This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the "manufactured" health care crisis
By Simon Maloy

We're just going to go ahead and get this out of the way. The Congressional Budget Office released its estimate on the costs of the Kennedy-Dodd health care bill -- $1 trillion over 10 years with an additional 16 million people insured. These figures, as many conservatives are already crowing about, are not what one would call optimal. However, it's vitally important to point out (as health-care obsessives Ezra Klein and Jonathan Cohn have) that the CBO's estimate was based on a stripped-down version of the bill that did not contain a public option, an employer mandate, or an individual mandate with any teeth. These elements of the bill, as you would guess, will have not-insignificant impacts on cost and coverage. We mention this caveat now because we're confident that Rush won't -- he'll likely be too busy explaining why heartworm pills and flea baths should not be covered under insurance.

Rush got things going by saying he's getting tons of e-mail from people surprised and upset that ABC is turning their network over to Obama -- Charlie Gibson will anchor World News from the Blue Room of the White House, followed by a prime-time special from the East Room on health care. They're part of the state-run media, said Rush, so what's the news here? After another silly parody "message" from the White House on Iran, Rush said he wanted to go back to what he said on March 26, comparing Obama to Big Brother from 1984. Rush said his prediction then has now manifested itself with ABC turning programming over to Obama. Rush said that the "objectivity" of the state-run media is to promote the state, so this what they're doing.

And over on another state-run network, said Rush, David Letterman apologized to Sarah Palin. Rush said that everyone is missing what happened here -- all Letterman did was pull a Katie Couric. Couric, explained Rush, was desperate for attention and ratings, so she got Sarah Palin on, embarrassed her, and her ratings rose and she won an award. Letterman did the same thing, since everyone was buzzing about Leno and Conan, but not him. If you need liberal attention, said Rush, make fun of Sarah Palin. And sure enough, Rush observed, Letterman was everywhere in the media for a few days, so he got exactly what he wanted. You'll recall that Rush was among those who gave Letterman a ridiculous amount of attention, so we guess he's admitting that Letterman played him.

Anyway, Rush then turned his eyes to the CBO estimate, saying that it'll cost $1 trillion to insure just one-third of the uninsured. By Rush's math, this means it will actually cost $3 trillion. Rush wondered why the Democrats and Obama were worried about the estimate, given that they haven't cared about the cost of anything else they've done. Then Rush returned to a story he flogged yesterday -- the Obama administration's alleged plan to bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan, and 50 cities across America: "We had this comment -- we had this story yesterday out of Flint, Michigan, that a local Democrat liberal machine politician wants to bulldoze 40 percent of the city and then wants to -- and Obama loved the plans so much, bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan, that they've asked this guy for a blueprint of bulldozing portions of 50 other American cities. Why is it -- why, I ask you, an open-ended question -- why is bringing a bunch of bulldozers in and bulldozing 40 percent of a city brilliant government policy, but when a hurricane does it, it's a disaster that is the fault of George W. Bush?" As we explained yesterday, this is not accurate -- the Obama administration has not asked this Flint Democrat to apply his city-bulldozing theories to the rest of the country.

After the break, Rush touched on his Morning Update from today on the Obama Justice Department and its recommendation that the federal courts throw out a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act. Rush noted that the New York Times editorialized on the DOJ recommendation this morning as well, but somehow claimed that he was a day ahead of the Times. Anyway, Rush had a message for the "members of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgendered community" in his audience: "President Obama is getting busy. He's got some things that rank ahead of you and your marriage rights. He has to finish off the economy. He's got to destroy healthcare. And those are pretty big deals. ... So for the moment, you lesbian-gay-bisexuals and transgenders are just going to have to do what the rest of us have been doing with this guy, and that's bend over and grab the ankles."

After another break, Rush noted that Obama just finished a press conference with the South Korean president, and aired a sound bite of Obama saying that it is not productive for the U.S. to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections. Rush was incredulous at this statement, saying that Obama was "meddling" last Friday when he tried to take credit for fostering a spirited in debate in Iran with his Cairo speech. We're not so sure Obama tried to "take credit" for what was going on, but we're pretty sure the president today was talking about the legitimacy of the elections and whether it would be appropriate for the head of another state to question it. That's very different from saying that you're happy to see a spirited debate in Iran. But such distinctions are lost on Rush, who declared that Obama felt "burned" because he thought his Cairo speech would change everything, and all it did was stiffen the backs of the mullahs.

Obama, said Rush, keeps complaining about what he inherited, but did you ever hear Bush complain about 9-11? No, you didn't, said Rush, and if Obama keeps complaining, someone is going to eventually tell him to shut up and man up.

Rush's first caller of the afternoon wanted to know what, exactly, the crisis in health care is. Rush responded: "The crisis in health care is like the crisis in everything else -- manufactured." Rush elaborated: "There is no crisis. The crisis in health care is in the UK. The crisis in healthcare is in Canada. The crisis in health care is in Cuba. The crisis in health care is in the -- with the ChiComs. The crisis in health care is with a lot of other places. The crisis in health care here had been manufactured." Rush asked his audience: How many people do you know who are walking around in fear that an auto accident or a disease is going to wipe them out? Then he read extensively from a Heritage Foundation blog post on the CBO estimate.

After the break, Rush took a call from a man who said that Letterman didn't really apologize to Palin. Rush said he has the sound bites, but he doesn't want to play into Letterman's hands and give him more publicity.

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: We had this comment -- we had this story yesterday out of Flint, Michigan, that a local Democrat liberal machine politician wants to bulldoze 40 percent of the city and then wants to -- and Obama loved the plans so much, bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan, that they've asked this guy for a blueprint of bulldozing portions of 50 other American cities. Why is it -- why, I ask you, an open-ended question -- why is bringing a bunch of bulldozers in and bulldozing 40 percent of a city brilliant government policy, but when a hurricane does it, it's a disaster that is the fault of George W. Bush?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, as you know, we have several members of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community in this audience and well, you boys and girls in that community, you have to understand something here. President Obama is getting busy. I mean, he's got some things that rank ahead of you and your marriage rights. He has to finish off the economy. He's got to destroy healthcare. And those are pretty big deals. And in doing so, he's gonna end up controlling a whole lot of money, like 4 to $5 trillion currently in the private sector he's going to get his hands on. Your little Defense of Marriage business doesn't get him any money, doesn't get him any control of anything. So for the moment, you lesbian-gay-bisexuals and transgenders are just going to have to do what the rest of us have been doing with this guy, and that's bend over and grab the ankles. But don't doubt him. Your turn's coming, so to speak. I mean, he's one of you guys, he's on your side; you're just not a priority right now. Man up and deal with it, like we've all had to man up and deal with this guy's -- it's your turn to man up and deal with the guy. Stop whining.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The crisis in health care is like the crisis in everything else -- manufactured.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: There is no crisis. The crisis in health care is in the UK. The crisis in healthcare is in Canada. The crisis in health care is in Cuba. The crisis in health care is in the -- with the ChiComs. The crisis in health care is with a lot of other places. The crisis in health care here had been manufactured.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the Democratic malaise at Sen. Byrd's improving health
By Simon Maloy

Rush got this second hour going by discussing at length the new puppy that came into his life -- the same puppy that yesterday became the new mascot for the "manufactured" crisis of health care.

Then Rush went back to Obama and Iran, replaying the sound bite of Obama saying this morning that it's not productive for the U.S. president to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections. Rush said that you can go back and see that every time there was an assault on freedom in the world, Reagan and Bush went out and made a statement in support of freedom. Obama, said Rush, can not bring himself to do that. Does this mean, asked Rush, that we're not going to meddle with their nuclear programs? Does Iran have a get-out-of-jail-free card? Rush said it's very interesting who Obama chooses to impose his values on. He had no problem telling Israel to stop building settlements on the West Bank. This is a stunning statement, said Rush -- if we're not going to meddle in elections, that means we're going to condone the shooting of protesters. Rush said that it's a rationalization for not speaking out on behalf of liberty.

And Rush guaranteed us this -- Obama fully expected the world to snap-to after his Cairo speech, so much so that he went out and started talking about how great it was that change is coming. Rush added: "This man's ego's not containable. There is no container in the world that will contain his ego, because it's constantly expanding anyway. Even if you could find a container large enough to fit his ego in, it would eventually be blown up with the expanding ego. This guy's ego is expanding faster than the Soviet Union was expanding back during the '60s and '70s. But there's no telltale birthmark on Obama to indicate it like there was on Mikhail Gorbachev."

Rush then observed that the mullahs are very smart for ordering a "partial recount," saying that it won't change anything, but all the "idiot journalists" are going ape and crediting it to Obama. Rush noted that the Telegraph reported that unconfirmed leaked election results in Iran show that Ahmadinejad actually came in third, but that's no surprise. It didn't matter what place he came in, said Rush. the recount is for the benefit of "dolts" like our state-run media. In the midst of this rant, Rush had this charming aside: "By the way, Democrats very upset that Robert Byrd's health is improving. They are -- they're upset that his health is improving because he opposes these czars. He opposes Obama's czars, thinks they're unconstitutional. He opposes this health care stuff that Obama's trying to do."

After the break, Rush took a call from a Michigan man who lives in the Flint area, who said that he agrees that significant sections of the city need to be bulldozed, and he wouldn't be surprised if many Flint residents supported this plan. Rush said that what bothers him is that this is a nation that has always prided itself on growth and opportunity, but Obama and the Democrats don't want that. Rush added: "Now, I understand, we just -- we hear of hurricanes wiping out towns. There was a Kansas town wiped out by a hurricane, and they rebuilt it. It's amazing to listen to Democrats say, 'We don't have any interest in rebuilding Flint. We want to bulldoze it." And the guy that comes up with the idea, Obama says "Hey, apply your theory to 50 other cities.' " Once again, that's not true -- Dan Kildee, "the guy that comes up with the idea," has denied that the administration asked him to apply his bulldozing plans for Flint to other cities.

After another break, Rush took a call from a man who wanted to go back to the '90s, when Letterman asked Rush if he was full of "hot gas," saying that it's time to turn that statement back around on Letterman. Rush said he remembers how this went down -- Rush appeared on Letterman's show, and Letterman asked him if Rush was like Letterman in that they were both full of hot gas. After that appearance, said Rush, Letterman invited him back a couple of times to do fake commercials and was very nice to him. But Rush explained that he doesn't go on these shows anymore because when people like Rush are invited on they become bare-knuckled and clenched-fist. Letterman, said Rush, is not what he once was. He just seems angry, cynical, and political.

Rush's next caller said that everyone's so concerned about these bailouts, but what would have happened had we just let them go? Rush said it's an excellent question, but he needed to know which bailout the caller was talking about. The caller settled on GM, so Rush launched into it, saying that in a normal capitalist system, if GM can't make it then they file Chapter 11, which is what they should have done in the first place. But after throwing all this money at them, Rush said, Obama now owns it. Rush then acknowledged that the auto bailouts got started under Bush, but he said that Obama's transition office was involved, and that Bush was just being a nice guy and cooperative with the incoming head of state. Anyway, after casting Bush as a weak-willed doormat who acquiesced to his Democratic successor's plans to ruin the economy, Rush move on to the TARP bailout, saying that it was sold to the country when Geithner told everyone that the economy would collapse within 24 hours if the banks were not bailed out. Now the government owns all these banks, said Rush, which means the whole thing was a ruse, it was not about saving the economy or the country. So, in Rush's view, we're the victims of a bipartisan scam perpetrated by the outgoing Republicans and the incoming Democrats in the months between the election and the inauguration. And it worked, said Rush, because the American people will trade their liberty for security.

We've got a lot of pain still a ahead of us, said Rush, and we're in a lot of pain now. Look at the unemployment numbers, look at loan values. None of this was supposed to happen, said Rush, and the stimulus was "a lie." Rush then noted that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) has found all these pork projects. The stimulus was supposed to get you a job, said Rush, and instead we have 9.4 percent unemployment. Rush apparently thinks that funny-sounding things that Republicans like to laugh at -- like "skateboard parks, streetscapes, upgrades of park facilities, bike trails and parking garages" -- sprout up like cornstalks after money is strewn on the soil, because they clearly don't require people to actually build them as part of their job.

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: This man's ego's not containable. There is no container in the world that will contain his ego, because it's constantly expanding anyway. Even if you could find a container large enough to fit his ego in, it would eventually be blown up with the expanding ego. This guy's ego is expanding faster than the Soviet Union was expanding back during the '60s and '70s. But there's no telltale birthmark on Obama to indicate it like there was on Mikhail Gorbachev.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: By the way, Democrats very upset that Robert Byrd's health is improving. They are -- they're upset that his health is improving because he opposes these czars. He opposes Obama's czars, thinks they're unconstitutional. He opposes this health care stuff that Obama's trying to do.

America's Truth Rejector

Wrongly claimed that Obama wants to apply Flint bulldozing to other cities:

LIMBAUGH: What bothers me about this is -- this is a nation, this is a country that has always prided itself on growth, economic growth and economic opportunity. Now, I understand, we just -- we hear of hurricanes wiping out towns. There was a Kansas town wiped out by a hurricane, and they rebuilt it. It's amazing to listen to Democrats say, "We don't have any interest in rebuilding Flint. We want to bulldoze it." And the guy that comes up with the idea, Obama says "Hey, apply your theory to 50 other cities."

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the red state of New Mexico
By Simon Maloy

One more hour to go, and Rush got it rolling by saying that Mark Levin had just sent him an "insulting" note, in which Levin said Rush's new puppy looked like the First Dog, Bo.

Then Rush aired a sound bite of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, who was asked this afternoon if he was concerned that the measured response to the Iranian election could harm the American image in Iran and around the world. Gibbs said the administration's commitment to democracy has been demonstrated, but it's important that he restate that the Iranian election dispute is a debate inside of Iran for Iranians. Rush said Gibbs is saying that we're not going to meddle with Iran; if they want nukes, they can have nukes.

Then Rush returned to a story from yesterday -- the relocation of the Chinese Uighurs from Guantanamo Bay to Bermuda. After calling them the "Chinese version of Al Qaeda," Rush aired audio of MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell speaking with a Bermudan reporter, who said that to his understanding, the Uighurs are in Bermuda in the U.S. dime. Rush added: "So the United States is paying for four Chinese Muslim terrorists to vacation, basically, having been released from Guantanamo Bay. And in an open-ended interview they say, 'Oh, the worst moment we ever had there was when the ChiComs showed up to ask us questions.' I -- some days, some days, you know, I'm tempted to say just how stupid is 53 percent of this country." See, here's the thing about the Uighurs -- they were taken off the "enemy combatants" list last year. By the Bush Justice Department. And they've never been charged with or convicted of terrorism.

Rush moved back to health care, saying that Obama's desired public option for health care is simply an expansion of Medicare access. Rush then read extensively from a Washington Post article reporting that "[e]xpanding access to Medicare will not solve the nation's health-care cost problem," according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. Rush said there's no reason to do any of this. The only reason, said Rush, is if you're an authoritarian and you want to grab as much control of the private sector as you can, because there's not one financial or fiscal reason for why this makes sense.

After the break, Rush had a "good question" for us -- Obama is running around talking about open and honest elections, but what the hell does he know about that? All he's done is run around teaching ACORN how to commit voter fraud.

Then Rush explained that he "knows" that a lot of people out there are behind national health care because they can't afford coverage and they think they're going to get it for free. But, said Rush, you have to remember that costs don't go away. Even if you receive something for free, said Rush, the cost will come around to bite you eventually.

Rush then took a call from a man who wondered if the bulldozing of Flint is what Obama meant by "shovel-ready jobs." Rush laughed at this observation, and said that when you allow liberals to decide what's going to be bulldozed, then anything's up for grabs. Rush went to say once again -- wrongly -- that Obama asked the Democrats of Flint to apply this bulldozing theory to the rest of the country.

Then Rush moved on to the FDA warning about Zicam nasal products, which apparently can "permanently damage the sense of smell." Rush explained that Zicam is a sponsor of the EIB Network, and they had told Rush that they had been sued many times but they beat each lawsuit. Rush said this warning is born of our litigious society, and that in his experience, these types of legal actions are "professionally concocted" lawsuits. Rush also said that the FDA is no different than any other agency, and when they say something he does not snap-to. The science, Rush explained, must be bogus, because it's "just zinc." Not for nothing do the FDA scientists say that the zinc is what may be damaging the olfactory nerves.

After another break, Rush noted that Leon Panetta walked back his statement that Dick Cheney is "almost wishing" for another terrorist attack on the country. Rush said Panetta said what he said for a reason -- when there is another terrorist attack, he and Obama are going to blame it all on Cheney.

Rush then read extensively from a Reuters article that reported "U.S. credit card defaults rose to record highs in May, with a steep deterioration of Bank of America Corp's lending portfolio, in another sign that consumers remain under severe stress." Rush asked us all how the hope, change, and stimulus are working out for us. Rush also wanted us to imagine what would have happened if across-the-board tax cuts been implemented at the beginning of the year, just as Rush prescribed in his bipartisan stimulus op-ed. Well, if real economists are to be trusted -- and, when standing next to fake economists like Rush, we believe they certainly are -- the effects of such measures would have been paltry to nonexistent.

Rush's next caller wanted to clarify something -- when Rush was talking about Sen. Coburn attacking the pet projects in the stimulus, were park facilities included in that? Rush said that they were included in the stuff that people think is good. The caller was relieved to hear that, because she and her husband work in a factory that makes park facilities -- playgrounds and basketball hoops and such -- and they are having their best year ever. Confronted with the reality of good economic news, Rush had to fall back on "philosophy," saying that her state's parks are the responsibility of the state, and not the rest of the nation's taxpayers. This is not the role of government, said Rush, and it doesn't matter if it's working. Rush also counseled that she has to be very careful, in these tough economic times, about calling into this show and talking about how well she's getting on.

After one more break, Rush was still on jobs, pointing to an online feature from the Sacramento Bee which maps out when certain areas of the country are going to return to pre-recession employment levels. Rush said it just had to be a coincidence that all the areas where recovery will take the longest are blue states like California and Michigan, whereas all the areas where recovery will be swift are red states like Texas and New Mexico. We -- wait, New Mexico is a red state? Let's look at the checklist here: Went for Obama? Check. Democratic governor? Check. Entirely Democratic House delegation? Check. Picked up a Democratic senator in 2008? Check. Democratic-majority state legislature? Check. Yep, looks like a red state to us ...

Rush rounded out the show with a couple of callers, the first saying that Obama wants to bulldoze 50 cities across the country (he doesn't) so he can get Caterpillar in on the act. Rush said this was an excellent point (it wasn't). The second caller said that Rush is the leader of the GOP. Rush said "nuh-uh." And then the caller said "Yeah-huh." This went on for a while before Rush conceded that he is the leader of the conservatives, but not he Republican Party. The caller then suggested that the motto for Rush's show should be "The Truth Stops Here." We couldn't agree more.

And that's it for today. Tomorrow, unfortunately, is another day, so that means we'll be back, and we hope you will be too. Until then, you know the drill -- Media Matters has a vast Limbaugh archive, and you should strongly consider checking it out.

Greg Lewis and Zachary Pleat contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: So the United States is paying for four Chinese Muslim terrorists to vacation, basically, having been released from Guantanamo Bay. And in an open-ended interview they say, "Oh, the worst moment we ever had there was when the ChiComs showed up to ask us questions." I -- some days, some days, you know, I'm tempted to say just how stupid is 53 percent of this country.