This hour of the Limbaugh Wire brought to you by nationalized pet health care
By Simon Maloy
If you, like us, sacrificed both mental and spiritual health to make it through last week's horrific quintet of Rush Limbaugh radio broadcasts, you probably took away from it the same message that we did -- Barack Obama is purposefully destroying the American economy (as evidenced by rising unemployment numbers), and he's doing so in order to assert more “statist” control over the country. Well, this morning we read Paul Krugman's New York Times column, and he made an interesting point: “And Republicans, providing a bit of comic relief, are saying that the stimulus has failed, because the enabling legislation was passed four months ago -- wow, four whole months! -- yet unemployment is still rising. This suggests an interesting comparison with the economic record of Ronald Reagan, whose 1981 tax cut was followed by no less than 16 months of rising unemployment.” Well, comparisons with Reagan's economic record are what Limbaugh is all about, since he believes that Reagan's tax cuts were the best thing that ever happened to this country. And, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Krugman is right -- the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 was signed into law in August of that year, and unemployment rose every month after that until January of 1983. So using Rush's own standards for success, we can only come to two conclusions -- Obama is an economic genius in the mold of Reagan, or Reagan was an authoritarian statist in the mold of Obama.
Rush got the week going by saying the he “called it” on the Iranian election. Rush said that the media are comparing Iran to Florida in 2000, but everyone who knows anything about Iran knows that the mullahs pick who they want to win. Rush also said that the liberals will want you to believe that Obama is responsible for the unrest in Iran as a consequence of the disputed electoral out come, and Obama's going to try and take credit for it, even though it's been simmering in there for some time.
Then Rush moved on to a couple of Drudge specials, the first being a long-time favorite of his -- Obama's half-brother George living in his “hut” in Kenya. Rush noted that George is writing a book and has received an advance from Simon & Schuster, though he's “still in the hut” and has “turned to community organizing.” Unmentioned by Rush was the fact, reported by the AP, that George Obama chooses to live in poverty as part of his “strong identification” with the poor. But we're sure that won't get in the way of Rush bashing Obama as an unfeeling hypocrite for not helping his half-brother. The second Drudge special was the new Gallup poll finding that “conservatives” are the largest ideological group in the country, which Rush described as “very cool.” This, said Rush, is why the left are trying to destroy Sarah Palin.
Then it was on to health care. Rush wanted us to know that back in 1993 when the Clintons tried to reform health care, it represented one-seventh of the economy; today it's one-fifth. There's no way, said Rush, that you can sign up more people and cut costs. It's impossible. Then Rush heaped praise on George Will for his appearance on ABC's This Week yesterday attacking national health care. Rush said Will got to the “common thing” that he tries to remind his audience of at every opportunity - liberals look at everyone else with contempt. Then Rush said he received a note from a friend the other day wondering if the American Medical Association will cave in their opposition to the “public option” (a topic on which the AMA has already been all over the map). Rush said Obama already has a heave hand on them -- he's already in charge of what they make, by way of Medicare reimbursements. Rush said there's “a large bit of fear of this guy” in every plan he comes up with, and the people cave because everyone's afraid of the government, and that's not a good sign for the country.
After noting that Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) had objected to President Obama's appointment of “czars,” Rush said that Cabinet secretaries have been relegated to secondary and tertiary roles -- this is statist, authoritarian behavior. Obama, according to Rush, is saying he's going to rule the country, not govern it.
Then Rush explained that he had an eye-opener on health care the other day after a friend of his got a puppy. The friend, Rush said, was looking for places where she could kennel her new dog, and there are a whole bunch of private-sector options at varying prices. This is just like health care, said Rush, because the private sector offers a variety of options ranging from high-end to low-end. All these private-sector options for the health and well-being of dogs, said Rush, are doing just fine without a public option. We shouldn't have to, but we'll explain why this is so stupid in a little bit. Just be patient.
Back from a quick break, Rush said that Obama was lying on Friday when he outlined measures to trim Medicare spending. There's no way Medicare is going to be cut, said Rush, when your national plan is an expansion of Medicare. Rush doesn't care what Obama says, the numbers don't work. Rush added: “The economy is falling apart. They're going to bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan. The era of Obama has settled in. 40 percent of Flint, Michigan is boarded up homes. They're now using gravel to make roads in Michigan rather than concrete and asphalt. They don't have any money. Forty percent -- they're going to have to bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan to reduce the size because it no longer works the way it is. This is unthinkable in the United States of America, unthinkable. The era of Obama. It's just -- I'm seeing things happen in this country that I thought I would never, ever see. These are the kinds of things that happen in totalitarian regimes.”
Then it was back to the Gallup poll on self-identified conservatives as Rush said this was the key to victory for Republicans. Be true conservatives, said Rush, and you have 40 percent of the vote. Then have to attract just half of the moderates. This, said Rush, is why he closed the program of Friday saying that he still has faith in the American people, and this is why the left is so scared to death of Sarah Palin -- she excites the conservatives in this country. Everyone in the media and the blue-blood Republicans make fun of her, said Rush, but of all the potential GOP candidates for 2012, which one sends the Democrats, the media, and the comedians into an insane tizzy? Palin. Because they're scared of her. They're scared that she can win, that she can beat Barack Obama.
After the break, Rush told everyone to go visit the Drudge Report to look at the picture of the Uighurs -- “essentially Chinese Al Qaeda” -- swimming in the ocean off the Bermuda coast. The only thing missing, said Rush, are the piña coladas. Then Rush returned to the Gallup poll once again, linking it to William Voegeli's essay, "The wilderness years begin," the penultimate paragraph of which was reproduced on Powerline.com. Rush read this paragraph --interspersing it with his own observations concerning the evils of liberalism -- and concluded that conservatism doesn't need to be reinvented, it's timeless, founded on freedom. Rush said that Republicans are saying we have to let go of Reagan, but Reagan was an application of conservatism and look what he got -- 58 percent of the vote.
Then it was back to health care as Rush expanded on his argument that health care in this country is no different from kenneling your dog -- there are all kinds of options at various price points, and you are free to choose the one you want that you can afford. In animal care, said Rush, you can have any option you want at any level of care you want. There's no government option and it's all affordable. There are a few problems with Rush's analogy. Yes, there are several private-sector options available for dog kenneling, but there's another option Rush didn't consider -- having your neighbor dogsit. That's not really something you can do with medical problems. There's a big difference between saying “Hey, man, can you watch Bentley for the weekend?” and “Hey, man, can you cure my glaucoma?” Secondly, health care for humans and health care for dogs - as if this needs explaining - are very different things with very different consequences. For example, when your dog gets sick, you're usually not in danger of losing income from not being able to work. But Rush would have you believe otherwise: “It's health care, and it's care that's just as important to pet owners as their own health care is, probably more so because most people think they can handle most illnesses that they have themselves. If a dog, cat gets sick, what do you do? You have to take it to the vet, and you can find whatever level of service that you want.”
Anyway, after the break, Rush took a call from a gentleman saying that insurance should go back to being insurance -- pooling money in the event of unexpected calamities, such as a heart attack, and not cover things like prescription drugs. Rush said the man was absolutely right. It's just like groceries, said Rush -- you can't live without food, it's a necessity, and people now think that health care is too. Rush closed out the hour with some good old-fashioned mockery of the poor: “You know, this is the only country where poverty leads to obesity. Stop and think of that. Now why is that? Because with the food stamps you go in there and buy the Twinkies, the Milk Duds, a six-pack of Bud, bag of potato chips. Head home to one of your two color TVs as you live in poverty to watch the NFL on satellite TV and that's if you turn off your cell phone so that you don't get interrupted. That's poverty in the United States today compared to elsewhere around the world.”
Greg Lewis and Lauryn Bruck contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.
Highlights from Hour 1
Outrageous comments
LIMBAUGH: The economy is falling apart. They're going to bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan. The era of Obama has settled in. 40 percent of Flint, Michigan is boarded-up homes. They're now using gravel to make roads in Michigan rather than concrete and asphalt. They don't have any money. Forty percent -- they're going to have to bulldoze 40 percent of Flint, Michigan, to reduce the size because it no longer works the way it is. This is unthinkable in the United States of America, unthinkable. The era of Obama. It's just -- I'm seeing things happen in this country that I thought I would never, ever see. These are the kind of things that happen in totalitarian regimes.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: You have health care for pets from a private practitioner, not a government program. Whenever you hear -- whenever you hear a liberal promise government help that'll give you universal care, better care at lower cost, whenever you hear that, just sit back, and you know what your response ought to be? Arf, arf, arf -- bark like your dog does, because your dog has it without the government being involved. And this is not a -- this is not a conclusion that is out of bounds or a stretch. It's health care, and it's care that's just as important to pet owners as their own health care is, probably more so because most people think they can handle most illnesses that they have themselves. If a dog, cat gets sick, what do you do? You have to take it to the vet, and you can find whatever level of service that you want.
Vox populi
LIMBAUGH: You know, we can't live without food. We've got to have -- that's a necessity. Health care has become that in people's minds. So imagine the same kind of food care provided by the government. In fact, we've got it: food stamps. This is the only country where poverty leads to obesity. Stop and think of that. Now, why is that? Because with the food stamps, you go in there and buy the Twinkies, the Milk Duds, a six-pack of Bud, bag of potato chips. Head home to one of your two color TVs as you live in poverty to watch the NFL on satellite TV, and that's if you turn off your cell phone so that you don't get interrupted. That's poverty in the United States today compared to elsewhere around the world.