Hour 2: Limbaugh: Obama "Went Through" With Auto Bailout Because It "Put UAW In An Ownership Position"

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by the conspiracy against Republican car dealerships
By Simon Maloy

Rush got the second hour started by noting that 54 percent of bondholders approved of the bankruptcy. This means, according to Rush, that 46 percent are having it rammed down their throats -- it's very similar to the 2008 election, in that sense. Rush said that the "state-run media" isn't interested in the little old ladies who have had their pensions destroyed. Rush then said that Obama, in saying that the automobile industry is making a sacrifice for future generations, isn't talking about just the auto industry -- he's talking about everyone. The conclusion to all this: "Taxpayer money was used to occupy the private sector and pay off political contributors. The reason that Obama went through with the automobile bailout is because it put UAW in an ownership position and on the board."

Then Rush moved on to China, recalling his rantings from last week on House Speaker Pelosi's visit to that country. Rush said she was there to beg the Chinese to keep buying our debt, and now Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is over there doing the same thing. Rush read from a Reuters report which quoted Geithner as saying at a speech at Peking University that "Chinese assets are very safe," and that this line "drew loud laughter from his student audience, reflecting skepticism in China about the wisdom of a developing country accumulating a vast stockpile of foreign reserves instead of spending the money to raise living standards at home." As Rush explained it, "the students, who can spot a lying capitalist when they see one -- sorry, who can spot a lying socialist when they see one, 'cause they deal with them every day -- laughed in his face." Then Rush said he'd found the "line of the year" in a Bloomberg story, which quoted Yu Yongding of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences saying of Geithner: "It will be helpful if Geithner can show us some arithmetic."

Rush then endeavored to explain what the end result of all this "begging" to China will be, but first he had to explain that he's just about had it. The American people, Rush said, are applauding Obama for taking two jets and a helicopter to New York for a date, and he's doing this in the middle of a recession when everyone is supposed to "sacrifice." It's a "slap in the face," said Rush, but people love it because Obama is "cool." Obama's "cool," Rush said, is going to result in the Chinese not buying our debt or exporting to the U.S. anymore. Not sure how dinner and a play in New York is going to push the Chinese over the line, but Rush nonetheless explained that this will be quite the "double whammy."

After the break, Rush noted that General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson, at his press conference, was asked by a reporter if there will be pressure from the government to produce green cars more quickly, and then aired the sound byte of Henderson's answer. Rush said Henderson talked about market forces, but he didn't answer the question. The market doesn't matter anymore, said Rush, and that's the problem here. The market isn't directing GM; Obama is. Before going into the break, Rush offered a little more conspiratorial thinking: "And look out, folks -- as desperate as Obama is to get you in pieces of junk that you would never otherwise buy, if you don't make the decision on your own to do it, steps will be taken where you have no choice -- like higher gasoline prices."

Another break ,and Rush accused Obama of "lying through his teeth" today when he said that the government has no interest in running GM. Obama said the government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental decisions. According to Rush, what he really meant is that they'll be involved when it matters most, so what he's saying is the exact opposite of how it sounds. Rush explained Obama's thinking: "I don't want to get involved in daily progress reports, but the fundamental decisions, like what kind of cars we're gonna make, and where we're gonna open dealerships -- for example, I'm not going to let someone who didn't donate to me own a dealership. I'm not gonna get some Republican own a GM dealership who didn't contribute to my campaign. That's what this means."

Then Rush got around to taking his first call of the afternoon. This particular gentleman said that, in speaking to Rush, he felt like he was talking to the president. Rush responded: "A lot of people wish you were." Anyway, the caller said that his town's stamping plant is closing, that the announcement was made this morning, and that the town doesn't have enough police officers. Rush says he bets that there are a bunch of bureaucrats that still have jobs. Fire the bureaucrats, rehire the cops, was Rush's prescription. Then Rush noted that the caller said 40 percent of the town's tax revenue came from the stamping plant, and if that is the case, how is the town going to survive? According to Rush: "The cynical voice in me says this fits the Obama mold right out of the box. Because the more chaos you have in the more places, the more demand for action you will have." We weren't aware that Rush distinguished his "cynical voice" from his "speaking voice." Anyway, then Rush lamented: "I don't think people understand that this kind of pain and suffering fits somebody's master plan." It's "hard to convince people" that the president wants them to suffer, said Rush. But it's true, as evidenced by Obama's comment this morning that the GM bankruptcy is a "sacrifice" that auto workers are making for the benefit of future generations. We're not sure how that counts as evidence of Obama's desire to see Americans "suffer," but there you have it.

Anyway, Rush said that nobody's calling on us to make this sacrifice, it's being forced on us. Rush said he's been warning for the longest time that liberal talk about taxes on the rich means that the little guy gets hurt, and that's the real shame of all this. The rich are going to lose some of what they achieved, said Rush, but the real crying shame is what this is going to cost the middle class. It's going to put the brakes on their realization of the American dream. Our president, said Rush, said this morning you have to defer your American dream for the rest of your life. Without the middle class striving for the American dream, said Rush, "there goes the country." According to Rush: "It's always been the dream of the middle class to be able to raise their standard of living. The belief that it can happen, the belief that it's out there, that has kept them striving for it. And Obama just told them today, at least those in the auto business, stop striving. Your purpose is to eat excrement sandwiches for the rest of your life."

One more break and Rush was back, reading from a Wall Street Journal article on Ford Motor Co. "preparing an effort to gain market share while its two main rivals are bogged down in bankruptcy and restructuring." It's interesting, said Rush, that the one car company that didn't take bailout money is increasing production, while the two that did take bailout money have declared bankruptcy.

Rush took one more caller before the hour ended, this one wanting to know if Obama's plan for GM is going to work. Rush said that the decision on what kinds of cars they can produce has been taken out of the hands of the people who know what they're doing, and that people are being forced into these "tin-foil cars." But to answer the man's question, Rush said: "Now, if you define 'will GM succeed' from Obama's standpoint, Obama doesn't care a whit whether it makes profit. Obama doesn't care a whit who loses a job. What Obama cares about is tearing the country down to size."

Highlights from Hour 2

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Taxpayer money was used to occupy the private sector and pay off a political contributor. The reason that Obama went through with the automobile bailout is because it put UAW in an ownership position and on the board.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Chinese assets are very safe, Geithner said, in response to a question after his speech at Peking University, where he studied Chinese as a student, by the way, in the 1980s. So in a sense, little Timmy here returning home to the ChiComs. His answer also drew loud laughter from his student audience when he said Chinese assets are very safe. The students, who can spot a lying capitalist when they see one -- sorry, who can spot a lying socialist when they see one, 'cause they deal with them every day -- laughed in his face.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And look out, folks, because as desperate as Obama is to get you in pieces of junk that you would never otherwise buy, if you don't make the decision on your own to do it, steps will be taken where you have no choice -- like higher gasoline prices.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: He also said, "The government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental" -- the most fundamental is all. "In all but the most fundamental" -- he wants you to think we're barely gonna be involved. What he really means is when it matters most, the federal government's gonna be involved in running General Motors. In all but the most fundamental decisions? The most fundamental decisions are the most important -- fundamentals are the most important of anything. So what he's saying is the exact opposite of the way it sounds. What he's saying is we're not gonna get involved in minutia, I don't want to get involved in daily progress reports, but the fundamental decisions, like what kind of cars we're gonna make, and where we're gonna open dealerships -- for example, I'm not going to let someone who didn't donate to me own a dealership. I'm not gonna get some Republican own a GM dealership who didn't contribute to my campaign. That's what this means.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: The cynical voice in me says this fits the Obama mold right out of the box. Because the more chaos you have in the more places, the more demand for action you will have.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: See, I don't think -- I don't think people understand that this kind of pain and suffering fits somebody's master plan, and it's hard to convince people of that -- I mean, what president would want citizens to suffer?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: It's always been the dream of the middle class to be able to raise their standard of living. The belief that it can happen, the belief that it's out there, that has kept them striving for it. And Obama just told them today, at least those in the auto business, stop striving. Your purpose is to eat excrement sandwiches for the rest of your life.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: Now, if you define "will GM succeed" from Obama's standpoint, Obama doesn't care a whit whether it makes profit. Obama doesn't care a whit who loses a job. What Obama cares about is tearing the country down to size.