RUSH: Last night on Fox News. As you know, before the end of last week, David Paterson, the governor of New York, in announcing his new millionaires tax — which will hit people at $300,000 a year and up — was asked what he thought of my announcement that I’m leaving, finally. This is the tipping point. I’m getting out of there. He said, ‘If I had known that my tax increase would have gotten rid of Limbaugh, I would have raised taxes sooner.’ Neil Cavuto decided to do his commentary that closes his show on the Fox News Channel yesterday afternoon about this. Here’s the first of two of those sound bites.
CAVUTO: Rush Limbaugh to New York: Drop dead, I’m leaving. New York to Rush: Don’t let the screen door hit you on the way out. And with that, New York governor David Paterson laughed off the millionaire packing up and heading out. Paterson even found it funny. ‘If I knew that would be the result,’ he said of Rush’s leaving, ‘I would have thought about the taxes earlier.’ Everyone laughed. Why? Because this isn’t about a broadcaster named Rush, but a tax hiking rage from which politicians seem in such a rush. The governor is free to laugh off Rush bolting from a fancy Fifth Avenue penthouse condominium. Clearly the gov is not a fan of Rush. But I suspect he is a fan of Rush’s money. He’s going to need it, and now he won’t have it — and if other rich guys join Rush, guys like Donald Trump, he won’t have a lot of it, or them.
RUSH: And here’s how it concluded…
CAVUTO: What will become of the governor’s millionaires tax for which 300 grand is enough to qualify? If you can’t stick it to the rich who are bolting, how much lower on the financial food chain are you going to have to be moving? Because you better move fast, Governor. I suspect what happened with Rush won’t stay with Rush, but the governor chooses not to pick a fight with Donald, just Rush. Even though others will be wandering, who have nowhere near the money of Rush. But Governor Paterson, you don’t see that. You just see Rush, and you want the always compliant media to just see Rush, and only Rush — and then laugh at Rush and their hatred of Rush and their love of anything hated by Rush. If only they’d stop rushing to conclusions, because this isn’t about a broadcaster who could easily afford to keep a pad here, but won’t. But many who barely could and are wondering now if they will. If they followed Rush, it won’t be funny, governor. For you and your state it won’t be funny at all. Sad, yes. Funny, no.
RUSH: Now, earlier in the program, Cavuto had as his guest Donald Trump, who also has said he’s thinking about leaving. That was in the New York Post yesterday. Trump called Paterson and said, ‘You know, it’s ridiculous I have to pay New York taxes on money I don’t earn here,’ and this is the opposite of what happens to me. (laughing) I pay taxes only when I am there, but it’s not just that, it’s the… What is it now? Twelve years of being audited every year. The legal fees, the accountant fees. Each audit takes six to nine months, for 15 to 20 days a year! It’s just pure harassment. The tax increase, the proposed tax increase is just a tipping point. It’s an omen: ‘Get out! It’s only going to get worse.’ Trump says he called Paterson and said he does a lot of work out in LA with his TV show. ‘I don’t think I should have to pay taxes on money I don’t earn in New York,’ and that’s essentially what New York is trying to do to him. So Cavuto had him on, and they talked about this whole thing — and Cavuto’s question to Trump was, ‘If tax increases are in, is Donald Trump out?’
TRUMP: Well, I guess you have no choice. The fact is that the state of New York did something very, very foolish and they passed a tax, an income tax, and increased it very substantially from what it was, and I believe that’s going to be a total disaster for the state.
RUSH: So Cavuto then said, ‘Well, that was the argument Rush Limbaugh made, as you know. He has, I think, some Fifth Avenue penthouse. He’s looking. ‘I’m not in the city that often but when the taxes are going up everywhere they are, I certainly don’t want to encourage the city.’ So he’s out, too.’
TRUMP: Rush is one example and he’s a great example but yet many, many people in the same situation, and they’ll just say, you know, ‘Thank you very much. Let’s sell our apartment and let’s get the hell out.’ A huge percentage of New York City taxes come from the people that will be fleeing New York, and you just can’t do it. It’s a horrible thing. I’ve spoken to literally 25 to 30 people that are now either leaving or going to consider leaving. It is a foolish — and, in fact, very stupid — thing they are doing.
RUSH: Have you seen Paterson’s approval numbers? Twenty-six percent. I have higher approval numbers than Paterson does. Paterson, only 26% of the American people think he should be elected. He’s not even elected! In the words of Democrats, he’s ‘illegitimate.’ He has not been elected governor. He’s going to run for election for the first time in 2010 and his approval numbers are at 26%. The Democrats in the state are saying, ‘If you don’t get those numbers up, you’re not going to be our candidate. We’re going to get rid of you. We’re going to broom you.’
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Brad in Atlanta. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Mega dittos. Question. Going back to Cavuto yesterday —
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: — it was pointed out that Trump was a big supporter of Obama. My question is: Why are all these I guess people with such business acumen, why are they such supporters of Obama?
RUSH: Well, I don’t know about Trump and Obama, but the conversation he had yesterday with Neil Cavuto was about the governor of New York who will raise taxes on ‘millionaires.’ They defined them as millionaire taxes, and defined ‘millionaires’ as anybody who makes over 300 grand in New York, and Trump was simply talking about people in New York, 40 or 50,000 of them, that pay over half the bills for the city to operate, and they might start leaving. I think the support for Obama in a lot of cases was a lot of people choosing the path of least resistance. It was easier to support Obama than to oppose him. You got more accolades. You got treated better. You were thought of to be nicer and more enlightened if you supported Obama publicly, than if you opposed him. Hell even the people on our side who opposed him didn’t want to say they opposed him!
CALLER: But Trump isn’t really one to care what other people think.
RUSH: Well, no. I think it’s just the opposite. I think Donald cares a lot what people think. I mean, he gets anywhere from half million to a million telling people how to make money. He cares very much that people think he knows how to do it. He cares very much that people be aware of his achievements. He’s… I think a lot of people who are as in public profile as Trump have a very big concern. It’s a publicly traded company. Well, doesn’t run it much anymore, but he has had a publicly traded company; you’ve gotta be concerned about what people think. That’s a luxury that few people really have. I am one who really… (laughing) I don’t care a rat’s rear end what people think of me, and it is amazingly free. It is amazingly liberating, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world to master. Most people haven’t mastered it. Most people care. Most people care desperately what they’re thought of. Now, as far as Trump supporting Obama, I can tell you this. Trump was not bashful about saying this. He hated Bush. He thought Bush was the worst president ever, and he was out there saying this, long before the ’08 campaign came around. He thought Bush was a disaster, with all the government spending and the entitlements and so forth. He made no bones about that. So it was perfectly natural that he would support what he would think to be the opposite, which would be Obama.