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RUSH: Now, quickly I want to go back to this USA Today story, Obama and his immigration plan. Remember, Democrats on Capitol Hill begged Obama not to present his own plan. The Gang of Eight, four Republicans and four Democrats, had presented their plan. They were thought to be on the same page, and that was gonna provide the impetus for everybody else signing on. The Democrats begged Obama not to present his own plan, because all it would do is gum up the works. It might undermine the plan that already had some momentum behind it, and yet he did.

“A draft of a White House immigration proposal obtained by USA Today would allow illegal immigrants to become legal permanent residents within eight years.” Now, note that the USA Today story does not say “A draft of President Obama’s immigration proposal obtained by USA Today…” It says “A draft of a White House immigration proposal…” It is my contention that Obama releases this as a leak to USA Today while he’s on the golf course, and that keeps him distant from it. His fingerprints are not on it.

Remember now, the perspective of the low-information voter: The same people who say they disapprove of Obama’s agenda and yet disagree with the direction of the country, the people who do not make any correlation between Obama’s policies and the direction of the country. This is an amazing phenomena. It’s the first president in history — honestly, folks, it’s the first president in my lifetime — who somehow is not tied to his policies. Better stated: He’s the first president in my lifetime whose policies are thought to have nothing to do with the reality of the direction the country is going.

So what has Obama done here?

Democrats begged him, “Don’t present your own plan, ’cause it’ll be contradictory to the one that’s already been presented, and just gum up the works.” But he did it anyway via a leak, and then yesterday on the Sunday shows his chief of staff is all over TV talking about it while Obama’s playing golf. He’s not even tied to it. But there still is “a White House plan.” It is my contention that the purpose of this plan being leaked is precisely to gum up the works. See, the next event on the political horizon that really matters is not the sequester. It’s not the next debt limit. It’s not the next this or that. It’s the 2014 House elections. The 2014 House elections are the next ball game.

If the Democrats win the House of Representatives, then they will own every aspect of the executive and legislative branches, and that’s it. The Republicans will not be able to stop them at all. Now, there is a word that is highly relevant in politics. It is power. Politics is about power — having it, wielding it, having the guts to wield it, having the willingness to use it, to project it — and the Republicans don’t have any. The sad reality right now is the Republicans don’t have any power, and in addition to that, they are involved in a circular firing squad right now. They’re shooting each other. They’re shooting at me.

They’re shooting at Tea Parties, and the Tea Parties are shooting at the Republican establishment. The Republicans are vying for power within their party, but there’s no power. They don’t have any power in Washington. Now, I know you’re saying, “But, Rush! But, Rush! They own the House.” Yeah, they do but there’s nobody there that’s willing to exercise any power. Everything is expressly reactionary and defensive. But I’m just telling you that everything being done here is geared toward 2014, and the closest we’re ever gonna get to a dictatorship is if the Democrats win it. So this leak of an immigration plan…

I mean, what are the Republicans doing? Whether you agree with it or not, the Republicans think that they have to do some sort of outreach to the Hispanic community if they’re to have a chance at winning the next presidential race — and, of course, the midterms in 2014. Now, I happen to think that they’re dead wrong in their outreach to Hispanics in terms of their motivation. I am all for reaching out to everybody. Don’t misunderstand. But I think they’re doing it under false premises and with incorrect data, and they’re gonna gum it up.

So it is in Obama’s best interests for there not to be a deal on an immigration bill. Now, he’s never gonna say that. In fact, he’s gonna say just the opposite. He’s gonna make people think that’s what he wants more than anything, other than a fix to the sequester. (That’s the immediate.) He’s gonna make people think this immigration, that’s the next most important thing in the world, when in fact it’s not. He wants as much chaos, indecision, and apparent lack of progress going into 2014 as he can get. That’s why he leaks an immigration plan over the weekend to USA Today.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Let me make the point this way, folks, in terms of getting an immigration bill before the 2014 election. It is my theorem — it is my fervent, heartfelt belief — that even if full-fledged amnesty were passed tomorrow, it would not get the Democrats as many votes in an off-year election as fighting the Republicans over amnesty will get them. I think the Democrats know this. I think it’s part of their calculus. I think the Democrats think they get more support, they will get more votes by fighting the Republicans on amnesty rather than passing a bill that grants it. I think it’s all wrapped up in that.

In fact, I know it is.

That’s Obama’s modus operandi here.


He’s always campaigning against powerful forces opposing him at every turn, as if he’s only trying to fix America from what was an unjust, mistaken founding. He needs the battle. He needs the straw man. He needs the Republicans as the Great Enemy to Everybody. So fighting them on immigration will get him more votes in the 2014 midterms than actually passing and signing a full-fledged amnesty bill. I mean, why mess around with some form of compromise now, when, in his view, he’ll get the full enchilada if he just waits a couple years, wins the House in 2014, and then goes for broke on everything that he wants? That’s just me. It’s just what I think.

Here’s Al in Spokane, Washington. It’s great to have you on the phone. You’re first up. Hi.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Good morning. I wanted to bring up something that seems very apparent, that our president is playing a very smart chess game with the Congress. He goes ahead and puts out a pawn, so they grab it with one of their other pieces — a bishop or whatever — and then he comes around later on, and he snags ’em down the road, and it’s checkmate. He does it every time. I see this, and they’re not smart enough to pick it up, where he sets them up like through this leak, and then he sets up earlier the fact that he’s gonna allow them to make some law about immigration, that he comes around, man? Boom! Checkmate. He does it every time.

RUSH: I tell you, I think one of the things that that makes that possible is that the Republicans are playing in fear. I tell you, fear is not a great equalizer. Fear is a killer. Fear leads to paralysis. I mean, fear makes you afraid to do anything ’cause you fear the outcome, you fear the result, so you don’t do anything, hoping to stave off the result. And you end up paralyzed. I appreciate the call, Al, very much.

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