Hour 1: Discussing party switch, Limbaugh says Specter should take John and Meghan McCain with him

This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by Don Obama
By Simon Maloy

Happy Tuesday, everyone. Did you hear that President Obama's plane flew low over New York City yesterday with a fighter escort, all for the purpose of snapping a few photos? Apparently, it caused a bit of a panic. The director of the White House military office took responsibility for making the decision, and President Obama was reportedly infuriated by the whole affair. Now, it's entirely reasonable to assume that even the most hands-on president does not insert himself into the scheduling of Air Force One photo shoots. In fact, it would be unreasonable to assume otherwise. But given that Rush tends to view pretty much everything that happens with this administration as part of a carefully orchestrated plan to distract everyone from the disaster Obama is wreaking, we're fairly confident as to what his take on this one will be...

After briefly downplaying the concerns about swine flu, Rush kicked off today's program by noting that Sen. Arlen Specter will announce today his switch from (R-PA) to (D-PA). Rush counseled Specter to take Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and his daughter, Meghan, with him, and then pondered who else in the Senate should make the switch. The only other name he tossed out was Sam Brownback (R-KS). That struck us as... odd, seeing as when Brownback ran for president last year, Republicans “fear[ed] he may be too conservative to win a national election.” Brownback's sin, it seems, was voicing support for Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius -- who, according to Rush, is “for every abortion that ever happened” -- as Health and Human Services secretary.

Rush went on to note that the AP's Charles Babington wrote that Obama “is reversing the famous dictum of President Ronald Reagan, who said government is the problem, not the solution.” Rush was happy that someone in the mainstream media finally laid it out -- Obama is the opposite of Reagan. Then Rush said that lots of his friends keep asking him what the deal is with these people who supported Reagan in the '80s who now support Obama. Rush said he had a term for them that he couldn't use on the air without being fined, so he fell back on the watered-down epithet “stargazers.” They just love “stars” and “celebrities,” and there's nothing “intellectual” about their love of Obama, said Rush, because Obama's not “brilliant” and he's not a good “manager.”

Just look at the Air Force One flyover, said Rush -- Obama “cannot credibly” say he didn't know about it (see our comments above). According to Rush, someone had to have told Obama that he couldn't travel on April 27, and he had to have asked why, and they must have told him. You'll notice there's no actual evidence as to why Obama can't credibly deny having intimate knowledge of his plane's photo shoot, it's just Limbaugh explaining what “must have” happened. Anyway, Rush wrapped this topic up by saying: “But to do this, at that altitude, over that part of -- over any part of Manhattan -- but, particularly, down there over Ground Zero, it has to mean that you're in a 9-10 mentality.”

Then Rush was on to the UAW, claiming he was vindicated when he said back in December that the auto industry will not die because the UAW won't die and Obama's just going to hand the whole industry over to the unions. Rush read from The Wall Street Journal, which reported this morning that the “United Auto Workers union would eventually own 55% of the stock in a restructured Chrysler LLC under the deal reached by the union and the auto maker.” This, Rush said, squares with his claim that Obama's intention is to return the wealth of the nation to its “rightful owners.”

After the break, Rush announced what the media “template” for reporting on Specter's party switch will be: How can the GOP remain a national party if it can't hold on the moderates like Specter? Rush said that question is wrong because Specter is not a “moderate Republican,” he's a “liberal Republican.” Rush suspected that the switch had a lot to do with Specter's opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, saying that Specter expected more accolades for opposing the bill. This is all part of a “natural winnowing process” Rush said, as people who are not really Republicans or conservatives are leaving the party, which will become more focused. Leading into the break, Rush cited Larry Kudlow, writing on National Review Online, in claiming that the recently announced General Motors deal is a real “screw job” for GM bondholders.

After the break, Rush reiterated his assessment that Specter leaving the Republican Party is a good thing, and the only reason he did it is to get re-elected. Another way of looking at it, said Rush, is to listen to people like New York Times columnist David Brooks, who will say that moderates are on the march, but the truth is that to be a moderate, you have to be a Democrat.

Then Rush returned to the UAW/GM/Chrysler deals, treating the subject with his usual reserve and moderation: “What has just happened is that Don Obama has made Don Corleone look like Daffy Duck. Don Corleone was nothing compared to Don Obama.” Claiming that Obama's “consiglieres,” the UAW, will give Obama and the Democratic Party effective control of the auto industry, Rush added: “So, in the case of, you know, Don Obama, you keep your friends close, your enemies closer. World War II, ladies and gentlemen, ended with a surrender on the USS Missouri. Capitalism may have surrendered in the General Motors boardroom.” This was Obama's game plan all along, said Rush, to nationalize every business. And now when you go into a Chrysler dealership, you'll be walking into a “satellite office of the Democrat Party.” According to Rush, the dealerships will close on Election Day, you'll be able to register to vote at them, every car will have Obama bumper stickers, applicants for loans will have to be Democrats, you'll be audited if you complain about the repair bill, “and you might want to keep a sharp eye on your kneecaps.”

We must add here that despite all of Rush's bloviating about these deals being a huge boon for the UAW, the Wall Street Journal article he read from earlier also reported: “The accord is likely to provide outlines for labor deals at General Motors Co. and possibly Ford Motor Co., said labor experts, dealing the union a broader setback. In addition to cuts in wages and benefits, the loss of working members and their dues due to factory closings, will shrink the union's clout and give it less money for organizing and political operations.”

After the break, Rush rounded out the hour with a call from a woman announcing that she will be popping a few corks on some bottles of port this evening in celebration of Specter's defection.

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: Now, Kathleen Sebelius -- confirmation hearings are up today. Of course, with the swine flu out there, everybody is saying, “We gotta -- we gotta get -- we -- she's” -- they're doing a Geithner.

“She's the only one. She's the only one that can head up Health and Human Services. Doesn't matter -- doesn't matter that she hasn't paid her taxes. It doesn't matter. She's the only one that can do it. We need somebody in there. We need -- it doesn't matter that she's for every abortion that ever happened. If she's for Health and Human -- it doesn't matter. We've got to have her in there.”

[...]

LIMBAUGH: But to do this, at that altitude, over that part of -- over any part of Manhattan -- but, particularly, down there over Ground Zero, it has to mean that you're in a 9-10 mentality. It has to mean that this is not even on your mind. It means if you're a member of the Obama administration, that that's a Bush problem.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: What has just happened is that Don Obama has made Don Corleone look like Daffy Duck. Don Corleone was nothing compared to Don Obama. You want to talk loan sharking? Let me tell you how this loan sharking worked.

Bondholders -- people who purchased General Motors bonds -- did so to the tune of $27 billion. Big government -- Don Obama -- put up $15 billion, just a tad less than that. So, basically, the private sector bondholders put up almost twice as much money to save General Motors as Don Obama did. And at the end of the day, Don Obama gets 50 percent of the country and the bondholders get 10 percent of the company. The bondholders put up twice as much as Don Obama and Don Obama gets half the company; the bondholders get 10 percent -- that means they invested in the bonds wanting a profit.

There are bondholders who were using the $800,000 throw-off -- that's how much some of these bondholders have gained over the years -- the bonds had thrown that much income off, and they were -- it was going to be -- one guy's retirement is worth nothing. It's worth 10 percent of that. So, he's got a retirement now worth 8,000 thanks to Don Obama. Don Obama owns half of General Motors, and Don Obama's army -- his consiglieres, his capo de pittis or whatever they are -- the unions, they have the other 39 percent of the company.

How does somebody put up half as much money and get five times as much control of the company? And what makes this even worse is that if General Motors would go bankrupt, the bondholders wouldn't get 10 percent, they'd get 100 percent. That's what reorganization or restructuring is all about. So someone has to ask the question: How in the world would any bond buyer trust a bond again?

So, in the case of, you know, Don Obama, you keep your friends close, your enemies closer. World War II, ladies and gentlemen, ended with a surrender on the USS Missouri. Capitalism may have surrendered in the General Motors boardroom.

Clips from this hour

Limbaugh on Specter leaving GOP: “A lot of people -- Specter, take McCain with you, and his daughter”

Discussing swine flu, Limbaugh asserts, “AIDS was going to get really bad but it didn't”

Limbaugh on auto bailout: “Don Obama has made Don Corleone look like Daffy Duck”

Limbaugh: “Arlen Specter is a liberal Republican. ... People who are not really Republicans are now leaving” the GOP

Limbaugh on Specter leaving the GOP: “It's not a big loss”