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November 14, 2007 |
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Story #1: Drive-Bys: Pressure Builds for Hillary Debate Rebound
RUSH: Yesterday, I made a prediction to you that the debate with the Democrats tomorrow night would mean something happening between now and then to distract people from the two-week slow bleed of Mrs. Clinton -- and, of course, we got that when New York governor Eliot Spitzer withdrew his plan for driver's licenses for illegals. Then we got the note that the Clinton campaign was warning Wolf Blitzer not to do a Russert and pile on with personal-attack questions, quote, unquote, to Mrs. Clinton. We started talking about various things that might happen on the debate tomorrow night -- and, lo and behold, one of the things we talked about was Mrs. Clinton has got to have a boffo performance. If she has a boffo, bang-up performance then it will erase the slow bleed of the past two weeks -- and right on cue, dutifully, here's the Drive-By Media.
Russell Berman, reporting for the New York Sun. "Clinton Now Under Pressure To Bounce Back Against Foes -- The pressure will be on Senator Clinton at the Democratic presidential debate tomorrow as she tries to bounce back from a weak performance last month that has cut into her lead in the polls." She also "sent out a missive to supporters urgently seeking donations in a bid to raise $1 million by the start of the debate..." So this story is sort of like an acknowledgment here that she's gotta do well. This sets up the possibility that she might. I have no doubt that CNN is going to do whatever they can to help her rebound. I have no doubt. If you're expecting a Russert-type performance in the debate tomorrow night, I wouldn't look for it. We're still going to watch. We're going to watch, and we're going to see.
Story #2: Spitzer's Christmas Tax Surprise: Internet Sales Tax
RUSH: Meanwhile, back to Governor Spitzer. This is also from the New York Sun. Joseph Goldstein: "New Yorkers going Christmas shopping online at Amazon.com will find an 8.375% surprise at the virtual cash register, courtesy of Governor Spitzer, who is moving aggressively to collect Internet sales taxes that have gone widely unenforced. Under a new policy, major electronic retailers, such as Amazon.com, will be required to collect sales tax on all purchases from New York. The policy, based on a novel legal theory, could hasten the end of the Internet's era as a duty-free marketplace if other states follow New York's lead." What do you mean? I buy stuff on the Internet, and I pay taxes on it! Largely duty free? What am I missing? I must be going to the wrong sites. Anyway, it's just like the driver's license idea. This is one that's going to trickle down to all of us if New York gets this done. Taxes and immigration: Those are the two issues that will vault the Republicans to victory next year: taxes, immigration. Democrats are on the wrong side of both. New York leaders are wrong on both. This is exactly how individual states went after taxes on cigarettes. It was an old law dragged up, if I remember correctly, by some representative and spread to New York and Michigan and then on to all, and now it's the way to fund health care.
The attorney generals subpoenaed vendors' records. Vendors are required to report to the state agency disparate sales to anybody other than a distributor. The AG office obtains credit card info via the vendor records and sends out their threatening tax letters. I'm not aware of any prosecution and so forth. But it doesn't matter. "Having pledged not to raise taxes, Mr. Spitzer is increasingly scrounging for ways to close a projected $4.3 billion deficit next year." Why don't you cut spending? All these states with all of these out-of-the-world budget deficits are struggling away; find ways to close their deficits. Cut spending -- the one thing they never think of! "State officials estimate that this latest initiative, which goes into effect in December, will bring in about $100 million more each year, split between state and local government tax revenue. Statewide, the sales tax averages about 8%, although in New York City it is 8.375%. ... The memorandum outlining the state's position says that it 'is intended to clarify current policy and does not reflect any change." No, of course not. This is to clarify current policy, which is already murky.
 Story #3: Australians: Strip Santa of Derogatory "Ho, Ho, Ho!"
RUSH: I mentioned at the top of the program that -- where's this from? This is the Daily Telegraph. Oh, I said Australia. I was wrong. No, I was right. Even when I think I'm wrong, I'm right. It is Australia. Santa Claus. "Santas across Sydney are rebelling against attempts to ban their traditional greeting of 'ho, ho, ho' in favour of 'ha, ha, ha.' Recruitment firm Westaff -- which supplies hundreds of Santas across the country -- has told its trainees that the 'ho ho ho' phrase could frighten children and could even be derogatory to women." Ho-ho-ho frightens children? Ho-ho-ho is derogatory to women?
"Two Santa hopefuls reportedly quit the course because of the hullabaloo of the ho, ho, ho. One would-be Santa has told The Daily Telegraph he was taught not to use 'ho, ho, ho' because it was too close to the American slang for prostitute. He also quit. 'Gimme a break,' Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids, said. 'We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they. Leave Santa alone.' Australian Childhood Foundation chief executive officer Dr. Joe Tucci said it was the latest example of political correctness gone mad," and he is exactly right. You know, the thing about these liberals, it has to be misery all the time. The offended have to be there all the time, and if anybody's offended we've gotta stop whatever it is that offends them, even if it's one or five or ten.
Story #4: Seattle Libs Teach Thanksgiving Misery and Mourning
RUSH: Okay, here's the Thanksgiving story, ladies and gentlemen. Seattle is the location for this. "Seattle schools are using the holiday to indulge in," as Michelle Malkin says, "Oppression studies 101: 'Dear Seattle Public Schools Staff: We recognize the amount of work that educators and staff have to do in order to fulfill our mission to successfully educate all students. It's never as simple as preparing and delivering a lesson. Students bring with them a host of complexities including cultural, linguistic and social economic diversity. In addition they can also bring challenges related to their social, emotional and physical well being. One of our departments' goals is to support you by suggesting ways to assist you in removing barriers to learning by promoting respect and honoring the diversity of our students, staff and families. With so many holidays approaching we want to again remind you that Thanksgiving can be a particularly difficult time for many of our Native students. This website ... offers suggestions on ways to be sensitive of diverse experiences and perspectives and still make the holiday meaningful for all students. Here you will discover ways to help you and your students think critically, and find resources where you can learn about Thanksgiving from a Native American perspective. Eleven myths are identified about Thanksgiving, take a look at #11 and begin your own deconstruction.
"'Myth #11,'" that they are advocating teachers take a look at and go and teach: "'Thanksgiving is a happy time.'" That's a myth in America. "'Fact: For many Indian people, "Thanksgiving" is a time of mourning, of remembering how a gift of generosity was rewarded by theft of land and seed corn, extermination of many from disease and gun, and near total destruction of many more from forced assimilation. As currently celebrated in this country, "Thanksgiving" is a bitter reminder of 500 years of betrayal returned for friendship.'" This is what teachers are being suggested to look at in teaching Thanksgiving this year to their students in Seattle. You know, the liberals in this country are trying to take this American holiday and tell us all to be mournful and unhappy about it, and they're doing everything they can to spread that misery to as many people as possible. They are miserably unhappy all the time, and if something doesn't come from government, they have to trash it. They have to destroy it. Particularly if it is a grand American tradition, they have to destroy it. The real story of Thanksgiving has nothing to do with the way it is taught in the public schools. Now, I understand in public schools they teach things to be rosy and hunky-dory depending on how young the students are. But the liberals these days want to just start shellacking them with negative, after negative, after negative. They want to shellac them with guilt. They want 'em growing up feeling embarrassed and hateful about their own country. This is what the multicultural curricula has produced, and it is in full swing throughout the American public school system.
Story #5: Lack of AMT Action Will Delay IRS Tax Refunds
RUSH: By the way, this is a note of interest for those of you who unfortunately, and mistakenly, and lamely, oddly, stupidly plan for a huge refund from the IRS every spring vis-à-vis your tax return. "The tax-filing season may be off to a shaky start even before it officially begins. Internal Revenue Service officials warn that millions of people may face delays in having their returns processed next year and getting billions of dollars in refunds. The problem: Congress still hasn't approved temporary relief for many people from the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, a parallel system that operates under many different rules than the regular system. Some lawmakers predict Congress probably won't take action until next month. If so, that could spell major trouble, Treasury and IRS officials warn. That's because it takes time for the IRS to reprogram its computerized processing systems to reflect last-minute changes made in Congress."
When Rangel came out with this scheme, I mentioned they've got two weeks to get this done, to give the IRS time to reprogram the computers to process returns, and they didn't get it done in a two-week window and hence this story. "As we look at the upcoming 2007 filing season..." this is Linda Stiff, what a great name for somebody that works at the IRS! Ha, ha! Whoa! Ha! She's probably big fan. I'm sorry. Linda Stiff, the IRS's acting commissioner says, "As we look at the upcoming 2007 filing season, the potential exists for us to see a problem of greater magnitude than anything we have faced in the past." Now, there's a way around this, folks. I mean, it's too late now. But there's a way around this. This is not a refund. This is money that you have let them keep that they didn't deserve. This is taxes that have been collected, you overdeducted from yourself, and they've kept the money, and no interest accrues to you. And so many people think if they get a refund check -- I can remember when I was dirt poor, making 12 grand a year, and I was around people making a lot of money, and every year the tax returns would come back and I had a friend who always got $2,500 or $3,000 back, and $3,000 bucks, that was 25% of what I was earning at the time, and he just thought he was screwing the government, "Look at what I'm getting back. Look how great my tax accounting is."
Now, at the time I didn't understand it, but I came to learn later that his accountant and he were idiots, because that was never the government's money in the first place, but they got to keep it, they used it, and they didn't have to pay any interest on it. I know some people structure themselves to get a refund because that's the only way they're going to get a big pile of money at one time, and they think that if they keep that refund -- let's say it's a thousand-dollar refund and you get paid twice a month, so it's 24 pay periods, so whatever 24 into a thousand dollars is, if that money is incrementally left, it's not as powerful to them as it is in a big lump of $1,000, so they opt for the $1,000. But in terms of managing money and doing it intelligently, it's a dumb thing to do because you could, if you wanted to, you're not using the money anyway. You're letting the government have it, just have the discipline to save that money, and that thousand dollars at the end of the year is going to be worth more than the refund you get. But people worry they don't have the discipline to do that, if they have it, they'll spend it. So, anyway, there's a way to avoid this, and that is, don't get a refund. Structure your taxes so that when you file, maybe even owe a little bit. You've had the use of your money all year, you can put it someplace where it will grow some interest and so forth. That's how the smart money does it, folks. Trust me on this.
Story #6: On the Cutting Edge: Huckabee Surges in Iowa
RUSH: You know, Monday of this week, I posed a little question. I said, "Folks, looking at the presidential race, what happens if Huckabee wins Iowa? You realize how that would throw all the conventional wisdom out the window? And what happens if Hillary is not the Democrat nominee?" Everybody's got all this stuff already over with. And, lo and behold, "Mike Huckabee, is making a big move on Mitt Romney's long-held position as the front-runner among Iowa Republicans, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll. While Romney still holds the lead at 27 percent in the poll, Huckabee comes in a strong second at 21 percent." Just another example, folks, of how, if you listen to this program you are on the cutting edge of societal evolution.
Story #7: Animal Rights Wackos Praise Paris Hilton
RUSH: You know, we normally don't talk about Paris Hilton on this program. But I can't let this go. "Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. "Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton's was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage. 'The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them,' said Paris Hilton." Of all things, drunk elephants! Paris, this is never going to fly. You're never going to stop this. Just give them IDs. That's the way you solve problems like this.
Actually, the Associated Press, before I found out about it, has retracted the story that incorrectly reported Paris Hilton was praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India. Lori Berk, a publicist for Hilton, said she never made any comments about helping the drunken elephants in India. But the animal people are still praising Paris Hilton anyway. People for Animals' Sangita Goswami took Hilton's interest seriously, and is acting as though it is still legitimate. Anything to call attention to the cause of drunken elephants.
Story #8: Thieves Stole Money, Donated to Ron Paul
RUSH: You remember the other day Ron Paul reported collecting $4 million in one day? Here's a story from Channel 11 in Dallas. It's out of Crowley, Texas, which is 15 miles south of downtown Fort Worth. "Officials say thieves used a presidential campaign to rip people off. Christine Horton of Crowley said her account was charged several times to support Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. 'I had never even heard of him,' she said. 'I was like, "Oh my God! Someone is stealing from me."' Monday the Paul campaign made history. They raised more than $4 million online in 24 hours from more than 36,000 contributors. Frost Bank investigators discovered overseas thieves used Paul's Web site to test stolen cards with $5 contributions. 'The Ron Paul campaign has noticed that dozens, perhaps hundreds of these charges have occurred,' said Jesse Benton, a finance coordinator for Congressman Paul's campaign. 'We are in the process of refunding that money.' Five hundred credit card numbers were stolen from Frost Bank, but fraud management teams spotted the unauthorized charges and notified customers immediately. The bank refunded money from nearly 100 customers and canceled all 500 credit cards. Paul's campaign refunded $3,000 in stolen funds."
Story #9: Hillary Fear Urgency in Delta/United Merger Talks
RUSH: Well, looky here, folks. "Delta Airlines and United Airlines have begun discussing a combination between the nation's second and third largest contemporaries that would keep the United name and the corporate headquarters in Chicago area." United and Delta are discussing combining. "There is a sense of urgency in the talks" -- listen to this – "there's a sense of urgency in the talks, which have been going on for some time, and they continued as recently as a week or so ago, an official with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to speak publicly."
They want to get something done before a new administration gets in. And so they get the clock ticking on federal regulatory approval. Now, did you see the news the other day that Wal-Mart's profits are way up? Did you hear Hillary Clinton say she wants to take those profits, too? Not yet, she hasn't said it, but she hasn't said she wants to take the profits from drug companies, and she wants to take the profits from the big oil companies. Will she take the profits from airline companies -- I mean it's clear to me, get this done before a new administration gets in to get the clock ticking on federal regulatory approval? So that the odds are to get this done before a new administration -- why, who could they be afraid of? Who in the world? Why, how can it be that two giant American corporations, great American corporations, Delta and United Airlines, why, is this a country where corporations, people fear potential changes of power? Yes, it is, when one of the people who might end up there is Mrs. Clinton. There is no question in my mind that this is -- these guys want to get this done before Hillary gets in there and starts jacking around with things.
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