Rush continues to repeat “death panels” smear

By Greg Lewis

Limbaugh got his show started today with a whimper, pointing out that Senate Democrats are wooing Sens. Joe Lieberman and Ben Nelson to sign on to health care reform by giving everything away at the cost of angering their base. They're getting rid of the public option, single payer, and the Medicare buy-in, Rush said (note to Rush: single payer was never on the table).

Next, Rush further proved his own ignorance by constructing an inane argument against “Cash for Caulkers.” If there's global warming and everything is “heating up,” said Rush, then why do we have to worry about heat escaping from our homes?

After lamenting how the recent recall of window blinds is “absurd” and an example of political correctness and nanny state politics, Rush got on to a Reuters article that he said makes the case for “why we need death panels.” The article discussed researchers who say that increased life spans could stretch Medicare and Social Security spending beyond current projections. Rush said this is why health care reform has "death panels": to make sure we don't spend all that money.

Rush conspiracy: Democrats want to lose their majorities if it means they “thin the herds” of Blue Dogs

Then Limbaugh got back to the latest health care bill news, explaining that Sen. Susan Collins “epitomizes” the problem in the GOP, calling her a RINO for saying she might support the bill. Rush also predicted that if Nelson votes for the bill, he is “finished.” Limbaugh warned against conservatives getting optimistic over the public option and Medicare buy-in being dropped from the bill, saying that Democrats will just add those components in future years.

Meanwhile, Blue Dog Democrats won't be able to stop these additions because they will be voted out in 2010, thereby thinning the Democratic herd, which Rush claimed is what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants. He even added that Pelosi “wouldn't mind” losing her majority if it meant that she got rid of a lot of Blue Dogs. (Apparently, somebody keyed in Limbaugh on the massive Democratic conspiracy to lose their majorities.)

Anyway, Rush maintained that the “radical left” Senate was comprised of “dunces.” He then teased a story for later about how everything Al Gore says about ice caps has been “proven to be a lie,” and that Gore “acknowledged” it yesterday.

Rush: “People are going to be dying because they're going to be denied coverage”

After the break, Rush aired an audio clip of Collins saying she wants to see a health care bill based on lowering costs and expanding access. Rush was outraged and looked for a more “polite” word “for somebody that's just stupid”:

LIMBAUGH: What is a polite word? Ignorant, uninformed, challenged -- ignorant, uninformed.

She would like to see a health care bill based on lowering costs? Expanding access? It's gonna restrict access, Senator. People are going to be dying because they're going to be denied coverage! Small business is gonna get creamed by this! Everybody's gonna get creamed by -- how can she not know this? How can she possibly not know this?

Then Rush explained how the cost of social security benefits has increased to become “out of control” since it was originally passed in the 1930s. One caveat: Rush said he “didn't care if you factor inflation in.”

Following another break and some discussion of the Tiger Woods media hoax, Rush returned to his nonscientific argument from earlier on why people shouldn't weatherize their homes in the face of global warming. He continued to attack the proposed “Cash for Caulkers” program and previous Obama economic programs:

LIMBAUGH: And he announced a program called “Cash for Caulkers.” Included in this, we're going to buy appliances now for Obama voters. We're gonna buy 'em energy efficient refrigerators, and dishwashers, microwaves, and what have you. Now, we've already bought Obama's voters automobiles. We are paying Obama voters' mortgages. We have dumbed down the schools for Obama voters and their parents to the point that they are no longer acceptable for any parent with half a brain. And now we've got this.

Then Rush went on about how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on ABC's Good Morning America recently that the government can fix the economy and address global warming at the same time, which Schwarzenegger said was proved in California.

After another commercial break, Rush returned to rail against an email he had just received from the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Rush's complaint was that the email contained a headline about Lieberman not supporting the health care bill, but as he pointed out, this was no longer accurate. Rush discussed the Lieberman deal further and detailed the fallout on the left regarding the deal, including the “fringe” at Daily Kos who want to get rid of Sen. Harry Reid. Rush added that “hardcore leftists” hate anything capitalist.

Rush attacks “pathological” Gore over polar ice caps claim

The second hour kicked off with...more discussion of Tiger Woods. But Rush soon got the latest climate change denier chorus meme against on Al Gore -- that's he's supposedly lying about polar ice caps melting. The controversy -- as Rush read -- appears to be over not if polar ice caps are disappearing, but when scientists think they will disappear. At his speech at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, Gore cited Dr Wieslaw Maslowski to claim “that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”

But apparently Gore misquoted Maslowski. Rush would want you to believe that Gore is completely wrong about polar ice caps melting, but that's really not the case, as the Times article from which Rush read pointed out:

Dr Maslowki, who works at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California, said that his latest results give a six-year projection for the melting of 80 per cent of the ice, but he said he expects some ice to remain beyond 2020.

Additionally, the long-term trend of shrinking Arctic sea ice has persisted. Regardless, Rush insisted that Gore is “pathological” because he continues to believe his own “lies” and “hoax.”

Following the commercial break, Rush took a caller who didn't think Democrats would pay the price at the ballot box for health care. Rush asserted that almost all of the polling shows that “Obamacare” is very unpopular and claimed that “at every income level,” people will face added taxation.

After repeating his theory that Democrats want to lose seats in 2010 to purge Blue Dogs, Rush read a blog post from Beltway “rising star” Ezra Klein. Rush relied on Klein's reporting on the probable Senate timeline for passing the health care bill. Then he partook in more mocking of Collins and complained about Republicans who say the era of Reagan is over and aren't doing anything to attract voters.

Rush then explained why he thought the Medicare expansion compromise was a “ruse from the start,” concocting another conspiracy based on the “simple logic” that it would have been impossible to cut $500 billion out of Medicare and expand it (does Rush even get what a Medicare buy-in is? People would have been able to buy in to it as an alternative to private insurance). Therefore, it was a “false option” designed to get Lieberman on board.

Then Rush set off on a lengthy monologue about the 2010 elections, arguing that local races should be “nationalized” like they were in 1994. Rush closed out the hour by saying that “moderate Republican crap” is why Republicans are where they are.

Rush's media and messaging advice for Republicans

The third hour began with Rush offering up advice for Republicans in upcoming elections, inspired by a poll he saw recently about the would-be popularity of a third party Tea Party. Rush warned that if news coverage of tea partiers becomes more positive, it will be because the media, “in conjunction with” the White House, are pushing a third party to take votes away from Republicans. Rush also addressed ideas to campaign on in repealing health care reform, but warned against having a one-word slogan like “reverse” or “repeal” because it could make for an easy target. But the most important takeaway was Rush's demand for “no more” RINOs.

Rush “joking[ly]” advises putting “illegals ... in jail” to revive economy

Then Rush discussed the decision to move some Guantánamo Bay detainees to a facility in Illinois. He posited the absurdity of the argument that it would be a form of economic stimulus, and elaborated on that meme by suggesting putting “illegals” in jail, too:

LIMBAUGH: So all these terrorists in jail is great for the economy, but drug kingpins and other criminals is a drain on the economy. How many more jobs would be saved and created if we started locking up illegal aliens? I mean, if, if, if locking people up -- if putting them in jail is the way we're gonna revive the job market, why stop at terrorists? Let's put illegals where we round -- let's put them in jail.

Now, you watch how this gets reported. Everything I've said leading up to this will be ignored, and the headline, “Limbaugh: Imprison illegal aliens.” They will leave off the fact that I am joking here and illustrating absurdity by being absurd, by pointing out the pure folly of the notion that bringing Al Qaeda terrorists to Illinois is good for job creation.

After the break, Rush again cited the “mammogram study” that made headlines a few weeks ago, claiming it would have “subjected” people on Medicare and Medicaid to the new restrictions, but the government pulled them back instead. On this note, Rush read an AP article about the poor being turned away from free cancer screenings in at least 20 states. Rush touted the article as proof that the mammogram study guidelines were “already in place,” which doesn't make any sense considering the survey in the article was conducted from July 2008 through April 2009, months before the mammogram guidelines were released. Rush also claimed that this was another example of “death panels” being “in the bill.”

Rush next returned to the poll showing the popularity of a would-be Tea Party against the Republican Party. Rush cried liberal bias at the way the media were “promoting” a potential conservative third party when they never promote the Green Party on the left -- even though the poll he was referring to was conducted by conservative-favorite pollster Rasmussen.

Then Rush offered a “different perspective” on health care reform that amounted to pointing out that Democrats “always had” 60 votes in the Senate...until they didn't. His point -- we think -- was that the bill was so bad, that even with propaganda support from the media, Democrats still had four stubborn senators to deal with.

Rush moved on to another poll on whether Americans think addressing climate change would be good or bad for the economy. Since most respondents answered that it would be good for the economy, Rush asked where the AP found “such obdurately stupid people” to poll, and attempted to point out what he thought were flaws in its methodology. He closed out the program with a couple of callers who questioned the practicality of Cash for Caulkers.

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

Highlights

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Now, this just goes to show what a -- what is a polite word here for somebody that's just stupid? What is a polite word? Ignorant, uninformed, challenged -- ignorant, uninformed.

She would like to see a health care bill based on lowering costs? Expanding access? It's gonna restrict access, Senator. People are going to be dying because they're going to be denied coverage! Small business is gonna get creamed by this! Everybody's gonna get creamed by -- how can she not know this? How can she possibly not know this?

[...]

LIMBAUGH: And he announced a program called “Cash for Caulkers.” Included in this, we're going to buy appliances now for Obama voters. We're gonna buy 'em energy efficient refrigerators, and dishwashers, microwaves, and what have you. Now, we've already bought Obama's voters automobiles. We are paying Obama voters' mortgages. We have dumbed down the schools for Obama voters and their parents to the point that they are no longer acceptable for any parent with half a brain. And now we've got this.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: So all these terrorists in jail is great for the economy, but drug kingpins and other criminals is a drain on the economy. How many more jobs would be saved and created if we started locking up illegal aliens? I mean, if, if, if locking people up -- if putting them in jail is the way we're gonna revive the job market, why stop at terrorists? Let's put illegals where we round -- let's put them in jail.

Now, you watch how this gets reported. Everything I've said leading up to this will be ignored, and the headline, “Limbaugh: Imprison illegal aliens.” They will leave off the fact that I am joking here and illustrating absurdity by being absurd, by pointing out the pure folly of the notion that bringing Al Qaeda terrorists to Illinois is good for job creation.