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July 9, 2008 |
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Story #1: Barney Frank Abuses Law to Keep Gas Prices High
RUSH: I mentioned this earlier. The Wall Street Journal has an editorial today about Barney Frank, and this dovetails with our discussion here about the Democrats and their supposed change of mind on plentiful domestic energy. The editorial is entitled, "Mr. Frank's Wild River," and they have a picture of the area in question here. "Behold the Taunton River in Fall River, Massachusetts, pictured nearby. Congressman Barney Frank thinks your family would love to visit this scenic wilderness. Among its attractions are the fuel-storage tanks along the eastern shore. The container ships and piers are always  a hit with the children looking for a place to romp. This could be America's next 'wild and scenic river,' if Mr. Frank gets his way. Last month the powerful Congressman pushed a bill through the House Natural Resources Committee that would give the Taunton River that designation under federal law. The bill could come up for a vote on the House floor soon. If you're beginning to sense that there may be more going on here than love of nature, keep reading. The 40-year-old Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed to protect certain rivers from development. To qualify, says the law, a river should 'possess outstandingly remarkable scenic, recreational, geologic, fish and wildlife, historic, cultural or other similar values.' If they are designated under the act, the rivers and their 'immediate environment' are then protected from development or industrial uses. We've got nothing against container docks, but the Taunton River would not seem to qualify as wild, much less scenic, under any of the law's descriptive qualities."
So what's this about? Well, it turns out that this particular site that he wants claimed a wildlife refuge-type area happens to be the site for a proposed terminal for importing liquefied natural gas. The terminal would be located right on the river, and if you look at the picture, they've got five big storage tanks up on the upper right-hand corner of the picture. Anyway, somebody wants to put a terminal for the importation of liquefied natural gas rather than having to pipe it all the way up the Gulf of Mexico. Right now the liquefied natural gas either is driven or trucked or piped up. They want to put a terminal there to make it cheaper for Barney Frank's constituents. Barney Frank doesn't want it there, even though there are all other kinds of fuel container dumps and tanks all over this area.
"With energy prices as high as they are, you'd think Mr. Frank and his Capitol Hill mates would have some sympathy for constituents who are squeezed at the pump, and on their heating and electrical bills. New England relies heavily on natural gas for both of the latter. Most of the LNG terminals for importing foreign natural gas are down in the Gulf of Mexico. So foreign or domestic natural gas for New England has to be piped all the way from the Gulf, adding to already high fuel costs." So Barney Frank wants that not to happen. It's a policy that is hostile to the greater supplies of carbon energy that would keep prices lower. And so once again a Democrat has demonstrated what their real agenda is: Do not help the lowering of prices; do not help increase supply, even for your own constituents.
Story #2: New Figures Out on Who Pays the Most Taxes
RUSH: We also have new figures on who is paying the largest amount of income taxes in the country. It's gotten to the point now, ladies and gentlemen, where the top 1% of tax filers are paying more than 40% of the total income tax that the government gets and the top 50% pays 97% of all federal income taxes. The bottom 50% pay just 3%, latest figures to be released from the Treasury Department.
Story #3: Schools Going to Teach Something: Abusive Dating
RUSH: From Washington: "Schools should educate teenagers and even children as young as 11 about abusive dating situations, say experts." How about teaching them how to read? How about teaching them how to do math, just once?
Story #4: GOP Moderate Joins Christopher on War Powers
RUSH: Did you hear about the joint report from Warren Christopher and James Baker on new war powers legislation? So one of our moderates, James Baker, gets together with one of their liberals to come up with a newfangled idea on the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act is very controversial; it allows the president to engage in hostilities without congressional approval for a length of time, and this proposal here basically is an attempt to chip away at executive power. "The next time the president goes to war, Congress should be consulted and vote on whether it agrees, according to a bipartisan US study group chaired by former secretaries of state James Baker III and Warren Christopher." This is purely an attack on Bush. It facilitates the Democrats' position on Iraq, even though Iraq is turning into a stunning victory. The timing of the release of this so-called study group report is designed to facilitate the Democrats' mantra and template on Iraq, that it was unjust, that it was unnecessary, that Bush lied and somehow Bush needed to be stopped, but Bush couldn't be stopped because of the War Powers Act, so now they want to revise it.
Story #5: Why the Name Shouts at the Bottom of the Hour?
RUSH: You know, I have a question. Folks, I've been wondering this for about a month here, and it always slips my mind when the show is over to ask about it. It's an inside broadcast deal. I have to ask the broadcast engineer, because if you noticed at the bottom of the hour, when we come out of the bottom-of-the-hour break we always use what we in broadcasting call the "name shout bump," or the "name shout jingle." We only do this at the bottom of the half hour. I don't ever remember ordering this as part of programming format. Mike, where did this come from? Did you inherit this from, say, Kiki de la Garza? How long has it been running, and where is it written that we use it? 'Cause these name shouts, I mean, I'm ready to go long before my name's even been mentioned. I'm sitting here chomping at the bit. We're wasting valuable content time with all these name shouts. What, Mike? Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.
What an answer. He says, "Well, let me see. I think those just kind of started when I started engineering this show. They just started trickling in. It just sort of happened and settled in," like this has become a habit now. Well, let me ask this: Did some program director tell you somewhere that it was important to have a name shout jingle in there for the Arbitron dairies? 'Cause you wouldn't believe... Okay. All right. Well, let's mix it up. It's not that I'm tired of the name shouts, I'm just ready to get back into the content portion quicker than I can with it. What? Well, yeah, it's been 15 years, and I just noticed it this year that there's a pattern to it. That's why I'm wondering. Now, I know I'm wasting time here, but I had to do this when I was thinking about it because when I finish the program I forget everything that's happened. I live in the now, you know? I don't live in the past and I don't live in the future. I live in the now, and when the program's over, that's the past, and I always forget to ask about it.
Story #6: UK: Kids Who Say "Yuck" May Be Tiny Racists
RUSH: A couple stories that, I mean they're funny, but at the same time this stuff is just getting out of hand. First from London: "Toddlers who say 'yuck' when given flavorful foreign food may be exhibiting racist behavior, a British government-sponsored organization says. The London-based National Children's Bureau released a 366-page guide counseling adults on recognizing racist behavior in young children, The Telegraph reported Monday. The guide, titled Young Children and Racial Justice, warns adults that babies must also be included in the effort to eliminate racism because they have the ability to 'recognize different people in their lives.' The bureau says to be aware of children who 'react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying "yuck".'"
For example, if you feed your eight-year-old some Chinese fried rice and they go, "Yuck," your kid is a racist, anti-ChiCom. That's what they're saying here. What happens when you serve your kid good old American peas and the kid goes, "Yuck"? What's that? "Racist incidents among children in early years settings tend to be around name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships," according to the guide.
Story #7: Term Black Hole Called "Racially Insensitive"
RUSH: Do you remember, time flies here, but a number of years ago in Washington, DC, at the city council, whatever they call it there, there was an uproar during a meeting because somebody used the word niggardly to describe the spending habits of the town council. The race industry in this country blew up and this guy got fired! Now, if you look up niggardly, it means miserly. It means you're a tightwad. But niggardly was eradicated from the language.
Now, from Dallas: "A special meeting about Dallas County traffic tickets turned tense and bizarre this afternoon. County commissioners were discussing problems with the central collections office that is used to process traffic ticket payments and handle other paperwork normally done by the JP Courts. Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections 'has become a black hole' because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office. Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud 'Excuse me!' He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a 'white hole.' That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy." This is just amazing. Do you know what a black hole is? A black hole is a star we can't see because there's so much mass, so much gravity, not even light can escape it. The only thing that's been known to escape it is the USS Enterprise, captained by William Shatner. Other than that, nothing's ever gotten out of one. A black hole is nothingness. So when a bunch of papers get thrown away that nobody can find, it's a black hole. This guy was forced by a judge to apologize for the racial insensitivity. So we've gone from "yuck" when your kid doesn't like Chinese food, to a black hole now being racist.
Story #8: Obama's Daughter Sometimes Embarrassed of Dad
RUSH: Finally, before we go back to the phones, Obama allowed his two daughters to be interviewed by Access Hollywood on one of the daughters' birthdays. It was Malia Obama, who celebrated her tenth birthday, the four-part interview began airing yesterday. Today Obama said they had second thoughts and they wouldn't be doing any more interviews, the kids aren't going to be doing any more interviews (paraphrasing): "It was an exception. It was Malia's birthday, we were in Montana, everybody was having a good time," Obama told Good Morning America, but "I think we got carried away a little bit. Generally, what makes them so charming is the fact that they're not spending a lot of time worrying about TV cameras or politics, and we want to keep it that way." Now, you have to go to the last line to find out why these kids are not going to be interviewed anymore. "In the Access Hollywood interview, Malia Obama says she sometimes finds her father embarrassing, such as when he shook a friend's hand instead of waiving to her or saying hi. Asked what makes their parents angry, Sasha Obama said whining, and Malia cited arguing with each other."
So apparently the environment inside The Messiah's home is as normal as everybody else. The kids argue with each other, Obama shakes hands with other women rather than just wave at them, and Obama just can't have this kind of an image if you're The Messiah. I didn't see it. H.R. said he saw it, the kids came off great. Okay, they're fabulous, wonderful. They ought to be, they're the offspring of The Messiah.
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