By Kate Conway

Rush spent the first hour of his show today hopping between a few different issues. To start things off, he discussed reports that Census return rates are lagging in big cities, which he claimed is code to say that minority return rates are lagging. He then wondered how it's possible to know that return rates are lagging without the information obtained by the Census. Moving on to the topic of this week's nuclear summit in Washington, DC, Rush said that he hoped the summit would be “meaningless” because the only thing worse than a meaningless Obama summit is a real one. Talking about the Nuclear Posture Review and the START treaty, Rush claimed that President Obama is cutting back on our missile defense systems because the Russians don't want us to have them, then claimed that this sort of thing can only happen because Obama believes that the U.S. is the cause of the world's problems rather than the solution. While on the subject of Russia, Rush stated that Putin doesn't like the Poles, and said that it's “convenient” that so many Polish leaders died in a recent plane crash.

Rush also spent a large portion of the first hour talking about a ceremony he recently attended for Horatio Alger Award recipients. Horatio Alger Awards are given to those who “have started life in 'humble' or economically challenging circumstances” but “have worked with great diligence to achieve success and the fulfillment of their dreams.” Rush spoke glowingly of the recipients' remarks, saying that he hasn't heard any government official speak about the American dream and the goodness of the country in such a way since former President Ronald Reagan. Rush claimed that recipients represent the America we used to know and yearn for again; they are the people who make the country work.

Rush also talked at length about the economy, unemployment, and taxation. “Whiskey tango foxtrot,” he screamed about a headline that suggested that we can't yet declare an end to the recession, before speculating that they'll find the definitive data to declare the recession at an end around September -- close to the midterm elections. This isn't the only nefarious activity he hinted at: He suggested that rather than doing something to create jobs, Obama is trying to create a permanent underclass dependent on the government by extending unemployment benefits. Complaining about taxation, he ranted that it is unfair for those who are working to subsidize those who aren't and later noted that when you put “the” and “IRS” together, it spells “theirs.” Finally, in case we were unclear on his feelings towards the government and the president, Rush said that “Obama is succeeding, and by virtue of that, the country is imperiled.”

Here are some highlights from the show:

Limbaugh finds it “convenient” that “Putin does not like the Poles” and that plane crash killed many Polish leaders

Limbaugh: Obama is “in the process of creating and building a permanent underclass” by extending unemployment benefits

Limbaugh: “Obama is succeeding, and by virtue of that, the country is imperiled”

Limbaugh observes: “You ever notice when you put the word 'the' and IRS together, it spells 'theirs'?”

Mike Burns contributed to this edition of the Limbaugh Wire.