On the Obama Tax Increase (Bush Tax Cuts to Some), Rush Mirrors TIB All Stars

This past weekend, on quite possibly the last TIB All Stars Radio broadcast of the year, we discussed what the media is calling the Bush Tax Cuts. However, as I said, that really is an incorrect statement. We are not talking at this moment about cutting taxes. The Republicans again have allowed the Left to win the war of words and vocabulary and accept the premise that this is voting on a tax cut. IT IS NOT. They are voting to keep taxes as they are now, at the current levels. So, in effect, we really are not voting on a tax cut, rather, we are voting against the Obama/Pelosi/Reid Tax Hike. Listen to the replays of the TIB All Star Show, broadcast this past Saturday, and then read this transcript from Rush on Monday:

RUSH: Now, if you just landed from Mars, now we're talking about sending people to Mars, but if you just landed from Mars, and you turned on any American Drive-By Media, you would hear the biggest issue facing a lame-duck Congress is: Will Democrats cut taxes for most Americans, or will Republicans cut taxes for the rich? That is how they are framing the issue of extending the Bush tax cuts. And, you know, I got frustrated people in this audience, and they're gonna continue to be frustrated. "Are we ever gonna control the message, Rush? Are we ever gonna control it? Are we ever gonna seize the day where we define the message for the media?" The answer is, "No." Get over it. The media is not us. They are not on our side. We're never going to control the message in the media, no matter what; we would have the smartest guys in the world. Reagan did not control the message in the media; Reagan controlled the message with the American people. He won the argument. We're not gonna control the message in the media! Stop bothering me about this!

It's very, very simple. Here we have three mistakes in one single news brief, but the American people are not being fooled by any of this. Will Democrats cut taxes for most Americans, or will the Republicans cut taxes for the rich? First off, there are no tax cuts being proposed by anybody for anybody. The debate is: Are taxes going to go up, or not? That's all that's on the table here. But expecting the media to frame it that way is a waste of time, and it's only gonna frustrate you. For years we have heard that the Bush tax cuts were for the rich, but now we hear the Democrats are fighting to keep those tax cuts for the middle class, as we pointed out Friday and repeatedly, over and over and over. Yet the Democrats in the media say the tax cuts were only for the rich.

Now, the next obvious retort is this: How can you cut taxes for 95 to 98% of Americans, which the Democrats say Obama wants to do, when less than 50% of the population actually pay any income taxes? So if you had any doubt that the media is a bunch of propagandists and people indoctrinating their customers, rather than reporters -- it's that simple. There are no tax cuts being proposed. All that's being proposed are: Will the current tax rates be extended, or will they not? And if they're not, whose taxes will go up?

While I agree that expecting the media to frame it that way is a waste, the Republicans should not just accept the premise. That is how we get into pigeonholed and misunderstood. Every Republican member of Congress should be out on the airwaves on the shows telling the American people this is not a tax cut but a vote against a tax hike. That is the reality here. Rush goes on:

Now, what the Democrats want is for the wealthy to have their taxes go up. One of the things Obama is asking (and this gets to Pelosi and her $250 checks to the seasoned citizens), Obama repeatedly says that extending the current tax rates -- forget even the talk of tax cuts -- extending the current tax rate for people over 250 grand a year will cost the government $700 billion. And he says, "Where are we gonna get that money?" Well, where are we going to get the money for Pelosi to give every seasoned citizen $250? Where did we get the money for her to do that in 2008? Where are you getting the money, Nancy? We don't have the money, and we're not losing -- the government has got to figure out a way to balance its budget based on the status quo. The status quo is 36% tax rate for the upper bracket. On the table is dropping that and raising it to 39.6 as a means of saving $700 billion. It's all convoluted. There's not one tax cut being proposed. The only thing being proposed is: Should we raise taxes on the people who own small businesses and hire many of the people who work in this country? That's the question.

Nice to know that Rush and his people listen to the TIB All Stars, because this is exactly what we talked about Saturday.

QOTD: Rush Limbaugh on Christine O'Donnell

"Robert 'Sheets' Byrd was in the United States Senate for 40 years. We have people on our side worried about Christine O'Donnell somehow doing damage to the country or to the party?" - Rush Limbaugh

QOTD: Rush Limbaugh

Quote of the Day:

"Too many Republicans are obsessed with being 'reasonable.' Reasonable isn't on the ballot. Reversing Obamaism and defeating it is what the American people want.  And a majority of them, by the way -- including larger-than-ever numbers of independents, the so-called precious middle." -- Rush Limbaugh

The Limbaugh Attack and Free Speech

I'm not really going to offer up any new earth-shattering information in this post, but I do think it is important that we take a minute to think a bit about what the White House-led attacks on Rush Limbaugh are all about and why they are important.

Rush thinks that these attacks are about diverting attention away from the total failure on the part of the President to deal with the economic meltdown. The stimulus/porkulus bill didn't work and Congress is moving on ahead with even more frivolous spending in the omnibus budget. I suspect that Rush is right on this point as it has been revealed that Obama political adviser David Axelrod is the guy behind these attacks.

Let's ponder what it would have been like if the Bush administration had similarly targeted Michael Moore. There would have been outrage like you would not believe from our friends on the left. But since it is their guy doing it, it's a-okay with them.

Which brings me to my next cliche...

First they came for Rush Limbaugh...and you said nothing because Rush is a mega-star and he should be able to defend himself.

Then they came for the radio stations with the Fairness Doctrine...and you said nothing because talk radio isn't really your thing anyway.

Then they came for the bloggers...and you said nothing because who cares about a bunch of dorks in their pajamas hanging out in their momma's basements anyway.

By the time they came for you...there was no one left to say anything.

And let me channel my good friend Mark here and say that all of this reminds me of a certain paper hanger in Europe... This is fascism mixed with socialism marketed with Hope and Change and America bought it hook, line and sinker. Well, now we're paying the piper and the price is high.

Free speech isn't free...(I'll disagree with the Team America guys too...it costs a bit more than a buck-oh-five.) We, as Americans, must join together to protect the right of Rush Limbaugh to be on the air every bit as much as we rise voices to support Michael Moore's right to make crappy movies. Let the people decide what they want to listen to and watch. Government has no place in it at all.

Palin vs. McCain Staffers Update

Note to McCain Staffers: 69% of Republicans LOVE Sarah Palin.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republican voters say Alaska Governor Sarah Palin helped John McCain’s bid for the presidency, even as news reports surface that some McCain staffers think she was a liability.

Only 20% of GOP voters say Palin hurt the party’s ticket, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Six percent (6%) say she had no impact, and five percent (5%) are undecided.

As Rush Limbaugh just said on air, you 20%ers can feel free to move on over to the Democrats where y'all are more comfortable. Don't let the door hit ya in the booty on the way out...

Pearl of Wisdom

Quoth Rush Limbaugh:

"We don't want to hear our views impugned and trashed by people we think are on our side. The country club, blue-blood Republicans are incapable of generating the kind of excitement we saw last night. The elites -- Republicans, Democrat, media, New York, Washington -- they're not our friends. We're in a war. We want to fight and win it."

100% right...

Thank you Rush

Well I have been away trying to apply for tenure. What a pain. But I wanted to drop by and say a quick thank you to Rush who celebrated 20 years this past week. I was fortunate to catch a lot of the broadcasts including President Bush's call. What has amazed me over the years is that no matter what has been dealt to Rush he maintains a leadership in a role to bring conservative ideas to the media. This has included personal problems as well as dealing with a media that is constantly trying to unthrone him. The Unfairness Doctrine was written with him in mind. Most liberal outlets quote him. Funny how a lot of people that I know that "hate" him can quote him. I have been listener almost this whole time, finding him at lunch one day. As well as being controversial their are numerous examples of acts that he has done, some without others knowing, to help people who are in need. Carrying the mantle of conservatism in a time when a lot in politics are straying from it has made Rush a great voice in a time that need sit. Thank you

Republicans and the 9% Congress Run by Democrats

In a post about the Pelosi/Reid Congress approval rating hitting single digits, Instapundit Glenn Reynolds updates with this comment:

So why are the Republicans running scared, and why aren't they going after the "new Democratic Congress" hammer-and-tongs? Beats me. Because they're idiots, I guess.

Uhh, Glenn, the idiots are the people who are too busy criticizing the GOP leadership to notice that they are hammering the "new" Demcoratic leadership. Maybe Glenn and his conservative friends in California have missed that Republican Leader, my Congressman and a aGreat American -- John Boehner -- and his entire leadership team have been smacking the "new" Democratic Congress on a variety of issues important to Congress. I'm talking all of the energy issues, healthcare issues like S-CHIP, taxes...the list goes on and on...and watching the punditocracy sticking their fingers in their ears is getting more than just a little old.

I will say that I think Rush is right (again) when he says that it is rather astonishing that the drive-by media template for a 9% Congress is that the Republicans are still going to lose a whole bunch of seats. Heck, President Bush has significantly better numbers than this... (HT: K-Lo on The Corner. Source: EIB)

This month, just 9% say Congress is doing a good or excellent job. Most voters (52%) say Congress is doing a poor job, which ties the record high in that dubious category." Now, amidst all of this, with a 9% approval rating, an all-time low, the media template is still what? That the Democrats are going to pick up all these seats in the House and they're going to pick up all these seats in the Senate. It's a foregone conclusion. Now, if people are this upset with Congress, and the president's numbers are higher — you know, this is a risky thing to try to analyze. You have to ask how many Americans understand that Congress is now run by Democrats? How many of them think that Congress is just an extension of the White House and are blaming it on Republicans? Well, you don't know. But I think one of the keys here in every call I get, and every comment I get from people talking about this, whether it's here on the program or in my highly focused personal and private life, it's the gasoline price. The gasoline price is the root of everything because that affects the cost of food, the cost of leisure time activity, the cost of entertainment, and it's a gold mine. It is simply a golden opportunity for the Republican Party here to really make some big hay.

The Republicans, if anything, need to do a better job of framing the "new" Democratic Congress...they should plaster Pelosi's and Reid's faces on every ad they run and slap that 9% number on it...

Obama Smeared Rush

I am shocked that it is left to the Chicago Sun-Times to fight back against Barry OCarter's smear of Rush Limbaugh.

News item: Barack Obama campaign starts new Web site to fight smears from political opponents at www.fightthesmears.com.

The first smear mentioned:

"LIE: Rush Limbaugh says a tape exists of Michelle Obama using the word 'whitey' from the pulpit of Trinity United."

Well. No. This is what Limbaugh said:

"The rumor is -- and we don't like dealing with rumors here -- but the rumor is that Michelle Obama from the pulpit of this church used the term 'whitey.' Some are saying be very careful with this because she might have said 'why'd he,' why did he, the contraction 'why'd he' instead of 'whitey.' "

He added: "I can't find anybody who's seen it."

So while Limbaugh was happy to wallow in the rumor, he was careful not to claim the tape exists.

More on this when someone gets around to creating www.clarifyfightthesmears.com.

The funny thing about this is -- as Mark pointed out here -- it was Clinton-supporting Democrats Larry Johnson and Bob Beckel who peddled this stuff.

The problem with a "rapid response" website is that you have to be very careful to get your own fact-checking right on the money. Otherwise, you are left with the impression that the response is of the same character as the rest of the campaign...lacking in merit or truthiness.

UPDATE: Now Bob Beckel is trying to smear right-wing bloggers for promoting the tape... That guy is unbelievable!

Rush is Right Yet Again

Today's Pearl of Wisdom:

"How'd it ever happen that we began to treat members of Congress as something special and five or ten cuts above everybody else, when the evidence goes to show that they're just like everybody else? They're morons half the time!"

-- Rush Limbaugh

Truer words have not been spoken...

Limbaugh is Right Again

Pearl of Wisdom:

"Every time liberals raise taxes, they think the people they want to help will feel better because somebody's being gotten even with. The rich are going to suffer like you are? No. The rich will keep their jobs. You're going to get laid off."

This is so elementary, yet so distorted by liberals and their accomplices in the media, that I can't believe I haven't thought to put it just this way before... Rush is absolutely correct: When liberals raise taxes, they think it is about "getting the rich"; but who really gets the shaft? The middle class does...

You Stay Classy Marc Dann's Office

Can you believe this guy actually gets paid to say stuff like this? (Columbus Dispatch):

"We have no intention of prosecuting Rush Limbaugh because lying through your teeth and being stupid isn't a crime," said Leo Jennings, a spokesman for Democratic Attorney General Marc Dann.

This is NOT what we pay the Attorney General's Office for for. This is NOT serving the public interest. It is uncalled for and unprofessional behavior. If Marc Dann had an ounce of integrity, he'd "suspend" this guy like John Sidney McCain would have done...

But Marc Dann, and apparently his staff has followed his lead, has no class.

UPDATE: What a buffoon...later in the same piece:

"You can't just make the assumption that someone is lying," Jennings said.

You did earlier, Leo...you assumed Rush Limbaugh was "lying"...

UPDATE 2: "Mr. Jennings, if lying and being stupid were crimes, you would be serving a life sentence as we speak."

Rushism of the Day

"Liberalism is an ideology built on lies. It doesn't work. It can't work. It requires making false promises and breaking promises."

-- Rush Limbaugh

Quote of the Day

"They have loyalty oaths in the Democrat Party, but don't let them get caught wearing an American flag lapel pin. No, a Democrat can't show loyalty to the country without infuriating a Democrat constituency."

-- Rush Limbaugh

Another Rush Pearl of Wisdom

This Pearl of Wisdom was in today's email recap of the show:

Pearl of Wisdom: "It literally stuns me that a guy, Senator McCain, who spent years criticizing his own party and thought seriously about leaving it, is now the leader of it."

McCain almost left the GOP twice, and he still can't sew up Hagel's endorsement.

I had very similar thoughts this morning when I read that Hagel was having trouble endorsing our nominee. I'm pretty sure that ought to be a litmus test for our politicians who are claiming to be Republicans...if you can't endorse John Sidney McCain for crying out loud, you just might be getting rained on from the LEFT side of the Big Tent...