RUSH: Here’s a call that we had from yesterday that I didn’t get to and they agreed to let us call you back. Matt in Raleigh, North Carolina. That’s for letting us call you. How are you, sir?
CALLER: I’m just fine. Good afternoon, sir. For quite some time now you’ve been advising listeners simply not to participate in the recession, and I took your advice and I’m better off for it. I am not involved in this recession. That’s someone else’s problem. It doesn’t affect me.
RUSH: Now, that’s fascinating. People are going to have some questions for you that they want me to ask you. First thing is, what line of work are you in?
CALLER: I’m in auto body, auto body repair.
RUSH: You’re in auto body.
CALLER: Yes, sir.
RUSH: How did you make that recession proof?
CALLER: Well, I was a general manager for a body shop, making six figures, and the body shop principles said they were not selling, they were not selling. All of a sudden, they sold, and the first ones to go were the highest paid people, which would be me. So I went on my way, refusing to give up. I got myself another job, paying about half of what I made before.
RUSH: Okay. Well, that’s what I meant. So the auto body was not immune to the recession. They closed up, they sold it, got rid of you, and you had to go do something else.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: And what is that?
CALLER: I work for an insurance company.
RUSH: Do you sell insurance?
CALLER: No, sir. I drive around and I look at wrecked cars and I’m an adjuster.
RUSH: Okay. You’re an adjuster. What was it that made you…? You’re crediting this with, “They gave a recession but I’m not going to participate.” How did that manifest itself? You said, “I lost my job and I’m going to go get another one? And I can’t replace it where the same exact of money, I’m still going to get a job and work no matter what”? What was your process?
CALLER: Well, what we went through, my wife said, “I can do something; I can contribute. We’re going to sit down and we’re going to make a budget and we’re going to cut out everything that is unnecessary. Whatever is necessary, that makes the budget. Whatever is not necessary just does not make the budget. It’s just not going to happen.” My car has 200,000 miles on it. Sure, I’d love to have a new are car. It’s not in the budget so I keep driving the car I have. I’d love to have the latest gadgets. Not a budget. I gave up playing golf. It’s not a priority. Putting my kids through college, paying my bills. I have no debt other than my mortgage. My cars are paid for and unless I have the cash to pay for it, I don’t get it.
RUSH: Why didn’t you choose the 99 weeks of unemployment? What’s wrong with you?
CALLER: Oh, I don’t know. Call me crazy. Maybe from my six years in the Marine Corps. (laughing)
RUSH: Well, you laugh but I’m sure that’s a factor. But it’s fascinating, but still you heard me say that if there’s a recession, you’re just not going to participate in it. What that meant to you was that you were not going to pay attention to how dire the media said the job market was and you were going to go out there and find one, and you did.
CALLER: Absolutely. It’s a matter of personal responsibility, personal fiscal responsibility. I mean, I had friends that said, “Oh, you can probably go get food stamps.” I don’t need food stamps. I can work. I have a strong back, two arms and legs. I can do something. I don’t care if it’s cutting grass. I will do something. I will find a way to provide for my family. It’s just not part of me.
RUSH: Well, you could have provided for your family. You could have gotten food stamps. You could have gotten Medicaid. You probably could have gotten an Obama phone and you could have gotten 99 weeks of unemployment. I mean, this is what Democrats have wanted people to be able to take advantage of. You decided you didn’t want any part of that. I think the interesting thing with you is that your sense of personal responsibility took over.
CALLER: Well, if you take these handouts and you take all of these government programs, you are no longer in charge of your own destiny and you are not providing anything. The government is providing for you, and they’re in control of you now.
RUSH: Yeah. But weren’t you mad at the guys that owned the auto body shop for shutting down and firing you and didn’t that make you say, “Well, the hell, they’re the reason I’m out of work. To hell with them, a bunch of mean, rotten SOBs. I’m gonna go on unemployment and really soak it to them.” You obviously didn’t have that attitude.
CALLER: Nah, it’s their business. They can do what have they want to with it. It wasn’t up to me. I wasn’t an owner. I had no say. I was just running the place.
RUSH: Right. Probably you realized it wasn’t productive to be mad at them because it didn’t fix anything.
CALLER: Absolutely. It was just totally counter productive to be upset with them, and it doesn’t hurt them. It doesn’t affect them in the least. They don’t lose any sleep.
RUSH: Matt, congratulations. I’m glad you called and I have a feeling that you’re going to be fine. I appreciate it.