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Dec. 13, 2013 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:37
December 13, 2013, Friday, Hour #2
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Greetings, my friends.
Great to have you here.
Rush Limbaugh, the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.
Half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.
It's Friday, so join us.
Let's go.
Live from the Southern Command in sunny South Florida.
It's Open Line Friday.
So nice to have you with us, folks.
Open Line Friday differs from Monday through Thursday in that whatever you want to talk about when we go to phones is hunky-dory.
It's a gigantic career risk taken by me, turning over the all-important content of the program, at least during phone calls, to rank amateurs.
And that's the fun of it.
Lovable rank amateurs.
The telephone number, if you want to be on the program, 800-282-2882.
And the email address, El Rushbo at EIBNet.com.
I'm going to stick with the audio soundbites here on the budget deal just to illustrate that which we have discussed up till now.
The first thing, the first soundbite we played was, of course, was ABC News trying to say that it's John Boehner versus me.
And I stayed out of this.
I'm in it now.
But I purposely stayed out because there was nothing new in it.
Been through all of that.
We just continue with the sound bites just to illustrate to you the way this all gets written and reported.
It's just same thing every time something like this happens.
We'll stop now with CNN.
Carol Costello talking to Candy Crowley, well-known Tea Party experts, both of them.
And they're talking about Boehner's criticism of conservatives because they criticized the deal.
See, the media loves Boehner now because Boehner told the Tea Party to go to hell.
Boehner is loved now by the media because he stood up to the conservatives and to people like the drive-by media.
We pose the biggest problem that they face of all problems anywhere.
We are the biggest problem.
And when our side turns on us, it's orgasmic for them.
So here's how this went.
I'm sure many Democrats are hoping that this is really a sign that the Tea Party has lost its luster among Republicans and Republicans are now fighting back and maybe the Tea Party will kind of disappear very soon.
What's your take?
They have certainly on talk radio gone after John Boehner a great deal on this particular budget and on what he said.
But in the end, it is still in the interest of the Republican Party, including John Boehner, to keep Tea Party types in the fold.
These are eager voters who need to come out in November of next year.
So here you have the former stalker, CNN assigned to me, Carol Costello, and now one of their anchor info babes, asking Candy Crowley, is this it?
Could this be, could this actually be the end of the Tea Party, Candy?
Is it really, what's your take?
Could it be?
Could it be, is it, I mean, so excited over the possibility end of the Tea Party.
There is no Tea Party, by the way, as you know and I know.
The Tea Party is made up of people.
It's not an organized party.
There is no leader.
It's a body of thought.
And it's not going away, and it represents the majority of the Republican base.
You know, Could somebody tell me what the Republicans are winning, doing it their way?
What are they winning, snerdly?
Their rhino candidates for president lose.
The next one up that we'll lose if he's nominated is Christie.
What are they winning?
What is it better?
Better still, what is the Tea Party losing for them?
But they think a lot.
They think they've lost it.
Four Senate seats.
That's right.
Government shutdown.
That's right.
Tea Party is responsible for the government shutdown.
They're just so afraid of the government shutdown.
But they don't win anything doing it their way.
Anyway, can't what?
What do they win?
Okay, they win praise.
I'm talking about elections of consequence.
They don't win them.
Let's see.
1992, 1996, 2008, 2012.
But not, and they're nominating the same types.
I mean, the moderate, middle-of-the-road, rhino types, people definitely aren't conservatives because the country's never going to elect those people, right?
So I don't even, if they had a track record of winning, some of this might be a little bit more understandable.
But anyway, you heard Candy Crowley had to tell Costello, no, no, they're really not going away, Carol.
They happen to be the Republican base.
And the Republicans will need them in November.
And they will need them in November.
I mean, look at 2010.
That's a Tea Party landslide midterm congressional victory that the Republican Party didn't do diddly squat to win.
2010 midterms.
Well, I know I've said that.
I have proffered the possibility that the Republicans may indeed, this is something I think it has to be considered.
The Republican establishment may in fact be so desirous of getting rid of the Tea Party as its base.
They may be willing to lose some elections in order to get rid of their base and put up a new base.
Now, Pelosi is out there saying, I don't know if this happened or not.
Pelosi is saying that Boehner told her to wait till next year for amnesty.
They're not going to be able to get to it this year.
Boehner told her to be patient and wait.
That's what she is saying.
I just saw it on the Drudge Report that Pelosi is saying that Boehner told her they're going to do immigration.
Amnesty was not used.
The word was not used.
Immigration will be done next year.
Now, Boehner has to know that the base doesn't want any part of it.
Why would they do it then?
You can't eliminate the role that money is playing in that either.
Donor dollars.
You cannot.
You know it as well as I do.
If they're getting pressure from big-time donors that they'd better support amnesty, that's what they are going to do.
I know it sounds like Obama talking to Dmitry Medvedev.
Look, you go tell Flint that I'll be a lot more flexible after I win reelection.
Look, Nancy, sit tight.
We'll do election next year or immigration next year.
Here's Boehner.
This is yesterday in Washington.
He doubled down here on conservatives misleading their followers and everything.
Well, frankly, I think they're misleading their followers.
I think they're pushing our members in places where they don't want to be.
And frankly, I just think that they've lost all credibility.
You know, they pushed us into this fight to defund Obamacare and the shutdown of government.
There you have it.
That is, I'm telling you, what is the primary animating thing?
The establishment is livid that Ted Cruz and his gang engineered with public support what happened in the government shutdown.
They think, erroneously, I might add, they think that that's why they are looked upon with disfavor by the majority of people in the country because they think that a majority of people didn't want the shutdown.
Most people didn't notice it and don't even care.
But they believe that the Ted Cruz, Mike Lee Tea Party engineered shutdown.
You can just hear how ticked off Boehner is about this.
And here's Boehner now saying what the Democrats were saying about Ted Cruz.
And not just the Democrats.
Who was it that was accusing the conservatives or Republicans were accusing Cruz of misleading?
Well, he's out there promising people things.
Oh, that's right.
It was Peter King, Mr. Long Island, who doubles as a member of Congress and a Fox News analyst.
And he was saying that Cruz was misleading his followers, that Cruz was promising people, getting him to sign a petition for something that could never happen.
We're not going to defund Obamacare.
He's telling them lies.
And now that's what Boehner joined that chorus, that the Tea Party guys are misleading.
And he's talking primarily here about Heritage Action and two other lobbying groups.
Club for Growth.
He's really not talking about me in this because I didn't join this fray.
Other radio talk show hosts did big time.
I stayed out of it.
Okay, so that's Boehner.
Here's Rubio.
Rubio was on CBS this morning today, and he's toying with the idea of running for president, too.
They're having a discussion about the budget deal.
The co-host InfoBabe, Nora O'Donnell, said, Senator Rubio, I want to ask you about a criticism where you may be more beholden to these conservative groups than your own party, the legislating party.
Now, think of that formulation of questioning.
You may be more beholden to the base.
You may be more beholden to your voters than to your party.
As though Rubio is committing some kind of political crime here.
So Nora O'Donnell accusing Rubio of being beholden, more beholden to his voters than his own legislating party.
He says, if you looked at the votes in the House yesterday, it had nearly equal Democrat-Republican votes.
You had Congressman Ryan and Patty Murray working out a compromise.
Shouldn't you be encouraging a rare outbreak of bipartisanship?
Compromise just for the sake of compromise so we can feel good about each other.
I don't think it's progress for the country.
I recognize how difficult that is.
Really?
Is that what you think?
Yeah, for the sake of compromise that doesn't solve problems just for the sake of it.
Yeah, that's not a good thing for the country.
That's what happened.
Senator Peterson.
They're not saying.
No, no, we have a very serious problem in this country.
Senator, they're not saying they're compromising because for the sake of compromise, they're saying they're compromising so that they can move forward.
That's what you described the compromise.
No, that's how you've described the question.
Let me tell you, Rubio is so right on the money here.
But do you notice, do you notice these are not media?
You've got to think of these people as Democrats.
Forget that they're on television and asking questions.
They're not journalists.
You've got to look at these people as who they are.
They are Democrats.
They are Democrat hacks and they're working as journalists.
And so Rubio says something that to you and me is just the most solid common sense in the world.
Compromise for the sake of compromise so we can feel good.
That doesn't do anything.
And they can't believe what they heard.
She can't believe what she just heard.
You mean, really?
Really?
That's what you think?
That compromise just to feel good doesn't mean anything?
You really, and Rubio, hell yes.
Compromise doesn't solve problems just for the sake of it.
It's not a good thing for the country.
That's why we have to have solutions.
And Charlie Rosen, but Senator, Senator, my God, have you taken leave of your senses?
They're not saying.
No, no, we have a very serious problem in the country, Rubio says.
But Senator, they're not saying they're compromising.
Rubio, I'm surprised that you're surprised by my answer.
But they're not compromising for the sake of compromise.
Yes, they are, Charlie.
The Republicans are because that's what you people tell them they ought to do.
You Democrats in the media tell the Republicans, you people need to compromise bipartisanship.
People want people to get along.
Okay, so everybody got along.
They went bipartisan.
They compromised.
They got a budget deal.
It doesn't solve one problem.
It doesn't fix anything.
And yet everybody on the bipartisan side is just feeling happy as they can be.
And Rubio says it's meaningless.
And they can't believe it.
Huge divide.
That's, folks, this is why I say there's no hope of genuine real compromise.
There's no hope of getting along here.
This is politics.
These people need to be defeated, not gotten along with, not reasoned with because we can't.
You just heard it.
Reasoning with that logic does not reach them.
You and I know compromise for the sake of compromise accomplishes nothing.
Just to make yourself feel good, they think that's all that's involved here.
Because what they know, at the end of the day, Republicans compromising is Republicans losing.
And that's why they're really for it.
And they just, and they can't believe that Rubio doesn't see that the only way the Republicans can win is for them to lose.
Now take a break.
We'll come back and continue after this.
Don't go away.
And we're back.
Great to have you, Rush Limbaugh.
Open Line Friday.
This is Madison in Burbank, South Dakota.
Great to have you on the EIB network.
Hello.
Hi, Mr. Limbaugh.
Oh, I just, I just.
I'm reading the Rush Revere book.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just, I just, Madison, I just noticed after I took your call that you're seven years old.
Yes.
Amazing.
Seven years old.
Now, I'm saying, you're just finished reading the book, did you say?
Not finished.
I'm on the sixth chapter, though.
Oh, you're not finished.
You're on the sixth chapter.
Well, what do you think so far?
Well, the things Liberty does are funny.
And one of my favorite parts is when he kicks the golden keys through the window.
Yes.
Liberty is Liberty is getting a lot of fan mail.
Well, this is great.
How long have you been reading the book, Madison?
Well, my mom ordered it for me for a history class.
History class?
History.
Wait a minute.
Seven years old.
That's like first or second grade.
What grade are you in?
Second.
Second.
Are you being homeschooled?
Yeah, I'm homeschooled.
Obviously, it has to be.
You're so far ahead of the game.
Now, Madison, you've got to be a really smart little girl because that book was written for, I mean, the target age was between seven and ten, between 10 and 13.
And are you having any trouble?
Are you having any trouble with it, though?
Or is it all, is it, is it easy for you to understand and follow?
Yeah, it's been making sense.
Well, that's just great.
Just my heart, I'm singing here.
You have such a great name, too.
Madison is such a great name, especially for somebody interested in history.
Madison is one of the greatest names.
His name is Dr. James Madison.
This is just so cute.
I can't.
Madison, I love your voice.
I love your.
Would you say my name?
Rush Revere.
All right.
Rush Limbaugh, though.
Say, Madison, I want you to do a little promo.
Say you're listening to Rush Limbaugh and the EIB network.
Can you say that?
I'm listening to Rush Limbaugh and I the Madison.
I want you to hold.
Have you heard?
Do you have the audio version of the book or do you just have the actual book itself?
I just have the actual book.
Well, well, you got to hear Rush Revere read the book.
You hang on and Mr. Snurdy will get an address.
We can send you the audio version.
It's on four CDs.
It'll only take you four and a half hours to listen to it.
And it'll add to even your reading experience.
So don't hang up, Madison.
So when Mr. Snerdley was talking to Madison, getting her address, she said, would you tell Mr. Limbaugh something?
And he said, sure.
And Madison said that she just won.
What were the federal junior duck stamp contest?
National Conscious.
She's the youngest to have ever won the federal junior duck stamp contest.
And she's going to send me one of her prints.
She asked Mr. Snerdley if she could do that.
Now, Madison, I'll tell you what we're going to do.
And I made up my mind to do this before Snerdley even told me that you're going to send me one of your duck stamp prints.
We're going to send you a special certificate that we send people occasionally, readers of Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims.
And we have these cute little bears in the 2F by T gift shop at 2fbit.com, and we call them Ted T. Bear.
Cutest little white little bear.
And we're going to send you one of those too.
So we're going to send you the audio version.
And we're going to send you a special certificate and Ted T. Bear as an added Christmas gift.
Folks, I haven't mentioned the book much lately, but we just found out on Wednesday that we again are number one for the sixth consecutive week on the New York Times bestseller list in the category that we are in.
And it just continues to fly off the shelves out there.
And we continue to feel happy and gratified and filled with thanks for all of you, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims.
Literally, we're being overwhelmed now with kids sending in fan mail and email to the characters.
And so we continue to build the adventures of Rush Revere portal at the 2fbit.com website.
I mean, there's all kinds of interactive things for the kids there to do and to download, such as coloring pages and any number of things.
If you haven't visited the website recently, you should.
2fbyt.com, T-W-O-I-FB.com.
And there'll find the adventures of Rush Revere, and it'll all be revealed.
And it's, as I say, number one New York Times lifts six consecutive weeks out there.
That's right.
She wanted to talk to Rush Revere.
Exactly right.
And I've spoken to, Revere is jealous of Liberty.
I've spoken to Revere about it, and he's not getting nearly as much fan mail as Liberty is getting.
And he's prominent on the cover, and he's a little, it's not that his feelings are hurt because they're good buddies and everything, but he's still a little.
You can tell.
You can tell when I talk.
That's why I told her the audio version is read by Rush Revere.
Rush Revere reads the audio version of the book.
And so anyway, sixth consecutive week.
Numero.
Oh, by the way, speaking, folks, we're going to be calling, we have the winners of our last great sweepstakes of the year.
Four people, each bringing a guest to visit us for the day here at the EIB Southern Command.
It's part of a three-day, two-night trip to South Florida.
We have selected the winners, and we're going to be calling you soon.
I don't know exactly when because the weekend is upon us, but we will be calling the winners soon.
And the 50, there were 50 first prize winners, and those gift boxes are also all packed and ready.
So if you're one of the 50 first prize winners, you keep a sharp eye.
Well, you don't know who you are, but if you are one, your gift box will soon be headed your way.
Here's Wayne in Denver.
Wayne, great to have you on the EIB Network at Open Line Friday.
Hi.
Hey, Rush.
It's a great privilege to talk to you.
Thank you very much, sir.
Hey, and I am a conservative, and I am not going away.
Nor am I.
And I'm great to hear you say that.
There's nothing they can do to send us away.
Listen, something, I listen to your podcasts every day, and you hit a home run yesterday when you talked about the cost of drugs.
That was absolutely the best explanation that I've seen.
I am 63 years old.
We're about the same age.
And I was in business for myself for 12 years.
And what I saw happen over that 12-year period, and the reason that I sold my business is insurance came into the picture.
And the market became the copay.
No one cared about the cost of drugs.
And I saw, for example, an antihistamine went up to $90 a month cost to the pharmacy, but the patient was paying $2.
Wait a second.
Prescription antihistamine was $90 a month to you?
To me.
And antihistamine was $90?
My cost was $90, and the patient cost was $2.
Right.
And so the patients stopped caring about what drugs cost.
They never even knew.
It got to the point they didn't know what the real cost was.
Now they're finding out.
They didn't know.
They didn't know.
And that's why your point about if we would have stayed on a cash basis is so critically important.
Because when I was in business in 1988, our average prescription cost was $17.50 cash price.
And now it's well over $100.
Yeah.
And now people are finding out with what is all happening at Obamacare that they are going to be liable not for $2 out of $90, but for $88 out of $90.
I'm really concerned.
I'm extremely concerned.
Because people can't afford what they're going to cost now.
Yeah, Rush, you know, the issue was never, they made the issue insurance instead of access to care.
And when you say they made the issue, who are you talking about?
Well, for one thing, Big Pharma, you know, the drug companies made insurance an issue.
And now Obamacare is all about insurance.
It's not about access to health care.
I don't think anybody suffers from being able to access health care.
But when we invite the insurance companies to play, they're going to make the rules.
Well, wait a minute now.
We're going to see limits to the whoever pays always makes parents pay for kids.
They make the rules.
It's not that the insurance companies are inherently bad or evil.
It's just human nature, it's human nature.
That's exactly right.
That's exactly right.
And we've seen some crazy things.
Albuterol inhalers, which is a rescue inhaler for asthmatics.
Yeah.
Five years ago, those were $17 cash price.
Now they're $65.
That's just unfortunate.
You know why?
Because we had to change the propellant to save the ozone.
Yeah, it's not even a drug cost.
It's not even a drug cost.
And they don't work as good.
They don't work as good, and they cost about four times the cost of what they used to be.
Right.
So the FDA gets in there, along with the environmentalist wackos.
And on a basis of a hoax, the idea that the old stock of inhalers was somehow destroying the ozone and creating global warming is a crock anyway.
But you have all these third parties, the insurance companies are in there.
What it ends up is the patient has it magically paid for via the insurance policy and therefore not in touch with what it really costs.
I couldn't see the cost.
You know, Rush, it's like if I were to send you over, we have a street here in Denver where all the car dealerships are.
Yeah.
What if I just sent you over there and said pick out a car?
Well, I'd call John Elway for a deal.
He owns that street, doesn't he?
And I didn't place any restrictions on you.
Are you going to drive away with, you know, you're going to drive away with something with all kinds of toots and whistles?
And that's what insurance companies, that's what insurance has done to the pharmaceutical industry, is it's hidden the true cost of the product from the consumer.
Exactly.
But, you know, Wayne, it's not just the pharmaceuticals.
It's every aspect of healthcare.
The cost of staying in the hospital has gone out of whack based on there's no connection to market forces.
There's no connection to the consumer's ability to pay in practically any aspect of health care.
And that, by the way, is where the fix for this is.
And it really isn't that complicated.
But the people involved in it don't want a non-complicated or uncomplimented, uncomplicated fix.
They want more involvement by the government.
It's seedy.
Well, I'm glad you heard the podcast yesterday.
I'm glad you heard the point made because I think it's a fundamental point.
And it's the idea that nothing in healthcare is priced in relationship to the patient ability to pay for it.
And everything else in life is.
That's why there are different quality products, hotels, cars, different ways to buy tickets, seats on an airline.
It's all kinds of different price categories that can handle every segment of the market and their ability to pay.
In healthcare, it's been thrown out the window.
You've got a government disinterested third party that is responsible for making payment.
And the people being treated have lost all concept until they lose their insurance.
And then they've, that's what they're finding.
Now, in fact, I saw Sebelius.
Did Sibelius say that she's going to something about something about I think she's decreed that the new Obamacare plans are going to cover refills under the old plans for a little while longer.
Because people are reacting.
What do you mean?
This prescription cost me $1,800 or $1,200.
I can't afford that.
Okay, okay, okay.
Well, we'll keep it under the old rules for a while.
Just like you can keep your old plan for a while.
But if the insurance companies go along with it, this thing has been so bastardized and blown up now, it is totally out of control.
It is an absolute total mess.
We haven't even gotten to the cancellation notices for the 80% who get their health insurance at work.
It's Open Line Friday, El Rushbo, half my brain tied behind my back just to make it fair.
And when I need to play one more soundbite, Marco Rubio, this is following the discussion he had with Nora O'Donnell and Charlie Rose, where Rubio said, well, wait a minute, compromise, for the sake of compromise, doesn't accomplish anything.
We haven't done anything.
Maybe people feel better.
And they just couldn't believe it.
I mean, genuine disconnect.
What do you mean, compromise?
You really, really believe that?
She asked him.
Yeah, what's been accomplished here?
Nothing.
What Rubio also knows is when there has been compromise is when Republicans cave.
So this is the follow-up.
He went on to explain why this compromise that happened here on a budget deal, in his view, isn't good for the country.
Compromise is a good thing, especially if it arrives at a solution.
Our ultimate goal here is to solve problems and to make progress on issues that confront our country.
We have a government that continues to spend more money than it takes in at an alarming pace.
That is going to trigger a debt crisis.
It is holding American ingenuity back.
When is there going to be urgency around here about addressing that?
So far, it has not.
And that's the dividing line.
And I want to stress again: there are some people and apparently a majority in Washington to whom it's not a crisis at all.
There is no debt crisis to them, and there is no spending crisis.
The government will never run out of money.
What are you talking about?
The people are always going to be working and paying taxes.
And we can borrow what we need and we can print what we need.
We're never going to run out of money.
We're the United States.
What do you mean, debt crisis?
There isn't a debt crisis.
And then you say, well, but for every dollar you borrow, that's a dollar that the private sector doesn't have available to borrow.
So there's less development, there's less building, there is less entrepreneurism, there's less hiring, there are fewer jobs.
Well, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
There's no debt crisis.
It's a genuine dividing line.
The national debt today to them is no different than it was 30 years ago.
As long as the percentage of GDP doesn't change, there's no problem.
You look at the private sector and you see that there isn't really any new job creation and people are losing hours.
There are no real careers.
Look at Obama's losing support in practically every demographic, but primarily among millennials.
And these are the people blindly voting for him in 2008 and 2012.
They're coming out of college with high degrees, expensive degrees that they're in debt for, and debt does matter to them.
They do have to pay it back.
The people in Washington, well, we don't really have to pay our debt.
The national debt never really has to be paid.
I mean, we owe that to ourselves.
This is what the establishment says.
So it's not like this money's owed to somebody.
Well, wait a minute, the Chikom's underwriting a lot of it, and other people are.
Well, yeah, and they're going to buy treasury bonds and they'll redeem them and they'll be paid.
There's no crisis, Limbo.
This is where you Tea Party people are really off the path.
There's no danger here.
What you're telling me you're not going to raise taxes down the road to help retire some of this debt and that people's taxes who get raised get raised are not going to end up with less disposable income and have less of a standard of living.
Well, that may happen, but that's just temporary.
We'll retire some of the debt and we'll lower taxes again.
You know how this works, Limbaugh.
There's no crisis.
And that's the great divide between the Republican Party and its base.
And that's why the Republican Party establishment is not really, when they look at Obama economic policy, they don't see disaster.
They just see another Democrat, maybe a little one more extreme and liberal than your average Democrat, but he's going to be gone soon.
And we'll win one of these days.
We'll have Christie in there.
We'll be smooth sailing.
And it's how they look at it.
Nothing to really worry about here, folks.
And you who want to create crisis and demand they take action, you're the troublemakers.
You're the extremists.
There isn't anything wrong.
Washington's fine.
Just let us handle it.
You don't know what you are talking about.
Merry Christmas.
Happy holidays to all of you from all of us here at the EIB Network.
It's Open Line Friday, brief one hour remaining.
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