RUSH: Now, before we get to that, I want to offer continuing evidence of my theorem that I put forth last week. I have a couple of stories here. Scott Rasmussen’s latest poll on Obama approval finds that Obama’s approval rating is at 54%. Strongly approve is 33%, and strongly disapprove is 36%, but the total approval (and this is a poll of likely voters) is at 54%. Despite the fact that people disagree with the direction of the country and the deficit, unemployment, gun control and all of that, Obama’s still at 54% approval. Up until last week, when I raised the curtain on this mystery, everybody asked, “How can this be?”

Here’s how it can be: Over the weekend, the regime leaked their immigration plan to USA Today. “White House Immigration Plan Offers Path to Residency.” It’s in USA Today, and to the point of Obama taking no responsibility, look at how his immigration plan is released. He didn’t release it. Obama didn’t call a press conference with himself at the podium and make a big deal of announcing his immigration plan. There’s nothing tying him to this! This was leaked (i.e., it’s a “mistake”). Somebody said something they shouldn’t. This was leaked out. This was dribbled out to USA Today.

His chief of staff was on TV pushing this over the weekend while Obama’s playing golf with Tiger Woods for three days down here. So this is how Obama gets his immigration plan in the mix without any of his fingerprints on it. There was not one word of Obama being associated with this immigration plan. USA Today? This is how the regime announces their big immigration reform plan? On the other hand, how do our guys do it? They call a press conference. They get whoever’s involved in it: Chuck-U Schumer, Lindsey Grahamnesty, McCain, Marco Rubio, Gang of Eight. They’re all up there. They do a press conference, all of them standing there, and you know it’s these guys’ plan.

Here comes “the White House plan.” It’s not even “the Obama plan.” Here comes “the White House plan,” leaked over the weekend in USA Today. This is how Obama is never tied to anything. This is somebody else’s immigration plan. What’s gonna happen now? Obama, I think, leaves tomorrow. I think he’s in town here all the way through today, maybe tonight, but he’ll go back to Washington, and he will complain that Congress has not acted on a balanced approach to budgeting. They haven’t acted on a balanced approach to immigration. They haven’t done anything on the sequester.

While he’s been down here playing golf and hasn’t been doing anything, including hiding from the media, he’ll get back to town tomorrow and he’ll talk about all of these wonderful things that these mysterious people are trying to do and Congress hasn’t actually done anything progressive on it. But his fingerprints are nowhere to be found. It’s kind of like the way… You know, Obamacare became his because he did try to sell that, but Pelosi and Reid or their staff wrote that. It was in a drawer. The health care plan has been in somebody’s drawer for years waiting for this golden opportunity moment to present it.

It’s why Obama didn’t touch it. You know, people were asking then, “Why do you think Obama farmed it out to those guys?” It was precisely so that his fingerprints weren’t on it if it failed. During the attempt to pass it, he was distant. He was removed from it in terms of it actually being his. When you leak your immigration reform plan to USA Today over the weekend, this is how he does it. This is how he claimed no responsibility and takes none. This thing just happened. So now it’s out there, but there’s no optic. There’s no picture of Obama. I mean, this didn’t happen on TV so, as far as the low-information voters are concerned, it didn’t happen. (chuckling)

You think they’re reading USA Today? Ha!

They may tune in by accident to the Sunday morning shows and see the chief of staff up there talking about it while Obama’s out playing golf. That’s how it happens. Now the Rasmussen poll: 54% approval rating, despite massive disagreement with his agenda. They don’t tie him to the agenda. They don’t tie his agenda to the direction the country’s going. They don’t tie his agenda or his policies to their reality. Look at the gasoline price. The gasoline price is now over $5 in many parts of the country. Gasoline prices have risen for 32 straight days. The gasoline price is 96% higher today than when Obama was immaculated, and it hasn’t attached to him.

He has nothing to do with this. This is Big Oil doing this. This is Big Oil or some Grand Wizard behind the curtain pulling the levers on gas prices, and Obama is doing everything he can to stop this. Obama’s doing everything he can to keep gasoline affordable! He’s even proposing electric cars. He’s making sure that we don’t pollute the planet and destroy it even more. He’s opposing the Keystone pipeline! He’s doing everything he can — and yet, look! These evil, powerful forces in the private sector keep defying him and screwing you and raising the gasoline price.

Well, have you heard anybody blame Obama? Let’s go back when the gasoline price was rising during the Bush years. You heard people in the media and Democrat Party every day demanding that Bush do something about it. Do you hear anybody demanding Obama do anything about this? No, because it’s assumed by the low-information voters that he’s already tying. “He’s just being screwed by these Republicans and the Big Oil people who won’t cooperate with him,” while he’s playing golf for three days with Tiger Woods at the Floridian. His entire governing style is centered around the whole concept of plausible deniability.

The Democrats are talking about increasing taxes on Big Oil, ending the so-called subsidies that they’ve got. So the gas price is going up and the oil price is going up, but it’s not anything to do with Obama. It’s Big Oil and maybe Bush. You know, ’cause Bush and Cheney? Halliburton? They were involved in oil! It’s probably policies that are held over from those guys. Don’t laugh. It is the explanation.