RUSH: Yeah, it’s audio sound bite 28. Robert Gibbs this afternoon at the White House said that Obama (the regime) is going to keep Goldman’s money. They’re not going to return the $1 million in campaign contributions from Goldman to the regime. The question was, ‘On Goldman Sachs: Anybody inside the White House suggested that [the regime] might want to give back any donations that came from Goldman Sachs personnel?’
GIBBS: The president doesn’t take — and didn’t in the campaign take — PAC money. Doesn’t take money from registered federal lobbyists. Uhhh, and I think anybody that contributed to the campaign at any point knew where the president stood on regulating Wall Street and regulating the financial industry. From, again: That first speech on Wall Street in 2007, the second speech in March of 2008 — the same venue we’re going to go to — and then anybody that watched the campaign from sort of mid-September on, obviously, uh, the focus was on, uh, what to do on Wall Street.
RUSH: Well, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. What about Jack Abramoff? Where’s the outrage here? Isn’t Goldman’s money as dirty as Abramoff’s is? So Gibbs’ point is, ‘Hell, no we’re not giving the money back! They knew what they were in for. They knew what we were going to do. They had every idea what we were going to do to them. We made it clear we were out to destroy ’em, even from our speech in 2007 from Wall Street on. No, we’re not giving the money back.’ Yesterday in Washington, Capitol Hill, Harry Reid with a presser. Dana Bash at CNN had a little exchange with him about meetings between Dingy Harry and Wall Street executives.
BASH: There’s a report that you have also had meetings with Wall Street executives and specifically a fundraiser with them in New York including executives at Goldman Sachs. Is that accurate, and how does that play into this dynamic?
REID: I’m leading the effort to rein in Wall Street, to make them more accountable and end the ‘too big to fail.’ And while Republicans, it seems, are leading efforts to leave things just the way they are. Wall Street’s responsible for economic disaster, and we must hold them accountable. So I’m going to make sure that in this legislation I do everything within my ability to make sure that banks aren’t too big to fail.
BASH: Can you tell us about the fundraiser, sir?
REPORTER: Did you have a fundraiser?
REID LACKEY: Thanks, everybody! (hustles Reid away)
RUSH: ‘Did you have fundraiser, sir?’ ‘Thanks everybody,’ and the aide says we’re clearing out. Well, there you have it. So refuses to answer questions about his own Goldman Sachs Wall Street fundraiser. ‘Wall Street’s responsible for economic disaster.’ (laughing) Wall Street is responsible for economic disaster! (laughing) I’m going to rein ’em in. (sigh) I’m sorry to be laughing about this, ’cause it really isn’t funny. This is Stalinist, and this is why I call these people a ‘regime.’ It is government that’s responsible for the financial collapse. I mean, there may be some people in Wall Street who played a role in it, but many of them were just following orders they got from government, just like they are now. (interruption) Yeah. Rush Limbaugh’s too big to fail. Rush Limbaugh is too big to fail. Yeah, let ’em put me in that category: Rush Limbaugh. Yeah, you think they’d bail me out? (laughing)