| Stack of Stuff Quick Hits Page |
|
September 22, 2009 |
|
 |
|
Story #1: Biden Provides Rallying Cry: 35 Seats is End of Road
RUSH: Now, I think, ladies and gentlemen, the vice president, the bumbling Joe Biden has given us perhaps a new battle cry. "Vice President Joe Biden said yesterday that if Democrats were to lose 35 House seats they currently hold in traditionally Republican districts, it would mean doomsday for President Obama’s agenda. Biden said Republicans are pinning their political strategy on flipping these seats. 'If they take them back, this the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do,' the vice president said at a fundraiser for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) today in Greenville, Delaware." Well, that's the new battle cry, "It's the end of the road." Ha! This guy is running around, "It's the end of the road for what Barack and I are trying to do." Good. Somebody in this administration acknowledges that there needs to be an end of the road.
Story #2: Energy Secretary Chu: Americans Act Like Teenagers
 RUSH: Now, this is hilarious, too. "When Secretary of Energy Steven Chu thinks of the American people, he apparently sees a bunch of unruly teenagers who need to be told how to act. Asked at a seminar on reconstructing America's electrical grid about the Obama administration's efforts to persuade people to conserve energy, Chu said 'the American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act. The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is,' according to The Wall Street Journal." Stop acting like teenagers, says Obama's Energy Secretary to the American people. Who do these people think they are? Stop acting like teenagers? We got people out of work, no hope finding a job, Obama even says high unemployment for at least another year, and this administration is telling everybody to stop acting like teenagers? What, we're not putting in any screwball lightbulbs fast enough? We're not buying these cheap little bubble cars fast enough? What are we doing? What are we not doing?
I'll tell you who this guy is. The name is Steven Chu -- you know, we don't hear much of his cabinet secretaries. We hear about the czars. This guy spoke up and the name rang a bell to me out there. So I went out there and I did a little check. And this was from the UK Times back in May 27, 2007. This is before Steven Chu ever even had dreams of being an Energy Secretary. "As a weapon against global warming, it sounds so simple and low-tech that it could not possibly work. But the idea of using millions of buckets of whitewash to avert climate catastrophe has won the backing of one of the world’s most influential scientists. Steven Chu, the Nobel prize-winning physicist appointed by President Obama as Energy Secretary, wants to paint the world white. A global initiative to change the colour of roofs, roads and pavements so that they reflect more sunlight and heat could play a big part in containing global warming." This guy wants to paint everything white. This is who the Energy Secretary is, and he tells us to stop acting like teenagers.
Story #3: Stalinist Obama and Democrats Target Humana CEO
RUSH: This infuriated me when I heard about this. Humana has sent out a note, sent out an e-mail, an ad that Medicare Advantage will be cut under the Baucus Senate health reform plan, and the same thing in the House. And Baucus -- read "the United States government" -- sends a threatening note to Humana telling them they can't say that and to stop it. Now, what gives them the right, what gives Max Baucus or anybody in the US Senate or in the White House the right to tell anybody what they can and can't say? The First Amendment prohibits that. "But, Rush, but, Rush," I hear you saying, "Humana deals with Medicare, and they get federal money, the federal government has a link." Yes, but in this circumstance, Humana happens to be telling the truth.
Wall Street Journal today: "Political intimidation has always been part of the current Congress's health-care strategy: 'If you're not at the table, you're on the menu' is tattooed on every lobbyist and industry rep in Washington. But Max Baucus's latest bullying tactics are hard to believe by even these standards, as the Senate Finance Chairman has sicced federal regulators on the insurer Humana Inc. for daring to criticize one part of his health bill. Earlier this month, Humana sent a one-page letter to its customers enrolled in its Medicare Advantage plans, which offer private options to Medicare beneficiaries. Humana noted that, because of spending cuts proposed by Democrats, 'millions of seniors and disabled individuals could lose many of the important benefits and services that make Medicare Advantage health plans so valuable.' The Kentucky-based company also urged its customers to contact their Representatives. Pretty tame stuff, as these things go.
"Mr. Baucus took it as a declaration of war. He complained to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal health-care agency, which on Friday duly ordered Humana to cease and desist. CMS claimed the mailer was 'misleading and confusing' and told the company it has opened an official probe as to whether the mailer violated laws about how the insurers that manage Advantage plans are allowed to communicate with their customers, as well as other federal statutes. 'Please be advised that we take this matter very seriously and, based upon the findings our investigation, will pursue compliance and enforcement actions,' CMS concluded, ominously. Humana could be fined or booted from Medicare Advantage altogether."
But here are the facts. " The Baucus draft legislation slashes $123 billion over the next decade from Medicare Advantage, which Democrats hate despite the fact that almost one-fourth of beneficiaries have chosen it over traditional fee-for-service Medicare. One reason seniors like it is because private insurers focus on quality and preventive care and try to manage benefits, as opposed to simply paying bills." Now, this episode is another clear-as-a-bell illustration of how all US health care will operate if Baucus' bill becomes law or if the House bill becomes law or if Obama's bill becomes law. What did Humana do? What did they do? They're a private sector insurance company, managing Medicare Advantage. Their customers like it. They made the mistake of trying to tell their customers the truth about what will happen to their coverage. And so now the CEO has gotta go out and hire a team of lawyers, and they'd better be good, they better be fearless, because Obama and Baucus are out to make the CEO of Humana an object lesson to the rest of the business class. And that means they won't still until Humana cries uncle or is ruined. That's the objective. In addition to fascist, this is Stalinist, and that's who these people are.
Story #4: Baucus "Trims Tax and Expands Subsidies" in Bill
RUSH: Here's how Baucus goes about being a hero. This is from The Hill, Capitol Hill newspaper: "Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will redirect about $28 billion in his healthcare bill to make insurance more affordable for middle-class families and reduce a new tax on insurance companies." That's it. That's how you be a hero. You reduce taxes on things that are not taxed yet. Baucus lowers his own tax, oh, what a great guy. Proposes a tax, I'm going to be a good guy, I'm going to lower my tax, it's a tax cut and a tax that hasn't even been implemented yet. And the media cheers, what a great guy, he's responsive. In the meantime, he and the Obama administration have targeted Humana Incorporated now for destruction because they dared tell the truth about what's in this plan to their customers.
Story #5: Mrs. Clinton Rebuffs Gen. McChrystal's Warning
RUSH: Mrs. Clinton has weighed in on General McChrystal's warning, and Hillary Clinton says he doesn't know what he's talking about. "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pushed back against the US military's blunt warning that the battle against insurgents in Afghanistan would likely be lost within a year without more US troops. Clinton's comments in an interview with PBS television late Monday came amid reports that the Pentagon has asked General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in Afghanistan, to delay a request for more troops. Clinton expressed 'respect' for McChrystal's assessment that the United States would likely lose the war in Afghanistan within a year without more US forces. 'But I can only tell you there are other assessments from very expert military analysts who have worked in counter-insurgencies that are the exact opposite,' she said." Well, okay, that's settled because Hillary Clinton, smartest woman in the world and Hillary Clinton says the general doesn't know what he's talking about. Are we comforted? Are we made to feel better? Mrs. Clinton says the general doesn't know what he's talking about.
Story #6: Rice: If You Want Another Attack, Abandon Afghanistan
RUSH: In the meantime, Condoleezza Rice has 'em flipping backwards over at the Huffing and Puffington Post. She gave an interview in Fortune magazine. She said this: "The last time we left Afghanistan, and we abandoned Pakistan, that territory became the very territory on which Al Qaeda trained and attacked us on September 11th. So our national security interests are very much tied up in not letting Afghanistan fail again and become a safe haven for terrorists. It's that simple, if you want another terrorist attack in the U.S., abandon Afghanistan." And they are just beside themselves out there on the lefty blogs. Why, this is Cheneyesque. She's insane. She's crazy. Another attack, abandon Afghanistan? This is why Somalia was important to a certain extent. A stateless nation is ripe, that's where Osama Bin Laden moved. It's why he went to Afghanistan in the first place, there was no government there, civil war, strife, took over, Taliban ran the place. Now they're trying to get it back. We got people saying, "Well, maybe we ought to pull out of there. The hell with it."
Story #7: Dingy Harry Signals Dems Will Use Reconciliation
RUSH: "Senate Majority Leader [Dingy Harry] Reid (D-Nev.) gave Republicans his most direct warning to date that he is prepared to use a procedural maneuver to pass health care reform with a simple majority." This is the old reconciliation route. And he's going to -- if Republicans don't come on board and join him on this and get him the 60 votes, the hell with you Republicans! We're going to go reconciliation -- do it! The Republicans need get nowhere near any of this. As we've been saying for months, let the Democrats own this. The American people don't want it. And like I said, Harry Reid, Obama, Pelosi, they don't give a damn of the thoughts of the American people. They just want to ram something through to say they did. They're building monuments to themselves.
Story #8: CNN: State Gambling Revenue Declines in 2009
RUSH: All right, this next story I absolutely love. It's from CNN. Headline: "Report shows that state gaming revenue fell as the economy slumped, raising concerns for states betting big on casino and lottery income." So lotteries, casinos, remember, oh, yeah, that's how we're going to pay for education. We're going to solve all of our state's money problems, all we're going to do is have casino gambling and lotteries, libs answer now that that's bombing out. "The decline in gambling revenue is a red flag for states planning to expand gambling activities to help pay for social services. The decline comes as the economy struggles to recover from one of our longest recessions on record." Oh, woe is us, everybody wringing their hands over declining revenues so what are the libs going to come up with next? They're going to tax sodas and sweet beverages and so forth, hot dogs. If people have no jobs and no money, there's no revenue that people can tax, why is this so tricky to understand? Why is it not understood by these people that if you really want to generate revenue, you gotta get people working. Maybe what's troubling me today is I feel like I'm surrounded by total helpless uncorrectable stupidity, and it happens to be running the show. Uh, the government, not the show, just the exact opposite is running the show.
|
|
|
|
|
| *Note: Links to content outside RushLimbaugh.com usually become inactive over time. |
|
|
