Doing what I was born to do and feeling so grateful for that.
El Rushbo, your guiding light, your bulwark, your truth detector, doctor of democracy, general all-around good guy as America's real anchorman here at 800-282-2882 and the email address El Rushbo at EIBnet.com.
So we're already here into the third hour, and I already fall behind in where I intended to be in alerting you to some of the reports in the drive-by media that reflect anger, panic, sadness, disappointment over the state of Obamacare, and particularly healthcare.gov.
It really is stunning.
We sit around and we think that all these media people, they're just on the same page as the Democrats, and they are.
They're all the Democrat Party.
They're just all hacks.
Some of them act as journalists.
Others are in the cabinet.
Others in the regime.
Others think tanks.
They're all Democrats and they're all oriented toward one thing, and that's the advancing of the leftist agenda.
And we also assume that they're all competent and that they're all strategic and they're all on the same page, all coordinated, and that they all either get marching orders or they're just so like-minded they don't need marching orders.
They just and they're all true believers.
So we all assume that they really do believe that tax increases on the rich are not going to affect them, but they're going to hurt the people they don't like.
They actually end up believing this.
For example, they think that just because Obama's their guy, and it really is God, there really is a messianic attachment, that if he comes up with a healthcare plan, it's desperately needed, and only he could have done it.
And if he did it, it is going to be flawless.
And then the real world shows up, and they scratch their heads yet again and don't get it.
And that's where we are.
They have these arrogant almost expectations combined with a condescending attitude toward people that disagree with them.
And people that say, no, it can't work, are automatically rejected as kooks, extremists, entertainers, or what have you.
And they are set out to be destroyed, criticized, ripped to shreds, what have you.
And the critics are always borne out to be right.
Yet the critics are never acknowledged, and the true believers end up having to report some things they just don't understand.
And then they get really worried, which is where they are now.
Not worried that it isn't going to work.
Worried that it might be a setback for the advancement of the agenda.
They're not worried they've done the wrong thing.
Don't misunderstand me.
They don't think they've screwed up.
They don't think that what their dream is is unrealistic.
It's not that.
It's just they can't, they can never believe that their philosophy doesn't work, despite all the historical, empirical, worldwide evidence.
They just can never believe it.
So that takes me to the stack, and we'll get some sound advice to illustrate this.
Ron Fournier, National Journal, former White House correspondent and AP bureau chief.
Why Obama should be freaked out over Obamacare?
Ran today.
It might have run yesterday.
Yeah, it ran yesterday.
And he has five points here.
It's worse than Obama.
I take it.
It's worse than Obama's team has let on.
Obama said Monday he's frustrated by the disastrous launch of an online computer marketplace for Obamacare.
Here are five reasons why frustration isn't enough.
Obama should be frightened.
It's worse than his team has let on.
See, Obama hasn't even been told how bad it is.
The White House has tried to position the failed first days as just hiccups caused by the site's popularity.
Obama called them kinks.
A regime spokesman told the Washington Post Sunday that the main driver of the problem is volume.
That is intentionally misleading.
The White House has heard complaints from insurance companies, consumers, health policy experts about issues embedded deeply in the system.
But the regime refuses to say how many people have enrolled through the Federal Exchange, the key metric for determining how well the online service is working.
There are two possible explanations for the regime's unconscionable lack of transparency.
This is, what do you mean, unconscionable lack of transparency?
This is common.
Anyway, there are two possible explanations for it.
Their process is so screwed up that they don't have the data, which would be embarrassing, or they have the data and it is embarrassing.
And it's the latter.
They know how bad it is, and it is embarrassing, but they say, just give us three hours or three weeks, and we'll take care of it.
The second, this is the easy part.
Finding and motivating people to take action online is the founding strength of Team Obama.
See, this takes me back to the beginning.
This is exactly what's wrong with this.
This is what is not present.
I'm going to say this again.
And those of you who lead groups of people know this.
Or if you work for a leader of people, you know that if you are the leader or if you work for the leader, that leader is hell-bent on something happening, really wants it.
And if you respect that leader, if you're on that leader's team and you want your team to surpass all the other teams, you bust your butt to get it done.
You do it because you're devoted to the project.
You do it because you're devoted to the cause.
You do it because you're devoted to the guy or the girl, the leader.
You do it because your heart is in it.
This is it.
And that's what's missing here.
And all the while, we've been assuming that this is the kind of leadership Obama inspires.
And it obviously isn't.
Finding and motivating people to take action online is the founding strength of Team Obama.
This is what they do best.
Obviously, it isn't.
Obviously, it's not.
That's what's really missing here.
Managing a complex law is a different matter, and it's fair to question whether the president and his team are up to it.
So what Fournier is saying is they're perfectly motivated.
Oh, these true believers are there.
They've been busting their rear ends to make Obama look good.
Maybe they just can't.
Maybe it just can't be done.
Whose decision was it to make it so complex?
Are you thinking Obama?
This is wrong question.
With all duper, he doesn't care.
He doesn't care.
Obama didn't get into details.
Obama said, Give me a national health care plan.
This thing had been in a drawer of some staffers for 20 years.
This health care plan was already.
How many pages is this?
Over 2,000 pages.
This thing just didn't get started.
They didn't start writing this when Obama was elected.
This thing's been a wet dream in somebody's drawer for 20 years, waiting for the right time to implement it.
I mean, this is a bureaucrat's orgasm.
All these departments, all these regulations, all these whereas and ifs, ands, and buts, and therefores and why nots.
And as the secretary shall determine, it's an absolute mess.
It was already written.
Obama just said, Give me a national.
He doesn't care about the complexity.
He's not a detailed guy.
He doesn't care.
The only thing that mattered to him was getting it passed and signed into law.
And after that, everything takes care of itself while he's on the golf course.
So these glitches, yeah, he may make somebody's head roll over this, but that's not even a all of this is so much smoke and mirrors.
Now, number three in Fournier's list, it reflects poorly on the president.
Nobody expects the chief executive to be reviewing computer code or hosting East Room hackathons, but this fail is on him.
This falls exactly right.
It goes to my point at the beginning of the program.
It reflects poorly on the president.
It reflects poorly on the leader.
Why couldn't the true believers make it happen?
My point is, he is not inspirational.
He is not what they've been telling us he is.
I'm not making a big deal of this.
He's not running for election.
We can't campaign against him anymore.
I'm just interested in truth here.
He's not all of these superhuman things he was portrayed to be.
He's just another incompetent liberal.
That's all he is.
With a little radical thrown in and a lot of Olinski thrown in, and he's a dangerous incompetent radical.
We don't even have any successful stories of Obama as a community organizer.
I mean, this whole thing, all of this is giant buildup, great expectations.
And of course, the reality is that it is a dud.
Reflects poorly on the president.
Yes.
Number four, reflects poorly on the government.
Yeah, I'd say so.
And see, these are the things that worry these people.
It looks bad for Obama.
It looks bad for government.
It's worse than they've let on.
And number five, it could hurt Americans.
For decades, politicians of both parties pledged to ease one of the leading causes of anxiety in the post-industrial age, a lack of affordable health care.
And this was supposed to end that anxiety.
And it has not ended it.
It's made it more expensive and added to the anxiety.
Why it could end up hurting, you mean like most of liberalism does?
Most liberalism hurts the people it sets out to help.
That's what's so flummoxing to all of us who pay attention to this.
Liberalism hurts people.
Liberalism inflicts a lot of pain on people.
It destroys ambition.
It breaks up families.
It creates destitution.
It creates dependency.
It destroys dignity.
All in the guise of compassion.
Liberalism assumes everybody else is incompetent.
How sadly ironic it would be if Obamacare is denied a fair shake because of its namesakes mismanagement.
See, there you get.
That's the final concern of Mr. Fournier.
How sadly ironic it would be if Obamacare is denied a fair shake.
What is a fair shake?
They've had three years because of its namesakes mismanagement.
So it's all on him.
AP, Julie Pace, White House lying about Obamacare enrollment numbers.
And she really lays into them here about how they're totally lying about the enrollment and how few it really is, and how it's nowhere near enough to run this program.
There aren't nearly enough people who've enrolled who have committed to buying insurance.
There's not nearly enough money coming in.
This is going to, again, this is going to end up forcing people into the system.
That's the end game, I think, for this, obviously.
UK Daily Mail, stay away from healthcare.gov for at least another month.
Obamacare loses major cheerleader as Consumer Reports magazine issues scathing advice.
Now, Consumer Reports, I don't know why, but it's where people go to figure out what washer and dryer to buy or what car to buy or what this or that.
Not going to question it.
I could.
Not going to go there.
Wouldn't be prudent.
But regardless, and they big Obamacare boosters, consumer reports, big Obamacare everywhere.
And they're saying stay away from it.
Stay, don't get.
That's the same that, I mean, consumer reports, don't want to insult any of you people out there.
Low information mecca.
Well, maybe not.
I don't know.
I shouldn't say that.
It's, it's.
Why do I get myself in these messes?
There's nothing.
Just leave it at.
Consumer reports say don't go there.
Fine.
If they're a gospel for you, you keep looking at them that way.
And this in the Washington Post.
They have a poll.
Majority believe the healthcare website problems indicate a broader issue with the law.
Most Americans say the Rocky start for Obamacare is a harbinger of bigger problems.
It's an ABC News Washington Post poll.
56% of Americans say the website problems are part of a bigger problem.
I don't know how they fix this, unless this is all smoke and mirrors and it's we're being set up for a massive fix in three weeks.
It looks miraculous.
What do you think of that possibility?
You give them that kind of no, okay.
All right.
And then Politico, five Obamacare questions Kathleen Sebelius won't answer.
I can't even believe Obamacare or the Politico thought of them.
I really can't.
Five Obamacare questions Kathleen Sebelius won't answer.
One, what's actually wrong with this with healthcare.gov?
What's wrong with the website?
Just tell us that.
When will it be fixed?
Will the regime delay the individual mandate?
That's question three for her.
Question four, how many people have actually enrolled?
Will not answer that.
Number five, why didn't you have a good backup plan?
They're the government.
They don't have to have a backup plan.
I got to take a break.
We'll be back after this, folks.
Sit tight.
So, according to reports, 5 million lines of computer code has to be fixed in Obamacare.
That's more than a few glitches.
5 million lines.
That's just.
And those 5 million lines are going to have to be coordinated with all the different software writers.
Oh, my goodness.
As Rumsell would say.
Oh, my goodness.
Why, that's just unbelievable, Dick.
Five million lines?
Three weeks.
Okay, I have been talked into during the break, and I have agreed to be talked into it since most of the program's in the can now to explore some of the soundbites mentioning me that took place since I was last with you on Friday.
And we start here Friday night, New York City, on New York One's road to City Hall.
The host Errol Lewis interviewed Chuck Yu Schumer.
And we're talking about the effort to defund Obamacare and the government shutdown.
And Errol Lewis said to Chuck Yu Schumer, how did they, meaning the Republicans, how did they so badly miscalculate?
The Rush Limbaughs of the World, they had a lot of clout.
And so I think most Republicans thought the strategy was flawed from the beginning.
But they said, well, let's let it play out and see what happens.
Certainly Boehner did.
He was a very poor leader.
I think there was an element of fear there that I don't want to oppose the Tea Party.
Pete King, who played a very courageous role here, told me that many of the moderates felt threatened and coward by the Tea Party early on.
Oh, don't you just love this?
So here's Chuck Yu talking to his old buddy Pete King when moderates, the moderates like Pete King felt threatened and coward by the Tea Party.
Isn't that a great thing to have said about you?
Yeah, they were threatened and they were afraid of Tea Party and then the Rush Limbaughs.
There are no Rush Limbaughs of the world.
There is Rush Limbaugh of the World.
You had a lot of clout.
Most Republicans thought the strategy was flawed, but you know, Pete King, courageous role in trying to help us, Harry Reid and me, I just, that's, he's not saying I ordered the government shutdown.
He's just, they're just, snerdly, it's now a talking point.
When the Republican Party, in their minds, screws it, remember the objective here is to discredit me.
And so whenever the Republican Party does something that they think has been a boondoggle mistake, blame me.
It's just a talking point for him now.
Now, here's a Republican, Steve Latorette.
He is a Republican from Ohio.
I hope I'm pronouncing his name right.
It looks like La Touré, as in Toure syndrome.
Well, I've never heard his name pronounced.
Could be Tourette Latouré.
He was a Washington Journal on C-SPAN this morning.
And during the call-in segment, a caller, Andrew from Rochester and Letteré had this exchange about the Republican Party and, of course, Moi.
The problem is that the talk radio guys are leading those Republicans around by the nose.
Rush Limbaugh, he tries to blame the media, but what people don't realize is that Rush Limbaugh is the media.
He's not in danger.
He is the danger, like Walter White said.
Remember that?
Yeah, people forget that talk shows on the right and the left, these people are entertainers and they're in the business of selling advertising.
They're really not in charge of either the Republican or the Democratic Party based upon what their ideology is.
So, Chuck Yu, Schumer, yeah, I'm leading the Republican Party around.
I'm making old buddy Pete King threatened and cowered with a tea party.
To a Republican, La Tere, I'm just an entertainer selling advertising, not really in charge.
This caller says he's not in danger.
He is a danger, like Walter White said.
Walter White, that's breaking band rule.
What did Walter White have to do with this?
Was Walter White in favor of a shutdown?
Walter White died before the shutdown.
GOP consultant, this is NPR Morning Edition yesterday during a report about Senator Ted Cruz.
This is a strategicist John Fury.
Now, I think this guy, my memory serves, I think this guy was on Denny Hastert's staff, if I'm not mistaken.
It depends on what he wants to do with his life.
You know, if he wants to be a long-term senator who actually gets things done, alienating every single other person in both bodies is not a way to do it.
But if he wants to, you know, be a talk show host or go the way of Sarah Palin, you know, he's going the right way.
I mean, he's going to have a passionate following, people who listen to talk radio shows, people who like Rush Limbaugh.
But if he wants to actually get stuff done, this is no way to do it.
So Fury is now Republican consultant.
This cruise is just not the way to do it.
Speaking of consultants, I didn't tell you this.
It was Thursday afternoon.
And I did an interview for our Philadelphia affiliate.
And I did an interview with the Morning Drive personality.
What?
Chris Steagle, yeah.
And during the interview, it was just supposed to be a, hey, Rush is coming back.
How's things going?
We're happy to have you back.
You happy to be back?
Oh, you're not happy to be back.
Why not?
Whatever.
It is that kind of an interview.
And he said to me, now, Rush, you know, the prevailing opinion now in talk radio is that politics is taboo.
We just got to get off of that and move on to something else.
I said, wait a minute, who's saying that?
And I didn't even give him a chance to answer.
I said, who's saying that?
A bunch of consultants saying that?
This is the time to get out of politics.
This is the time.
I said, here, I've been doing this for 25 years, ranking at the top doing it.
Do you think maybe if it were time to get off of it, I would know it and be leading the way?
Who's saying these things?
And he didn't answer because I really didn't give him a chance.
But once again, it's the consultants.
And These are people who have rarely done it, but they set themselves up as experts, tell people how to get elected.
I'm the guy that can get you the independence.
In radio, they tell radio program directors and stations what to program, what not to program.
And apparently now, every time, folks, in radio, just so you know, every time it seems that the Republicans lose.
Every time that happens, consultants and radio tell local stations, you've got to drop politics.
You've got to stop emphasizing it.
You've got to get back to carrot cake recipes and sewage problems in the local community.
It's the worst advice they could ever be given, but it's common and it happens.
And so here's another consultant telling Ted Cruz, if you want to be anything, then you better figure, if you want to be big in Washington, you've got to stop acting the way you're acting.
You've got to act more like we do.
Which is what?
Losers?
Now, Ted Cruz, for his part, he's getting standing ovations when he goes home to Texas, eight minutes long.
And he's telling the audience, and they're fully aware of this, look, we are taking on the establishment.
Nobody said they weren't going to fight back.
Nobody said we're going to win this the first time around.
Everybody knows this is a long haul kind of thing.
So anyway, I just a little side note attached to that comment from John Fury.
What last quote?
Oh, oh, if you actually want to get things done, that's no way to.
Oh, that's what Obama said.
That's right.
Okay, so here's this consultant, John Fury, who I think he did work on Hastert's staff, not mistaken.
Yeah, his last line is to Ted Cruz.
If Ted Cruz wants to actually get stuff done, this is no way to do it.
That's exactly what Obama told congressional Republicans the second week he was in office in 2009.
He called him up there, Republicans in the House and Senate, and he said, look, if you guys, if you're going to get things done, you've got to stop listening to Rush Limbaugh.
That's not how things get done in Washington.
And it was reported, and I ended up talking to John Voehner here a couple of weeks later, and he was telling me about it.
And he said, why would he say that?
He was totally flummoxed why Obama would say that to him.
And I said, John, because what he wanted you to do, he wanted you or somebody, when you left the White House and went out to that bank of microphones to agree with him.
He wanted just one of you to denounce me.
Well, that wasn't going to happen.
I don't know what he's thinking.
He was hoping.
So snerdly, good point.
Here's a Republican consultant offering Ted Cruz the identical advice Obama offered congressional Republicans.
And it's like getting things done like what?
Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, IRS oversight of the Tea Party.
I mean, what kind of things are being done here that we want to keep happening?
This is absurd.
And I got to take a break.
Sit tight, my friends, much more on the other side.
Don't go away.
On a cutting edge, El Rushboy.
This one, you've got to hear this.
This is, oh, John Feary managed the communications operation for Denny Haster.
I was right about that.
He started his career as a speechwriter for Bob Michael.
And if you don't know who Bob Michael is, there's a reason.
Now, Michael Cranish, Deputy Washington Bureau Chief, Boston Globe, Sunday morning, C-SPAN, Washington Journal.
He's got a book out called Broken City.
A series of articles on Washington.
Steve Scully was talking to him.
He said, Chapter 13.
Michael, you're right about the partisan media.
You take aim at MSNBC and Fox and Rush Limbaugh.
And you spleen that.
If you're going to write about why things are broken, you have to look at what is the role of Rush Limbaugh.