RUSH: Sandy in Naples, Florida, I’m glad you waited. You’re next on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hey, Rush. Merry Christmas.
RUSH: Same to you.
CALLER: I want to say, ‘I am a three-issue voter: taxes, taxes, and taxes.’
RUSH: All right! Right on, right on, right on.
CALLER: And I think that you should be talking more about that, because I believe that whoever gets the nomination and who is for lowering taxes, will therefore have the integrity to take care of the immigration situation, the war in Iraq, and everything else that people are namby-pambying about.
RUSH: Here we are smack-dab in the middle of another wonderful, fabulous, fantastic show, and I’ve got two calls in a row telling me I’m not doing it right.
CALLER: No, honey, you totally do it right, but I want… Because you are ‘the man,’ and we need you, because the Drive-Bys —
RUSH: I understand. Look, you’re right. I was just trying to be funny. I do not have a thin skin, as you know.
CALLER: Well, it wasn’t funny. This was a very serious issue
RUSH: I know. And you know what? I was thinking earlier today. I don’t know. How long have you been listening to the program out there, Sandy?
CALLER: Oh, probably 20 years.
RUSH: All right. Then you probably will remember — even if you don’t, this will make my point — a number of monologues of mine back in the early nineties, during the Clinton campaign and his eventual presidency on the concept that your money is yours. It is not the government’s; first it is yours. Do you remember that?
CALLER: Oh, absolutely!
RUSH: All right. Well, it’s been a long time since I did that treatise.
CALLER: That’s true.
RUSH: Same thing, baseline budgeting.
CALLER: That’s why I’m bringing it up.
RUSH: Well, I know. I’m agreeing with you. I’m saying it may be time to go through that whole conceptual, philosophical presentation again, because there are new people listening to the program today, and people who were young then, matured and gotten older, who may have missed it the first time around. But people think it’s such a simple concept. ‘Of course, it’s our money.’ Well, that’s not the way the Democrats look at it. It’s not the way some Republicans look at it.
CALLER: Could I interject something here?
RUSH: Of course.
CALLER: Thank you so much. You’re such a gentleman. I would love for you to challenge every American that listens to you to itemize monthly the taxes they pay, from their paycheck to the grocery.
RUSH: Been there. Been there, done that. That was part of the ‘it’s your money,’ walking them through the pay stub. Just because you never see the money, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t paid for you.
CALLER: But they need to be reminded of it.
RUSH: That’s what I’m saying! I’m agreeing with you.
CALLER: I mean, even we… We take our dog to get groomed and we’re taxed on that.
RUSH: Well…
CALLER: The taxes don’t end.
RUSH: So you want to cut taxes on dog groomers?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Okay, good. That’s a good starting point.
CALLER: I want to cut taxes on everything.
RUSH: Exactly.
CALLER: The cable, the telephone, the cell phone, the local, the state. You name it. The groceries. You can’t go buy a lemon without paying taxes on it.
RUSH: Well, look, here’s another reason. This is something that I have atop of one of my stacks today. ‘Hillary Rodham Clinton argued Tuesday for keeping the inheritance tax in place, saying it is a key to ensuring the United States remains a meritocracy. … ‘The estate tax has been historically part of our very fundamental belief that we should have a meritocracy, that we do not want a system — where we expect people to make it on their own — to be, over time, dominated by inherited wealth.” It’s none of her business!
CALLER: Well, then she needs to go run for president of Russia.
RUSH: Exactly. She already… Exactly. She wants to take ExxonMobil’s profits. She wants to take all kinds of profits. She wants to run health care. You’re exactly right. I’m agreeing with you. (Gee, I’ve never had this much trouble agreeing with anybody in my life!) But I’m agreeing with you. This whole business of the estate tax. Meritocracy? The estate tax is designed to be redistributed. It’s not anything to do with meritocracy. She’s coming out against inherited wealth. It’s none of her business. It’s none of her business how you spend your money. But she wants to make it her business. All liberals do. But what bothers me more than anything about this, Sandy, is the fact that the concept of money being people’s, the people who earn it, can easily be distorted, because the liberals can convince people, ‘Well, I should pay higher taxes; we have so many people suffering and so forth.’ And the inefficiency of what government does with people’s money, and further, a couple things to add to this whole theory, too, which I have recently done, which is that, you know, Democrats run out there saying, ‘We need increased taxes. Why, we’ve lost too much tax revenue with the tax cuts for the rich.’ BS! We got more revenue pouring into Washington than they ever dreamed. Capital gains at 15%, tax cuts have caused an economic boom. The fact of the matter is, tax increases, as far as Democrats are concerned, nothing to do with raising money for Washington. It is all about control, because the more you are taxed, the less of your money you have, and the less freedom to engage economically in this country you have. It’s a hideous thing. It’s a good suggestion. I’m agreeing!
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