
The public's going to end up thinking that the Republicans are responsible for every bit of problem and Democrats can't wait to pounce on it.
Of course, you go back to 1995 and in the media, it was a disaster for the Republicans.
In the real world, it wasn't.
They won Senate seats in the year following, in the election following the shutdown.
And they didn't lose.
I think they lost a couple.
No, they gained two seats and they lost nine in the House.
It was not a disaster.
And from a policy standpoint, what they stood for in that shutdown actually led to Clinton signing welfare reform as something he needed to do to get re-elected in 1996.
So there's that.
Then there's this.
This is from Fox News.
And I really can't recall, I'm sure there are examples, I can't recall an issue that has had more uniformed and unwavering polling results than Obamacare.
And here's another one.
68% are concerned about their own health care under Obamacare.
Nearly seven out of 10 voters are concerned about their personal health care under Obamacare.
And a majority of them want to take it back to 2009 before this happened.
This is in the latest Fox News poll.
Was released today.
Finds that 68% of voters concerned about their health care under the new system.
And that 68% is made up of 43% who are very concerned.
Another 25% who are somewhat concerned.
Even a majority of Democrats feel personally concerned, 56%.
So these results have been what they are for five years.
Ever since this thing was ultimately finally explained to a majority of Americans, they want no part of it, just like they want no part of amnesty.
And just like they wanted no part of bombing Syria.
And the Congress listened to the people on those things.
You note that?
The Congress, okay, president, bomb Syria care, we won't.
In 9207, no amnesty.
Okay, okay.
Now they regrouped and come back for another day, which is now.
But the idea that we can't stop health care is a myth.
It can be stopped.
The evidence is clear.
It can be stopped.
It can be defunded.
The people have the power to cause these kinds of results, and it's proven on a couple of other big issues.
Bombing Syria is the latest one.
And amnesty in 2007, there are other examples.
But for five years, this is what the polling data has shown.
And what was it yesterday?
12% now.
That's it.
12% support Obamacare.
So we'll wait and see if anything happens with Warren Buffett suggesting scrap it.
That is not insignificant.
And it may generate a phone call from Obama.
Hey, Warren, what do you do to me, book?
And, you know, Buffett may change his mind later.
He may say he was misunderstood and dump on the weekly standards.
He was misquoted or misreported.
This would be hard to do because it's pretty precise, but anything can happen.
Let's take a break here as it looks good.
We'll do that.
We'll be back and continue in mere moments, folks.
Do not go away.
Hi, welcome back.
Great to have you.
El Rushbo, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.
This is Fred in Brooklyn.
Hi, Fred.
Great to have you on the EIB network, sir.
Hello.
Rush, after 20 years of listening, I can't believe I got through.
It's your big showbiz break.
Here you are.
You, sir, have educated me and changed the course of my life more than I can ever thank you for.
I'm watching all the news.
I'm even talking amongst friends.
Why is no one calling yesterday's shooting terrorism?
Well, let me ask you to take a stab at that yourself, Fred.
Why do you think?
Why do you think that the mainstream media is protecting Obama, who would like to be elevated as the top president ever against terrorism?
Well, that might be a factor.
Although I – that's a real stretch.
I think that the reason – but before I tell you what the answer is, why do you think it is terrorism?
Why do I think why, sir?
Why do you think it is terrorism?
You think it is.
They're not calling it.
It happened on a military base.
It has a lot of similarities to Major Nadal Hassan, except he didn't live through this act of terrorism to explain why he did it.
It's almost a reflection of the other terrorism.
Here's the problem.
Here's why it's terrorism.
It is terrorism because we shut down the United States Senate.
It's terrorism because we canceled a baseball game, the Washington Nationals and whoever else.
The only thing it didn't cancel was Obama trashing the Republicans for trying to prevent a disaster from being implemented, Obamacare.
Outside of that, how can you not call it terrorism when the Senate says, oh, we're out of here?
How can you not call it terrorism when the people responsible for putting on the Washington Nationals game think it'd be safer and more respectful and whatever else to cancel the game?
Of course it's terrorism.
Here's the answer to your question.
Terrorism, as a word, means militant Islamists.
And that's what is not going to be permitted to be considered.
So if we call it terrorism, then that the regime thinks and the media thinks that people are going to start blaming militant Islamists.
So as far as that's concerned, only militant Islamists can engage in terrorism.
This was just a really, really bad crime.
That was the fault of guns and their availability.
This is an incident that when it happens, the Democrats' first thing they say is, okay, did a right-winger do it?
Or did the guy who did it listen to right-wing radio or Fox News?
That's the first thing.
Is he a Tea Party guy?
That's the first thing they look at.
Then the next thing they look at is race.
Okay, what's the race of the shooter?
Is it white?
They hope that it's a white Tea Party member.
That's how they start the coverage of these events.
Hey, folks, I give you Brian Ross.
The most recent shooting in Colorado.
Brian Ross goes on ABC, found, guess what we found?
We found a guy, a member of a Tea Party group in Colorado.
It's got the same name.
Now, we can't be sure.
Well, then why are you putting it out if you can't be sure?
They wanted the Colorado shooter to be a white conservative.
Remember the Boston marathon bombing?
Some reporter actually said, oh my God, I hope it's not a dark-skinned guy who did it.
Oh my God, oh my God, I hope whoever did it is white.
The first thing they hope, it's a white Tea Party conservative.
When that isn't the case, then they hope it's just white.
Then they hope it's not Muslim.
And if all those are met, coast is clear, it's the problem of guns.
And that's where we are.
And that's why it's not terrorism.
It's guns.
And we'll be back after this.
Don't go away.
Well, now, this, ladies and gentlemen, is at the same time, it's interesting.
It's a little, to me anyway, deflating.
Because the Weekly Standard has added an addendum to their Warren Buffett says we should scrap Obamacare story.
And it turns out, this is the update they've added at the end of the story at the standard.
It appears, it says, that Buffett made his anti-Obamacare comments in 2010, thereby showing that he, like most of the American people, has opposed Obamacare since even before it was passed.
So Buffett's statement was erroneously thought to have been made in the past couple days.
It wasn't.
It was made in 2010.
So that means it's much less impact.
He said it in 2010 and nobody listened to it and nobody built on it and nothing really happened.
It's been reported again, but he didn't say it three years ago.
I guess in and of itself, it's an indication Buffett knew.
And this, he said before it was passed, he's not an idiot.
He knew what this bill was.
He knew where it was headed.
But the fact that he said it in 2010 and nobody knew about it until yesterday is a story into itself.
Here's Albert in San Jose, California.
Hi, Albert.
Great to have you on the EIB network.
Hello.
Hi, Rush.
I had a question with regard to the health care law and the Republicans and what they're proposing.
I know that Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are proposing defunding Obamacare, which I think is great.
But what I don't understand, and what I'm hearing from other GOP leaders, is the idea of delaying Obamacare.
So I don't understand politically, and just talking politically, why the Republicans are going down that path.
But why are they trying to fix this bill like they did with the medical tax?
Why fix this bill at all?
Why don't they just let it go and just don't put their hands on this bill at all?
This is a fascinating question, and it cuts to the quick.
It cuts to the core of what has happened to the Republican Party.
And I happen to be uniquely qualified to answer this for you.
Here goes.
The reason there's a modus operandi in Washington.
The Democrats propose something.
This is, by the way, how things happen.
The Democrats are the ones that propose things.
The Democrats are the ones always advancing their agenda.
The Republicans never say no.
The Republicans, because they are so frightened of the media and so frightened of the first black president, that the Republicans' initial reaction to every Democrat proposal is that they must have an alternative.
In their view, Obama won.
The American people, therefore, want Obama to get what he wants.
Therefore, to be seen positively by the American people, they must appear to be at least partially supportive of Obama because he's so loved and adored by the American people.
I'm telling you something they think.
So Obama proposes health care, and the Republicans say, oh, we've got a better plan.
And then they start trying, quote, fix it.
But the basic premise, government-run health care survives, and it becomes what ends up being debated.
That's why the Tea Party came into existence, frankly, because the Republican Party stopped opposing the Democrat Party, the Tea Party.
So why are we sending them there?
And the Tea Party begot people like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, and they've gone there and they're opposing.
They're trying to stop it.
And the Republican establishment is getting mad at them.
Well, you guys are just obstructionists.
You know, you guys aren't legislators.
You guys don't compromise.
We're going to get nothing done in Washington if you guys just constantly obstruct things.
And that's what they were sent there to do.
The whole party ought to be obstructing.
The whole party ought to be saying no to everything in Obama's agenda.
They should have said no to the stimulus.
They should have said no to Obamacare.
Now, in fairness, they didn't have the votes to stop it at all.
And so there was some bravery there.
They knew that they didn't have the votes.
But once it became law, they don't see any benefit.
The leadership and the vast Republican establishment doesn't see any benefit in opposing what's been signed into law.
They just think that they're going to end up being hated and despised and never, ever win another election.
I mean, I've got a story somewhere here in the stack since you asked, Albert, about this very thing, Republican establishment leaders upset with Cruz and upset with others.
If these guys keep obstructing, we're never going to win.
We're never going to get back in power.
As though the only route to power is Democrat light.
And, well, what about the country?
Meaning, what about the people of the country?
The Washington, there's the whole Washington establishment, and it's made up of Republicans and Democrats.
And Albert, I hate to say, but there may be some Republicans that you are thinking would naturally be opposed to this who are actually not that opposed.
Hey, you know, we're in government.
Government can be good when we're running it.
We'd like to be in charge of all this money.
We'd like to have the committee chairmanships in charge of all this money.
Yeah, we could do it better and smarter than they do.
There really isn't in the Washington establishment, Albert, there really aren't a whole lot of limited government types, Republican or Democrat.
They just aren't there.
Does that help?
I know it doesn't make you feel any better, but does it help answer your question?
Yes, it does.
Thanks, Bush.
Yeah, you're right.
It doesn't make me feel any thanks.
It doesn't make sense.
Look, it doesn't make sense at all.
Here you have, especially on health care, and the way I look at it, and I'm not a politician.
I don't have to get votes.
But the way I look at it, you look at every polling day, and these people live and die by polls, Albert.
Every poll shows a vast majority of American people don't want this.
That's a majority of Americans waiting to be connected with by the Republican Party.
And I always thought, naive, stupid me, that the Republican Party was different and therefore opposed the Democrats and wanted to beat them.
But that doesn't seem to be operative right now.
And if there is a reason for it, it's the fact that we are now being led by the first black president and there just is no.
They look at it, there's no payoff.
There's literally nothing to be gained by opposing Obama, no matter what.
Sorry to say.
We do not live in a colorblind society and politics certainly certainly isn't.
But that's such a good question.
Why would the Republicans want their fingerprints on this?
Well, you have to think that they've made a calculated guess that their fingerprints on this are going to help them, just like their fingerprints on Amnesty are going to help them.
Let's throw something else in the mix, Albert.
Really make your day.
What if I were to tell you that the Republican establishment doesn't want people like you and me making up their base, their primary supporters, their number one supporter?
They want to trade us in for a new base of people.
More moderate, not so pro-life, not so focused on social issues.
And so they might be willing to live in the wilderness for a few elections in order to switch out their base.
There could be any number of things going on.
Well, I think there is a little envy on the Republican side that they can't relate to the low-information crowd.
I think they're a little jealous because the low-information crowd is pop culture.
I think they would love to have some support from pop culture.
And I think, I actually think it's a factoring that they see the Democrats loved and adored by the cool in the hip.
And they want to be loved and adored by the cool in the hip.
I don't have a big concern that is.
I don't know how big a factor it is, but human nature is human nature.
And let's face it, folks, none of us ever get out of high school.
I don't care how old we get.
Here's Amanda Royal Palm Beach.
Why, not far from here.
Great to have you on the program.
Hello.
Hi, thank you.
I can't believe I'm lying with you.
I'm glad you just brought up the book.
Recently, I just started homeschooling my son, and I'm definitely adding that to our curriculum this year.
So he listens to you with me every day.
He's six years old.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I guarantee you.
I guarantee you it's going to be right.
It'd be so perfect for your homeschool curriculum.
So perfect.
Well, I'm excited.
So are we.
Thank you.
Yes.
I actually kind of off topic for you today, but I was wondering what you thought about, you know, you talk a lot about, you know, people that are online and Facebook and who just pour all of their lives online and put everything about themselves online.
And I see it too.
People I went to high school with and people that I know and they put everything about themselves online and their children especially, you know, the pictures and the little videos.
And some of them that I think are a little, what I think would be embarrassing or the kids maybe when they're older, I think, you know, a lot of people today think of themselves maybe as victims or there's that mindset.
And when these kids get older, are they going to have a case of, you know, mom, I'm a private person now.
I really didn't want my entire childhood online.
And especially the way that everything is being saved.
Yeah, nine times, nine cases out of ten, that's going to be the case.
Nine out of ten times they're going to be embarrassed, can't believe they did it, wish they could scrub it.
You are exactly right.
In fact, you know, this has been a big bugaboo of mine, and it's all rooted in people wanting fame.
It's look at, you know, Amanda, it's all rooted in everybody wanting to have a really fun, great life.
And they look at the media and they look at whatever entertainment TV programs or websites they look at and they see the life of celebrities and they think that it's constant happiness.
They think it's constant adoration, big money, and they want it.
And everybody wants to be known.
Nobody wants to be anonymous.
Everybody wants to be famous until they find out what it is.
And they end up hating the paparazzi.
Then they end up hating the press and all that.
But until they get it, they want it really badly.
Elton John, I sent him a note because he's right on the money.
He's said the same thing in the last couple of days.
I didn't know.
He chose Lady Gaga as a godmother to his two kids.
And he's appalled at what she's doing, and he thinks that she's on a bad path.
And he's tried to call her and talk about it, and she will not take his call.
He knew Michael Jackson was never going to play any sets at the O2 arena.
He knew Michael Jackson was headed for a fall.
He knew it.
He doesn't understand why the people around Jackson didn't know it.
He said, everybody thinks that I've made myself available.
Nobody knows anything about me.
They know about the hair.
They know about the big glasses.
They know about the colorful clothes and the piano.
They don't know who I am because I've kept that in check.
I've reserved it.
He's not on the internet.
Elton doesn't Facebook or Twitter or any of that stuff because he believes there ought to be some mystique about everybody, particularly performers.
So if I were you, it's a tough sell.
You know, mom's never right about these kind of things.
But you're right.
Nine out of ten teenagers are going to be profoundly embarrassed later on in life when they find out what they did.
Online posting is going to be like tattoos when these people grow up.
They're going to wish they didn't have them.
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