RUSH: The MoveOn.org ad, the president was asked about that today in his preference. Bill Sammon said, ‘What is your reaction to the MoveOn.org ad that mocked General Petraeus as General ‘Betray Us,’ and said that he cooked the books on Iraq? And secondly, would you like to see Democrats, including presidential candidates, repudiate that ad?’
THE PRESIDENT: I thought the ad was disgusting, and I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the US military, and I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org — or more afraid of irritating them — than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It’s like one thing to attack me. It’s another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.
RUSH: Next question in the presser. An unidentified female reporterette said, ‘There was a tax increase on cigarettes to fund the children’s health program. Is that a tax increase you oppose?’
THE PRESIDENT: We don’t need to raise taxes. What I want is the Congress to focus on making sure poor children get the health insurance they were promised. Instead, Congress has made a decision to expand the eligibility up to $80,000. That’s not the intent of the program. I believe this is a step toward federalization of health care. I know that their proposal is beyond the scope of the program, and that’s why I’m going to veto the bill.
RUSH: All right! Right on, right on, right on. That’s what we want to hear: veto the stupid piece of legislation. Next, unidentified reporter said, ‘Mr. President, economists say the nation’s at increasing risk of recession. What do you say?’
THE PRESIDENT: I say that the fundamentals of our nation’s economy are strong. Inflation is down. Job markets are steady and strong. The national unemployment rate is 4.6%. Corporate profits appear to be strong. Exports are up. There is no question that there is some unsettling times in the housing market, and credits associated with the housing market. So, to say I’m optimistic? I would be pessimistic if I thought Congress was going to get their way and they’re not. We’re not going to raise taxes.
RUSH: All right. Right on, right on, right on, right on. Now, one other question before we go to the break. An unidentified reporter said, ‘Efforts to curtail the deployment of troops is an ongoing debate right now.’ Hey, reporter? The Democrats have lost it! Yeah, here’s the rest of the question: ‘One of those you spoke about in your address last week had to do with impatience with the Iraqi government. You spoke about that, but not in much detail. How is the dynamic changed in your level of frustration with the lack of political progress, and how long can Americans reasonably expect you to wait before you take some kind of action that really forces the government’s hand to reach the goals of reconciliation that you set for them?’
THE PRESIDENT: Part of the reason why there’s not this instant democracy in Iraq, is because people are still recovering from Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule. I thought an interesting comment was made when somebody said to me, ‘I heard somebody say, ‘Where’s Mandela?” Well, Mandela is dead, because Saddam Hussein killed all the Mandelas. He was a brutal tyrant that divided people up and split families — and people are recovering from this. So there’s a psychological recovery that is taking place, and it’s hard work for them.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: The Senate has voted 72-25 to condemn the MoveOn.org ad. Some of the Senators who won the greatest support from these fringe kook bloggers out there in the last election voted to condemn it. Claire McCaskill, Tester, Klobuchar, Jim Webb, they all voted to condemn it. Mrs. Clinton did not. Hillary Clinton voted against condemning the ad, and why not, it’s her own organization. Why should she condemn her own organization? But she didn’t. The nays were all Democrats: Feingold, Kennedy, Clinton, Byrd, Boxer, Reid, yes, Reid, Levin, Lautenberg, Kerry, Daniel Inouye from Hawaii. This is going to infuriate the netroots, these whack nut jobs out there on the left. Their big ad has now been condemned by the United States Senate with a lot of Democrat participation.