This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by just about every health care lie you can imagine
By Simon Maloy

As much as we like to jokingly tout our powers of prediction, there is one question that we can't seem to answer: Where do we go from here? Over a month ago, we found ourselves amused at the idea of pacing -- we're just six months into the Obama presidency (he has at least 42 more to go), and Rush has already achieved and maintained monumental heights of outrage and bile. We look at yesterday's show -- which was a tour-de-force of lies, bombast, and lunacy -- and we're left pondering the same question from June: Where does he go from here? Consider that yesterday, Rush told us all that the government spent millions of dollars of 2 lbs of pork (a lie), declined the Nobel Prize he'll never receive in order to establish himself as the Paul Revere of health care reform (bombast festooned with lies), and bellyflopped right into the fetid Birther ooze after months of merely dabbling his toes (lunacy... also stuffed with lies).

It's the same garbage over and over -- Obama is an untrustworthy, likely foreign Marxist/socialist/communist/fascist who is purposefully sabotaging the United States all for the sake of "power." The only thing that changes is the volume and intensity. But, eventually, he'll have said everything as loudly and with as much spittle as he can, and then he'll have to take it in a new direction. It's unnerving. We don't know what that direction we'll be, but we're confident it will be even scarier than the current state of affairs.

Rush got things rolling this afternoon by counseling his listeners to temper their enthusiasm at the House Energy and Commerce Committee postponing its vote on the health care legislation, saying that this is a dangerous time. The bill is not dead, said Rush, and "we" need to be on our toes because they're going to pretend to address the public's concerns, but they're never going to go away. Rush then noted that the new USA Today/Gallup poll shows that Obama is tracking lower than Jimmy Carter -- he's the 10th least popular president at this point since they started taking polls. Rush managed to omit this bit of analysis from USA Today's write-up: "The six-month mark hasn't proved to be a particularly good indicator of how a president ultimately will fare."

Rush then pronounced it amazing that the TARP inspector general said it can't be determined exactly how the financial institutions have spent their bailout money. There is no transparency in TARP, said Rush, and the whole thing is an absolute disaster. This is a stinging report, said Rush, and this IG will probably get canned just like the AmeriCorps IG. All told, said Rush, 83 percent of financial institutions said they used some funds for lending, but they really have no idea what's been done with it.

Rush then read from an AP article reporting that President Obama "says he sees a lack of humility among leaders of the financial community" when it comes to accepting responsibility for the financial crisis. Rush said it's the Democrats who have messed things up, not the financial leaders. Rush then aired audio of Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), claiming that Frank said this morning that he "can't find a villain" in the financial crisis. Rush, however, played this clip out of context. Frank said that he "can't find a villain" in Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch, not the financial crisis. Nonetheless, Rush was incredulous that Frank couldn't find a villain, saying that the Massachusetts Democrat should "look in the mirror!" And then, of course, the segment concluded, as any discussion of Barney Frank must, with another rendition of the ever-hilarious "Banking Queen."

After the break, Rush said that Obama is showing some instability; he's "becoming unhinged." The power of his personality is not enough to get them over the hump, said Rush, so for the second day in a row, Obama is going on TV to make a big push. This is a dangerous time, Rush repeated, because Obama will make any deal he can to get this done. Once they get a foot in the door, all their promises will go out the window, "because it's not about health care. Right now, what this is about is saving the Obama presidency." Remember what we said about pacing above? We're only six months into the Obama presidency and Rush is already under the impression that it needs to be "saved."

Anyway, Rush said that the thing to feel optimistic about is that with no votes in the House or Senate, health care reform has been brought to a screeching halt. This is a testament to the new media, and especially talk radio, and most especially Rush informing the public as to what's really going on, said Rush. It's talk radio that is doing the heavy lifting. Rush noted that David Brooks writes today that the liberals have overreached and credits the Blue Dogs for stopping health care. Brooks is obsessed with attacking conservatives and talk radio, said Rush, and this column shows how wrong and clueless he is. It wasn't the moderates who stopped health care, Rush said; it was him and his colleagues in talk radio who have spent months "exposing the defects" of national health care. This is the nature of talk radio and democracy, said Rush, but we get this blather from Brooks and the intelligentsia about how the moderates deserve the credit. Brooks has not been a participant in just how horrendous this health care bill is.

But this is a dangerous time, Rush repeated. The Democrats are going to get health care any way they can -- in stealth or in secret. That's why we have to continue to tell people what's wrong with this bill and keep people inspired and motivated. Forget the moderates; they don't have opinions.

After another break, Rush noted that Obama was late for his TV appearance this afternoon. There's clearly one reason why, Rush said -- he had to wait for his staff to tell him what Rush Limbaugh said before making his comments. They're on defense at the White House, said Rush, and "[t]he instability of this White House and the unhinged behavior, regarding this health care bill, is breathtaking to watch. You're not gonna have that characterization of this White House portrayed by the state-run media of course."

Rush then wanted to give us a taste of how it's going out there in the public as various Democrats go out there to have town halls on health care. He aired audio of Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) being questioned by Robert Broadus of Clinton, Maryland. The point of airing this, said Rush, is that people are informed about health care and they are taking it to members of Congress. After airing audio of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius allegedly being booed in Louisiana, Rush aired audio of Obama on a conference call with "left-wing bloggers," during which the president was questioned about the Investor's Business Daily editorial claiming that the House health insurance bill makes private insurance illegal. Obama told the blogger he wasn't familiar with that provision of the bill, and this set Rush off, claiming that Obama "doesn't know what's in the bill! He admits he doesn't know." There's a good reason Obama doesn't know about that provision of the bill -- because it doesn't exist. IBD lied. It lied brazenly about this, as we documented. But Rush took this wildly obvious falsehood and presented it as truth to further lie about the president's ignorance of the health reform legislation.

Rush then attacked Obama for saying that the fire is now out on the economic crisis: "Obama loves attention and adulation, so he goes into your house and starts the fire. He took office. He's an arsonist. He started the fire. After he starts the fire, he runs out of the house, he waits for the smoke, and then he starts yelling, 'Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire.' He even gets the hose and he starts spraying your house, all to get the credit as the hero who noticed and put out the fire that he started, leaving you with a big soggy mess of a home, when he started it in the first place."

One more break and Rush was back on the Ben Cardin town hall, saying that Cardin never denied the premise of Broadus' questions about fines. If people weren't already paying so much in taxes, said Rush, they might have the money to buy a policy of their own choosing. Rush said we've lost sight of the premise here in this whole health care fight -- there is nothing wrong with our health care system. It needs some fine-tuning, but otherwise it's great. All over the world, people come here for their medical treatment. It's the cost that's the problem, said Rush, and Obama and the Democrats strictly oppose reorganizing the cost structure. We've been sold a bill of goods since 1993 that our health care system is falling apart, but there's nothing wrong with it. We don't need major reform.

Rush closed out the hour by saying that Obama "lied" today when he said that you'll be able to keep your health care plan if you like it: "Well, I had the chance to listen a little bit to the president here, and he's lying again, folks. He says if you like you're health insurance plan, you keep it. It's right there on page 16 of the House bill that you don't get to keep it." No, it isn't. Page 16 of the bill doesn't come anywhere close to saying that. Read it for yourself, because you'd be far better served by doing that than you would by taking Rush at his word.

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

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: They will do and say anything to get this bill, because it's not about health care. Right now, what this is about is saving the Obama presidency. Jim DeMint was right. If he gets -- if he doesn't get this, he's done.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The instability of this White House and the unhinged behavior, regarding this health care bill, is breathtaking to watch. You're not gonna have that characterization of this White House portrayed by the state-run media of course.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: If the fire is out now, we've got to ask who started the fire. Obama loves attention and adulation, so he goes into your house and starts the fire. He took office. He's an arsonist. He started the fire. After he starts the fire, he runs out of the house, he waits for the smoke, and then he starts yelling, "Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire."

He even gets the hose and he starts spraying your house, all to get the credit as the hero who noticed and put out the fire that he started, leaving you with a big soggy mess of a home, when he started it in the first place.

America's Truth Rejector

Falsely claimed that the House health care bill makes private insurance illegal to accuse Obama of not knowing what's in the bill:

LIMBAUGH: Let's now go to the president himself. He was on the -- well, this is where they -- I guess a conference call with left-wing bloggers. Yesterday, in Washington, a blogger from Maine had this exchange with President Obama.

[begin audio clip]

CALLER: Investor's Business Daily, they're saying that HR 3200 will make individual private medical insurance illegal. Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance, and will insurers be able to write new policies even though HR 3200 has passed?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you're talking about.

[end audio clip]

LIMBAUGH: He doesn't know what's in the bill! He admits he doesn't know. We're speeding up Obama, Barney Frank, Pelosi 'cause they're in such a hurry to get this garbage done before we find out what's in it. Of course, it's too late. We know what's in it, so we're speeding them up to illustrate the haste that they are engaged in. Will make individual private medical insurance illegal. It will. It will.

Falsely claimed page 16 of the House health care bill says you won't get to keep your health care plan:

LIMBAUGH: Well, I had the chance to listen a little bit to the president here, and he's lying again, folks. He says if you like you're health insurance plan, you keep it. It's right there on page 16 of the House bill that you don't get to keep it.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the first hour's falsehoods, no less false an hour later
By Simon Maloy

Rush started the second hour exactly how he ended the first -- attacking Obama with Investor's Business Daily's lies about the health care bill: "How can he make this speech when he just said he doesn't know what's in the health care bill? He doesn't know what's in it. He hasn't read it. He has denied what the Investor's Business Daily people found and Betsy McCaughey found about losing your health insurance -- that you won't be able to keep the option that you have now. He flat-out says people will not lose their insurance. But he doesn't know this. It's in the bill." No, it isn't. Not even close. Even the Heritage Foundation, whose word Rush treats as gospel, said IBD was wrong in claiming the bill has a provision that outlaws private insurance.

Regardless, this is why the White House is becoming "unhinged," said Rush. It was all supposed to be based on our love of Obama's personality, but, now, it's not working, even though it is all about him. Obama just wants us to trust him, said Rush, and this speech today is a joke coming on the heels of him admitting that he doesn't know what's in the bill. Perhaps we're doing this wrong; perhaps we should congratulate Rush for exposing the fact that Obama didn't know that something that isn't in the bill isn't in the bill. Negative reinforcement doesn't seem to be working, so perhaps this new tack will be more effective.

The value of Obama's health plan is not self-evident, said Rush, it's all about him. The plan does not stand on its own. ". This is what you have to know. The plan sucks. The plan will not stand on its own. They have to send Obama out to use this magical power of -- his Messianic appeal, his cult-like appeal to people to try to get them over the hump on this." It's very obvious, said Rush, that the bloom is off the rose and the poll numbers indicate it. His poll numbers are lower than Jimmy Carter's at the same stages of their presidencies. We'll point out here that he's also lower than Bill Clinton, who, you know, ended up being a pretty popular two-term president.

Anyway, Rush said that Snerdley told him that a carton of cigarettes is $100 in New York, $50 in Florida. All that money is going to health care, said Rush. In the House bill, there is a provision that if you make a "lifestyle choice" that puts you at a greater risk than others, your premium is going to be higher. Quick note, the word "lifestyle" appears nowhere in the bill. Anyway, Rush said he can't find a "porker provision" in the bill, adding: "I mean, there's no surcharge for promiscuity. There's no slut surcharge. I mean, there's no satyr surcharge, and no gigolo surcharge." There was a time in this country when 50 percent of the population smoked, said Rush, and now it's less than 25 percent. What were we promised? We were promised better health and lower health care costs once people quit smoking, said Rush. What do we have? Half the people who smoked have quit, and we have higher health care costs. Less smoking didn't cut health care costs, said Rush, and subprime mortgages wrecked the financial system, so "subprime health care" will not lower health care costs. Smokers should be given the Medal of Honor, said Rush, because they contribute so much to children's health care with their taxes. He concluded: "So what's the lesson? The lesson is that believing liberal claims on health care savings can be more dangerous to your health than smoking."

After the break, Rush took a call from a doctor who said that in order for a bill to be taken seriously by the American people, it has to have some sort of tort reform in it. Rush said he's right, it would dramatically reduce health care costs, even though it will never happen while the Democrats are in charge. The drug companies and insurance industry are being demonized by the president, said Rush.

Rush then said that Obama could have had his health care reform bill in March if he really was what he said he was -- a politician who was above politics. He could have gotten what he wants, but "[h]e's nothing but a twisted, liberal, radical ideologue. He is no different than any other elected Democrat except he's more radical." There's nothing new about Obama. There's nothing special. He's less qualified than most who run for the office. He is a fraud, a petty, angry, partisan, liberal, radical, communist, blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda. He never ran anything in his life, said Rush, and he has no background. We only have his associations. He's never accomplished anything. There are no records of anything. We don't know who he is, so all we have are his campaign promises. [Insert standard rant about how Obama is a failure who is purposefully destroying economy, and see opening comments from the first hour.]

After the break, Rush said that listeners are upset about him speeding up the Obama clips. These are the libs out there, said Rush, and they're mad because they know how effective this is. There are also some "libs" out there, said Rush, that are figuring out that they are going to lose their health coverage. They didn't anticipate this situation. Rush added: "Obama owns this legislation that he admits he hasn't read. Bernie Madoff owned the fraudulent investment schemes he was peddling, and he was promising people all this great stuff -- well, look what happened to him and the people who believed him." Another reason this is about Obama, said Rush, is because he is the one remaking America. Rush then read from today's Wall Street Journal editorial as further proof that Obama is "lying" about health care.

Rush's next caller said there are millions of kids who are going to have to be funneled into the government health plan once they're off their parents' insurance. She's absolutely right, said Rush -- the whole point is to get everyone on the government plan and destroy private health care.

Another break and Rush was back with some speeded-up sound bites of Obama this afternoon, in which the president, according to Rush, attacked opponents of reform as stooges of the health insurance and drug companies. And when Obama says that you can keep your plan, said Rush, "[t]hat is not true! He just admitted to liberal bloggers last night he is not aware of the provision that makes that not possible. He didn't know it was in the bill." Negative reinforcement didn't work, positive reinforcement didn't work, and pointing out that Rush's buddies at Heritage say he's full of it didn't work, so we're just going to write him off, once again, as an inveterate liar and move on.

One more break and Rush closed out the hour with a caller who said that her husband became a "statistic of Obama" when he was laid off this morning. They didn't vote for Obama, and this is the change they're getting? What has this man done for the country? Rush said he is as frustrated as she is. Hey, isn't this great? Two people who don't like Obama get together on the radio and blame everything they don't like on the president. It's special when that happens. Anyway, Rush counseled the woman that Obama hasn't completely destroyed the private sector yet, and there's nothing stopping him from hanging his own shingle. Obama hasn't succeeded in beating everyone down yet.

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

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: The plan -- the health care plan does not stand on its own. This is what you have to know. The plan sucks. The plan will not stand on its own. They have to send Obama out to use this magical power of -- his Messianic appeal, his cult-like appeal to people to try to get them over the hump on this.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And there are a lot of other lifestyle choices that people make that place them at greater risk than the norm, but only the smokers. Now, let's focus on the smokers. Yeah, I mean, there's no surcharge for promiscuity. There's no slut surcharge. I mean, there's no satyr surcharge, and no gigolo surcharge.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: So what's the lesson? The lesson is that believing liberal claims on health care savings can be more dangerous to your health than smoking.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He's nothing but a twisted, liberal, radical ideologue. He is no different than any other elected Democrat except he's more radical.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Everything is about him. When you lie to the American people about what legislation is and isn't, you're putting your personal credibility on the line. Obama owns this legislation that he admits he hasn't read. Bernie Madoff owned the fraudulent investment schemes he was peddling, and he was promising people all this great stuff -- well, look what happened to him and the people who believed him. Obama is making personal promises. He is personally guaranteeing results, just like he did with the stimulus package and his failed mortgage foreclosure legislation.

America's Truth Rejector

Once more falsely claimed that IBD exposed the House health bill as making private insurance illegal:

LIMBAUGH: He didn't say anything new. He just told the same lies. How can he make this speech when he just said he doesn't know what's in the health care bill? He doesn't know what's in it. He hasn't read it. He has denied what the Investor's Business Daily people found and Betsy McCaughey found about losing your health insurance -- that you won't be able to keep the option that you have now. He flat-out says people will not lose their insurance. But he doesn't know this. It's in the bill.

He returned to that same falsehood later in the hour:

LIMBAUGH: That is not true! He just admitted to liberal bloggers last night he is not aware of the provision that makes that not possible. He didn't know it was in the bill.

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the first hour's falsehoods, no less false two hours later
By Greg Lewis

Rush got the third hour rolling by tossing "Club Gitmo" into the health care mix. Citing The Washington Times, Rush announced that Obama is delaying the closing of the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. Rush expanded this into a series of "delays": We're going to delay the budget numbers "because they don't look good" (not really), and we're going to delay closing "Club Gitmo" because they can't figure out what to do with the detainees, etc. Rush argued that if Obama can't figure out what to do with 300 detainees, how can he figure out what is the best health care plan for every American? Rush said Gitmo was working fine until Obama totally screwed it up.

Then it was time for Rush, with the help of the American Thinker blog, to fabricate more complete nonsense about the House health care bill. The American Thinker claimed to have discovered on pages 425-430 of the bill a provision that would require "mandatory" end of life counseling for seniors at a minimum of every five years. The American Thinker post Limbaugh cited -- which condensed five pages of legislation into one sentence and didn't quote a single word from the bill -- claimed that this "counseling" will be conducted by "government trained counselors," and that the government will have to create positions for "supervisors, plus the report readers, plus the oversight agency." None of this is true. Not one bit. The legislation -- which we, unlike Rush, actually looked at -- said that Medicare beneficiaries will schedule "advanced care planning consultations," which "means a consultation between the individual and a practitioner." "Practitioner," as the legislation helpfully points out on page 428, means a physician or a nurse. No government counselors, no bureaucrats, nothing. The irony here, of course, is that in attacking Obama for not reading the health care bill, Rush himself is not reading the bill, but is instead relying on disreputable conservative opinion writers who lie about the legislation.

Rush then went back to Obama's "falling" poll numbers and "the state-run media's" reaction to them. Rush played a montage of media figures "struggling" with this. They're worried, said Rush, even though they helped by not reporting on the details of the "economic destruction Obama has wrought." Then Rush read from -- and continued his criticism of -- Obama's interview with Jim Lehrer.

After the break, Rush declared that Republicans have finally discovered the word "fail" and played an audio montage of various Republicans calling Obama "a failure." Rush gloated about being on the "cutting edge" when he first stated that he wanted Obama to fail back in January. Then Rush aired sound bites of Obama's interview on Today, and criticized the president for his "immeasurably large" ego. We want to say something along the line of "those in glass houses," but we'd like to think we're better than that. Even though we're clearly not. Anyway, Rush's complaint that Obama claiming that health care "isn't about me" is a lie, because it is, in fact, "about you," argued Rush.

Then Rush took a caller who explained that she had called her senator's office and asked if she would give up her health care in favor of the public plan. After the caller explained the conflicting answers she received from various staffers, Rush said the caller was learning how politics works "when Democrats run the place." "You're blowing it," Rush told the caller. "You're not supposed to be asking this question. You're not supposed to be calling her. You're not supposed to be calling her office. You're being impudent here. You're supposed to sit back, bend forward, grab the ankles, and love it." We find ourselves wondering exactly how one is supposed to sit back and bend forward simultaneously.

Rush returned from another break hell bent on keeping up with his theme today of saying the same thing over and over again. Obama is "unhinged," Rush said, "[a]nd the reason why Obama is unhinged and why there is -- I think that we're starting to see major instability in and at the White House. And Obama is coming unglued here because his ego is massive. And he's -- I'm telling you, I know people like this. I have been fired by them." Then he again played the audio from the Cardin and Sebelius town hall events he covered in the previous two hours. Rush said that all the people who work for Obama have big egos because they think they are "loved like junior gods."

Hey, remember in Hour 1, when Rush went after Barney Frank for supposedly saying at the hearing on TARP oversight that he "can't find a villain" for the financial crisis? And remember when we pointed out that Barney Frank actually said that during a hearing on Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch? Well, in case you needed more proof that Rush doesn't read the Limbaugh Wire religiously, he repeated the exact same falsehood this hour. But this time, at least, we were spared another rendition of "Banking Queen."

Then Rush moved on to the "kooks" at The View. He played audio from the program of Whoopi Goldberg talking about the moon landing conspiracy theories. Rush said the problem with these women is that they influence other women on serious issues. You know, Rush is right, it's really wrong for a prominent media figure to promote ridiculous conspiracy theories in front of their very powerful microphones -- crazy things like the moon landing being faked or, we don't know, the president of the United States not being a U.S. citizen. That would be downright irresponsible.

One more break, and Rush was back with audio from an interview Obama did with Matt Lauer on February 2, during which Obama was asked if he would "change course" if the stimulus wasn't working. Obama responded that he would be held accountable for his plan when it comes time for his re-election. Rush mockingly sneered that he thought "it's not about him."

Then Rush took a call from a woman asking when the "benefits" from health care reform would kick in if it passed, since she saw Bill Kristol on her television saying it wouldn't be until 2013. Rush first corrected the caller -- they're not "benefits" -- and said it doesn't really matter "in the big scheme of things." The caller insisted a lot of people will be disillusioned when they realize it won't answer their problems "right away," to which Rush responded that they'll be more disillusioned when it does kick in "and makes things worse."

The next caller told Rush that he quit smoking after moving to New York recently because the taxes would have made it too costly to keep up the habit. Then he told Rush that he doesn't think vice taxes "work" because it's not good for the government to use taxes to motivate people. Rush told the caller that taxes do have an impact, and the left knows this, but they don't care.

That concludes today's edition of the Limbaugh Wire. And to answer your question: No, it doesn't get any easier writing the Wire just because Rush repeats the same points for three hours. It just means we have less source material for snark. Anyway, you can find more of the variety you crave in our frustratingly thorough Limbaugh Wire archives.

Simon Maloy, Zachary Pleat, and Ariana Probinsky contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.

Highlights from Hour 3

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: You're blowing it. You're not supposed to be asking this question. You're not supposed to be calling her. You're not supposed to be calling her office. You're being impudent here. You're supposed to sit back, bend forward, grab the ankles, and love it.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Let me tell you why Obama -- he is unhinged. This was not supposed to be happening. This was supposed to be smooth sailing. This was supposed to go exactly like the "porkulus" bill did, and the same thing with cap and trade. And the reason why Obama is unhinged and why there is -- I think that we're starting to see major instability in and at the White House. And Obama is coming unglued here because his ego is massive. And he's -- I'm telling you, I know people like this. I have been fired by them.