By Todd Gregory

Guess what? Rush Limbaugh spent a lot of time talking about health care reform today. He kicked things off by announcing that President Obama declared open war on the insurance industry during his speech today at George Mason University. Limbaugh went on to say that Obama is planning to take over the insurance industry in a “fascistic way.”

Throughout the course of the show, Rush would repeatedly say that the vote reportedly scheduled for this weekend is really about getting the Senate bill to Obama, that Democrats aren't really that concerned about passing fixes to that bill through reconciliation, and that Obama won't be concerned about the reconciliation package after he signs the Senate bill.

Rush brought up a provision in the reconciliation package that would have allowed the Bank of North Dakota to continue making student loans, even though North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad already said he plans to kill it.

Rush noted that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus put out a press release declaring its support for the health care bill. Rush said this didn't matter because members of that caucus were never really going to vote against the bill anyway.

After a break, Limbaugh mentioned that Mark Levin's legal foundation is planning to challenge the health care legislation on the grounds that the “deem and pass” procedure is unconstitutional, even though some experts say that it clearly passes muster and has been used many times in the past by both parties.

Limbaugh then played a clip of Obama speaking at George Mason University and said that health care reform actually is about getting undocumented immigrants “amnesty” and health care, because Obama needs their votes to get re-elected.

After a break, Rush talked a bit more about the Bank of North Dakota, calling it a “socialist bank” because it's owned by the state of North Dakota. Limbaugh then noted that Conrad opposes the provision.

Rush moved on to a report that Caterpillar said that its health care costs would increase by $100 million in the first year alone if health care reform passes. He tied this to a report that Caterpillar was laying off 121 workers -- a move that had already been announced.

Limbaugh then launched into a series of sports metaphors to describe the whip count on the bill. Scintillating stuff.

Rush returned to insisting that the Senate bill will be signed into law on Sunday and that the changes to it in the reconciliation package likely wouldn't go through until Congress' Easter break, if they ever act on it at all. Rush described the health care legislation as getting “the big shaft” and told his listeners that “this is tyranny.”

Before the end of the first hour, Rush read from a blog post by CNBC's Larry Kudlow and told a caller that the Obama administration has said that 10 percent unemployment is the new norm and that Americans should get used to it. Furthermore, he said, “That's exactly what they want, too.”

Rush promotes caller's method of forcing an “up-or-down” vote on the Senate bill

Limbaugh opened the second hour with more rumination on the whip count for the health care bill. He then purported to list all the nasty things that people should hate in the reconciliation package and in the Senate bill. As part of this, Rush asserted that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer had told House Democrats to lie about the Congressional Budget Office's score of the legislation, because if they didn't, they would reveal it to be a sham.

While playing clips of Rep. Jim Clyburn talking about the legislation, Rush referenced a Weekly Standard post claiming that the CBO said it would cost over $2 trillion, even though the CBO says it will reduce the deficit.

The clips of Democrats continued, with Rush using them to say that Democrats' real intention in passing health care reform is to destroy the private insurance industry.

After a break, Rush took a caller who insisted that Article I, Section 5 of the Constitution would allow House Republicans to force an up-or-down vote on the health care bill, instead of the “deem and pass” procedure.

Rush then had Levin on to comment on this idea, and Levin said he thought the caller was mistaken.

After the call, he moved back to speculating about how Congress would handle the health care legislation and insisting that the reconciliation package would ever go through.

After a break, Rush read a Politico story about an allegedly leaked memo that detailed Democrats' plans for a permanent repeal of the annual Medicare cuts to doctors. He said that Democrats were hushing this up because it could sink health care reform. It turns out that the authenticity of the document is, um, questionable, as Politico itself later acknowledged.

Rush ends his show by again giving out the Capitol switchboard number

Rush began his final hour of the week by complaining that Nancy Pelosi was reportedly praying for the passage of the health care legislation, saying that her constituents in San Francisco couldn't possibly like that.

Then, back to his point that Obama would be signing the Senate bill without the reconciliation fixes. He also read a FoxNews.com story reporting that a new “sidecar” bill could slow passage of health care reform.

Naturally, Rush told his listeners that the bill had to be stopped: “It has to be defeated. It has to be stopped.”

In fact, he said, the best-case scenario would be the bill being voted on and failing.

After a break, Limbaugh read a post from The Corner about Rep. Paul Ryan's predictions on the whip count. He then took a caller who led him into a digression about how the federal government is bankrupt, there is no deficit reduction in the bill, and the Politico story.

The next caller who theorized that Obama is a “front man for the unions.” Rush responded that the “government unions” are as radical as Saul Alinsky. He also considered the possibility that Obama could be a “front man,” but said it didn't really matter.

Limbaugh briefly read some numbers from a Fox News poll before taking a caller who said that health care reform is a huge issue because the federal government is more involved in health insurance than any other entity.

After a break, Limbaugh encouraged his listeners to reference the Politico story on the Medicare fix when calling undecided Democrats in Congress, specifically mentioning Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA).

A self-professed “irate Italian woman” then went into an extended rant that really hit a lot of the high notes of the last 50 years of grievance politics peddled by the right. The caller said she didn't understand how 46 percent of people in America think Obama is doing a good job. She thought he should be at 20 percent.

At the end of the call, she labeled Obama a “communist,” Limbaugh asked her what her favorite pasta dish was, and she offered to make El Rushbo a nice Italian dinner next time he comes through New Jersey. They said goodbye, and Rush cut to commercial.

The Rush Limbaugh Show, ladies and gentlemen.

After a break, Rush said that the previous caller typifies the anger that's about to boil over. Rush explained that the reason that about 46 percent of Americans get government benefits, which explains Obama's approval number. He further explained that this is what happens when Republicans teach Republicans a lesson -- that is to say, when conservatives were angry back in 2006 and declined to vote for Republicans because they were spending too much, it resulted in big Democratic majorities. In other words, the lesson is, “Vote Republican.”

In the final segment, Limbaugh again gave out a toll-free number to the Capitol switchboard.

We expected no less, Rush.