{"id":35096,"date":"2010-04-07T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T01:10:18","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T01:10:18","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T01:10:18","slug":"is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/","title":{"rendered":"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Well, it\u2019s come to this. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says all city departments except police, public safety and those that make money\u2019 I wonder which ones those are ‘must close two days a week because of a budget crisis.\u2019 They\u2019re outta cash. ‘On Monday City Controller Wendy Greuel\u2019 we told you about this ‘warned that within a month Los Angeles would be unable to pay employees or vendors. She urged the city to transfer $90 million from its reserves. The city\u2019s financial crisis worsened this week after the Department of Water and Power failed to make a $73 million payment to the city. The agency says it needs to raise rates significantly to make such a payment.\u2019 What in the hell has gone on out there? My God, folks, this state is an utter fiscal disaster. The utility can\u2019t pay the civil…? I guarantee you nobody\u2019s not paying the utility. If they\u2019re not paying the utility, they\u2019re getting cut off. What\u2019s the utility doing with the money that people are paying them? <\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a story in the stack today that three California pensions are underfunded by a total of $550 billion. That is over a half a trillion. The Public Employee Retirement System in hock, the pension. They don\u2019t have the money. The State Teachers Retirement System, so it\u2019s PERS and STRS, and there\u2019s one other, $550 billion underfunded in the pensions. Now, those people that are public teachers and public employees have been contributing to this. They have directors that oversee both of these agencies to invest and grow the funds in the pension plan. What the hell has been going on? Schwarzenegger ordered this review \u2019cause he wanted to find out what it was all about. It\u2019s worse than anybody imagined. Somebody at Stanford University did the research, did the study, $550 billion. The City of LA is shutting down two days a week, the utility in arrears for $73 million to the city? And I\u2019ll bet this is only the tip of the iceberg. When you look at the whole state\u2019s fiscal situation, has the whole thing been a house of cards? <\/p>\n

Since the left took over and has been running that state, has everything been phony? Have they just been spending money left and right on all their union buddies when that money has never been there in the first place? That has to have been what\u2019s happened. It\u2019s just like what\u2019s happened in Washington now. We don\u2019t have any of the money we\u2019re spending. We don\u2019t have any money to build schools in Islamic radical — uh, Muslim countries. We don\u2019t have money to give \u2019em health care. We don\u2019t have money to start building roads and bridges. We don\u2019t even have the money to do it in our country. The whole state of California must be a house of cards. I tell you what, I hope you don\u2019t have any LA municipal bonds, folks. Nothing\u2019s worth anything out there. Nothing\u2019s real, $550 billion underfunded pension plan. And these are great and courageous union workers. (interruption)<\/p>\n

Snerdley, the official program observer, has a question. <\/p>\n

Snerdley wants to know if we\u2019re going to have to pay for it eventually. Yeah, I\u2019ll tell you what\u2019s going to happen. And I\u2019ll tell you why I think some of this is by design. As we have to bail out the states, as the federal government has to bail out the states, what does that mean? It means that local control has failed. This whole process is going to enrich and further expand the already over the top, unacceptable power of the federal government. When we start bailing out states — and that\u2019s the only thing we can do here, with money we don\u2019t have, now your great-grandchildren\u2019s taxes are being spent — that means that whoever is in charge of the federal government when it happens can say, ‘Look, you people of California have proven that you can\u2019t run the show. We\u2019re going to take it over. Now, you\u2019re still going to have a governor and you\u2019re still going to have this, but if you want to do anything, you gotta get us to sign off on it.\u2019 Meanwhile, the federal government is becoming more and more and more unpopular. Yet it is amassing all of this power, and the regime stands to expand itself even further if we have to start bailing out states like California. I\u2019m going to put this $550 billion in perspective. I need to find the story. I\u2019ll do that in a break. But I want to go grab a couple of phone calls here. We\u2019ll start in Sandy Springs, California, with Mark. Great to have you here, sir. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, Rush. Sandy Springs, Georgia.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You\u2019re right. We have an antiquated screen. I mean, the font on this thing is like 1988. You know, like those green screen computers used to be? So I\u2019m sorry. I knew there wasn\u2019t a Sandy Springs, California.<\/p>\n

CALLER: No problem. The great thing about Sandy Springs is we created the city a few years ago and privatized everything so all our public employees are private contracted employees, we don\u2019t have pension problems. So we\u2019re not going to have the problems they have out in California.<\/p>\n

RUSH: What\u2019s the population of Sandy Springs?<\/p>\n

CALLER: It\u2019s about 90,000.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Really?<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s correct.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You got a privatized city that big?<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s right. We are a model.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Did you build from scratch or did you secede from Atlanta?<\/p>\n

CALLER: We seceded from Atlanta, that is correct, after 30 years of fighting.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I remember this.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: We had calls from people in your-yet-to-be-named town on this program, I remember that.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, it\u2019s been very successful so far, and I expect it to just keep getting better.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Are you accepting new residents?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Sure.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You are? You say you got good health care there?<\/p>\n

CALLER: We got some of the best hospitals in the country here.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, I didn\u2019t have to fly all the way to hell\u2019s half acre. (laughing) It\u2019s right there in Sandy Springs, Georgia.<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s correct. But, Rush, I wanted to talk about our Treasury clown, Geithner, going out through Asia with hat in hand begging the Indians and the Chinese and wherever else he\u2019s got to buy our debt. I don\u2019t think people really can conceive exactly how much $1.5 trillion is, and that\u2019s what our deficit is projected to be this year. And we\u2019re issuing, you know, 75, a hundred billion dollars of new debt every week, and after a couple of bad auctions, all of a sudden he\u2019s off to Asia and China, you know, begging \u2019em to buy our debt. If they don\u2019t keep buying our debt… I mean, you keep saying, ‘We don\u2019t have any money. We don\u2019t have any money.\u2019 They are our bankers. They\u2019re the ones who are providing us with the money to pay our troops, to pay our bills, to build our roads, to do whatever it is the government does. And if they stop buying our debt, Treasuries are going to get hammered and it\u2019s going to be Jimmy Carter years all over again —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, I know.<\/p>\n

CALLER: — but this time on steroids, and that\u2019s just going to lead to massive tax increases. Even Volcker was out there yesterday saying we need a VAT tax and an energy tax. We gotta do something about these deficits, but they\u2019re not going to do anything about it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: No, because the problem with the deficits is not taxation and insufficient taxation. The problem with the deficits is out-of-control spending by the regime.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right. And they\u2019re not going to do anything about it. It\u2019s just going to be worse, and — as you say over and over again — it\u2019s gotta be by design. And one more point I would like to make.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Quickly.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019m all for breaking up these big banks and stuff, but the mainstream media line is that Wall Street took over Washington. That\u2019s wrong. Washington took over Wall Street, and now they\u2019re using Wall Street to take over Main Street.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Exactly right. Excellent timing. That\u2019s a great call from Mark in Georgia.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: All right, let\u2019s put this in perspective out there: $535 billion shortfall in the state pension plans at the state Public Employees Retirement System, the state teachers retirement system, and one other; $535 billion is more than the gross domestic product of Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, or Poland? Saudi Arabia is an oil giant. I thought every sheik had $535 billion, but they don\u2019t. Five-hundred-thirty-five billion, unfunded, underfunded pension, how does this happen? And also on a related story: ‘The pension plans at General Motors and Chrysler are underfunded by a total of $17 billion and could fail if the automakers do not return to profitability,\u2019 and they aren\u2019t. Obama Motors reported a first quarter loss of $4.3 billion. Now, what the hell was the bailout if not to protect these pension plans? Wasn\u2019t the bailout of GM and Chrysler essentially to make sure that the unions health care plans stayed intact? What did they do, forget to fund the pensions? They bailed out these companies, what, 25 or $50 billion, they\u2019re still $17 billion underfunded in the pensions? <\/p>\n

Now, back to California. $535 billion. It was never real. It could never have been real. The money supply in California could never have been real. They were spending money they never had. It\u2019s almost like the House Bank back in the old days in the late eighties. It didn\u2019t matter what your salary was, you could write a check for an unlimited amount on your account and never get an overdraft notice. It sounds like this is the way the libs in California have been running the state. How come these state pension plans, which include health care, are so expensive, and yet the federal health care system is going to be so cheap? How can the two be in the same sentence? ‘Well, yeah, we\u2019re going to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars with Obamacare.\u2019 Yeah, right. Uh-kuh. And yet just the public employees in the state teachers in California pension, underfunded $535 billion. The truth of the matter is, nobody\u2019s gonna notice if LA closes its offices for two days a week. They\u2019re only going to shut down ‘nonessential\u2019 people right? If they\u2019re not essential why are they there in the first place? <\/p>\n

Remember when they closed the government because of snowstorms a bunch of times in Washington and 240,000 nonessential people were told don\u2019t show up, including Congress. If they\u2019re nonessential, why do you employ \u2019em? Now, they are going to have a problem. There will be people that will notice LA shut down for two days a week, and that will be the poor who line up for their benefits. They\u2019re going to be lining up in front of closed offices. Remember the Rodney King riots? There was a line that they were using in the State-Controlled Media after the Rodney King riots. They called the people standing in line for their welfare checks ‘an example of the indomitable human spirit.\u2019 (interruption) Oh, the poor get their checks through direct deposit now? Well, what if you don\u2019t have a bank? (interruption) Everywhere? Even if you don\u2019t have a bank, they start a bank account? Look, I\u2019m just going to tell you something. Snerdley, if you\u2019re telling me that people don\u2019t line up at welfare offices all over the country, they do. And that\u2019s who\u2019s going to notice it when LA shuts down for two days a week, otherwise nobody will. Now, wait \u2019til these health care mandates kick in in California. I mean, you think it\u2019s bad now? Wait \u2019til the Obama health care mandates kick in out there, because the states are going to have to pick up the tab. Because of the health care bill, the states are going to have to pick up an ever increasing share of Medicaid and Medicare. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Well, it\u2019s come to this. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says all city departments except police, public safety and those that make money\u2019 I wonder which ones those are ‘must close two days a week because of a budget crisis.\u2019 They\u2019re outta cash. ‘On Monday City Controller Wendy Greuel\u2019 we told you about this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Well, it\u2019s come to this. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says all city departments except police, public safety and those that make money\u2019 I wonder which ones those are ‘must close two days a week because of a budget crisis.\u2019 They\u2019re outta cash. ‘On Monday City Controller Wendy Greuel\u2019 we told you about this […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/\",\"name\":\"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T01:10:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T01:10:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Well, it\u2019s come to this. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says all city departments except police, public safety and those that make money\u2019 I wonder which ones those are ‘must close two days a week because of a budget crisis.\u2019 They\u2019re outta cash. ‘On Monday City Controller Wendy Greuel\u2019 we told you about this […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125111.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/","name":"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T01:10:18+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T01:10:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/04\/07\/is_california_just_a_house_of_cards_a_glimpse_of_our_national_future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is California Just a House of Cards? A Glimpse of Our National Future"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}