RUSH: Robert in Surprise, Arizona. Arizona has some of the greatest names for its cities and towns in the country, like ‘Show Low.’ Show Low, Arizona. This is Surprise, Arizona. It’s Robert. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Robert, west of Phoenix, Rush. Been listening for over 15 years.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I have a question. How much influence do you think that staffers and lobbyists have over elected officials?
RUSH: Profound. It is profound. In fact, I read a piece from the Wall Street Journal from 2002 or 2006. Five or six years ago, and it was memos from special interest groups to staff members of senators saying, ‘Oppose this judge and here’s why. Oppose that nomination and here’s why.’ It came from the Alliance for Justice, NARAL, People for the American Way, the ACLU. The staff, particularly Senate staff, are the ones that generally write most of the questions that these people ask, the senators ask. It’s profound. It is pround, the influence that staffers have on elected officials is much.
CALLER: The other day, Waxman says, ‘I don’t have to read it. I just have to vote for it.’ He believed what the scientists say and there was a huge bill that he was the chairman on the committee.
RUSH: You know, we had that bite, and I just didn’t have a chance to get to it. Maybe Cookie can get it to me real quickly here before the hour ends. Henry Waxman, who is cosponsor of the cap-and-trade environmental bill that’s going to raise everybody’s taxes. Henry Waxman is a cosponsor with Ed Markey. Waxman was chairing a committee hearing on it. And somebody asked him a specific question about something in the bill, and Waxman said, ‘You expect me to know everything in the bill? You expect me to know everything in the bill? I’ve got staff for that. We don’t want to get distracted here by these inane little questions here about what’s in the bill.’ Cookie will find it, we’ll get it for you.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Here are the Waxman bites. This was May 20th. This was nine days ago. House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing, Joe Barton from Texas and Henry Waxman have this exchange about the climate bill.
BARTON: Before I ask the question in counsel, did you know that was in this bill?
WAXMAN: You asking me?
BARTON: Yes, sir.
WAXMAN: Well…
BARTON: Did you read it?
WAXMAN: I certainly don’t claim to know everything that’s in this bill. I know that we left it to — uh, uh, we, we relied very heavily on the scientists, on the IPCC and others and the consensus that they have that there is a problem of, uh, uh, global warming. It’s having an impact, and that, uh, we need to try to reduce it by the amounts that they think we need to achieve in order to avoid, uh, some of the consequences. That’s what I know, but I don’t know the details.
BARTON: I’m asking a question.
WAXMAN: I rely on the scientists.
RUSH: ‘I don’t know the details. I don’t claim to know everything that’s in this bill. We left it very heavily with the scientists.’ The scientists, global warming hoaxers wrote cap and trade! Waxman doesn’t know what’s in it. It’s a badge of honor. Don’t trouble me with these things! Now here’s Waxman announcing the reading of the bill, and you’ll hear a speed reader in here as well as Joe Barton from Texas.
BARTON: The clerk will read the bill.
SPEED READER: (Unintelligible) matter (unintelligible) by the amendment offered by blank, insert the following, section one, (unintelligible) — Shorten that list? — title be cited as the Energy Production, Innovation, and Conservation Act. The table of contents. Table of contents for the act is as follows. Section 1, short title and table of contests, title one, clean energy standards, section 1.1, federal clean energy standard, title two, American energy, subtitle A, conservation, officially chapter one, tapping in America’s ingenuity, creativity
HOUSE: (applause)
SPEED READER: (unintelligible) —
BARTON: Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. (laughter)
RUSH: So Barton says, okay, you’re not going to tell us what’s in the bill let’s read it, elites, find out what’s in the cap-and-trade bill, so goes and gets a speed reader with nobody knows what’s in the bill anyway. Just say, ‘Here. Okay, Barton. You want to know what’s in the bill? Try this!’ and Barton just has to give up laughing. And so forth. So don’t know what’s in the bill, scientists wrote it. They’re ‘relying very heavily on the scientists.’