The Obama Economic Comedy: Big Lies and “Unexpected” News

RUSH: The sad comedy and the Big Lie continue, ladies and gentlemen, unabated, and although it’s not a laughing matter, it nevertheless is hilarious. Great to have you here, broadcast excellence, hosted by me, Rush Limbaugh, on the EIB Network, and this is the nation’s most listened to radio talk show. Great to have you here. Our high-definition Dittocam is up and running, and looking good. Phone number if you want to be on the program, 800-282-2882. The e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.

Remember, just yesterday Joe Biden told us how well the stimulus worked and that Obama had saved us from a depression. ‘The number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly surged last week after having fallen sharply in the previous week. The gain dampened hopes about how quickly the labor…’ this is a joke. The people in the media have become a recurring joke. Unexpectedly surged? Jobless claims unexpectedly surged? Who are these experts? I think they’re doing this just to irritate me. They’ve gotta macro, they hit command-M and it just types this garbage. ‘The increase followed a drop of 41,000 in the previous week which had raised hopes…’ Whose? ‘… that the labor market could be improving.’ The temporary boost appears to have worn off, from the Associated Press. I guess we should all be confused here ’cause Obama says that all this is a success. Maybe, folks, we are just too dumb to understand all this. Maybe Obama needs to be clearer. He says, ‘let me be clear’ a lot. Maybe he’s not being clear enough because: ‘Economy’s Growth Rate May Be Ebbing — Leading indicators rise for 10th straight month, but at slower pace.’

There isn’t a recovery and anybody who is marginally engaged in their life every day has full awareness there isn’t any recovery. Nevertheless here’s State-Controlled AP: ‘A forecast of future economic activity rose for a 10th straight month in January, but,’ but, but, but, but, but, but, but, ‘… the pace of growth is slowing. The index of leading economic indicators rose 0.3 percent last month, according to Thursday’s report from the Conference Board, a private research group. That’s weaker than a 1.2 percent rise in December and a 1.1 percent rise in November. Its also was short of the 0.5 percent gain that economists polled by Thomson Reuters expected. Some economists have been worrying that growth in the economy will stagnate this year, however, as government support programs wind down and unemployment remains high.’

The next one, and this is from Associated Press: ‘Wholesale prices –‘ this is inflation, folks. This is what we’ve all been worried about. I mean it was inevitable, it was going to happen. ‘Wholesale prices shot up at double the expected pace in January, propelled higher by big increases in energy costs. The surprisingly large jump was viewed as a temporary blip and not the start of inflation problems, however.’ Really? The annual projection for inflation this year is now 16.8%. We haven’t seen anything like that in I don’t know how long. By land. ‘The Labor Department said Thursday that wholesale prices rose 1.4 percent last month, reflecting higher costs for gasoline and other energy products. Private economists had expected a 0.7 percent increase,’ half that. Do these people not realize — look, folks, I’m doing my best here today to maintain an even keel. I could have started this show literally screaming and laughing. Do these people not realize how absurdly stupid they appear?

The Labor Department said today wholesale prices rose 1.4%. Private economists had expected a 0.7% — do you think it’s maybe time for these schlubs at AP and Reuters to go out and find some new economists, like maybe call me? Core inflation at the wholesale level, which excludes energy and food, rose 0.3% in January, faster than the 0.1% increase economists had predicted. I’ve been doing this show, ladies and gentlemen, well, for 20 and a half years, and I don’t think in the last ten we’ve had an economic story on labor, jobs, energy, overall economic growth or not, that has not featured the word ‘unexpected’ or ‘surprised’ or ‘shocking.’ For ten years the increase is unexpectedly twice and even three times what the expert economists had predicted. The hell, you say! ‘The 12-month rise in core prices at the wholesale level was a more moderate 1 percent. Economists believe that inflation is not a problem at the moment and is not likely…’ oh, God, folks, that means we’re in deep trouble. Ten years and their economists have been wrong about everything and now they’re telling us that economists believe inflation is not a problem? Book it. ‘… because of all the downward pressures on wages and prices as a result of the recession.’ No, no, no. We’re in a recovery, I thought. I thought there was going to be upward pressure on wages and prices because we’re in a recovery! We’ve been hearing that for the past year. If that’s what the economists are saying, we are reassured there’s nothing to worry about.

Okay. The next one, jobless claims. This is AP, a very robotic AP. AP seems to have automated their reporting on the unemployment rate. We ought to just make a loop that I play once a week when these labors statistics numbers come out, just make a loop. ‘The number of newly laid-off workers filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly surged last week after having fallen sharply in the previous week. The gain dampened hopes about how quickly the labor market may improve this year. … Claims at the beginning of this year had been affected by a holiday backlog. The easing of the backlog had elevated the numbers for the previous three weeks. That temporary boost appears to have worn off.’ There was no boost if it’s temporary. All of us non-expert non-economists had predicted all of this. Lucky this news didn’t come out yesterday, folks, it’s damn good that this unexpected news didn’t come out yesterday or we would have thrown cold water on all the claims about the amazing success of the slush fund. Isn’t this strategically interesting, they had the slush fund meeting yesterday, things are great, we don’t know how bad it would have been if it hadn’t been for us. Then the news of the truth comes out.

Here’s CNBC: ‘The number of US workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week, while producer prices increased sharply in January, raising potential hurdles for the economic recovery.’ When has it ever shown a strong recovery? If you combine this with the coming state, county, and city layoffs, I don’t know if the media experts are tuned into that, but we are here at the EIB Network, so Obama has set the table for future pain. Thanks to a slush fund bill designed to primarily stimulate public service unions, unemployment across the fruited plain continues to deteriorate, and that means tax revenues and the deficit will remain in free fall. And you combine that with Obama’s never-ending spending binge — Oh. Let’s go to the audio sound bites. The comedy continues. I’m watching this morning, there’s Obama, he’s got ‘Plugs’ Biden with the carbon no longer on his forehead today, and he’s got ‘Irksome’ Bowles up there from the University of North Carolina and Alan Simpson, and we’re going to have a blue ribbon deficit commission. What is the liberals’ answer to out of control government spending? You create more government to study it! There’s not a person who is engaged in this in the world who doesn’t know why this has happened. It’s called Barack Hussein Obama Barry Soetoro. Who spent us into this state of ruin in one year? Barack Hussein Obama. And now he’s calling in these two retreads with 18 other people or 16 other people to study this? Here. Listen to it and laugh. This is Obama announcing all this.

OBAMA: Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles are taking on the impossible. They’re going to try to restore reason to the fiscal debate and come up with answers as cochairs of the new National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform. I’m asking them to produce clear recommendations on how to cover the costs of all federal programs by 2015 and to meaningfully improve our long-term fiscal picture.

RUSH: Why are these guys even accepting the gig? What’s in it for ‘Irksome’ Bowles and Alan Simpson to accept the gig? Because if they’re going to approach this honestly they can produce their report today, and it would say: ‘Mr. President, either resign or put somebody else in charge of spending because you are bankrupting and destroying the country. We’ve studied it here for the past year, and there’s nothing that can be done to fix this if you don’t change, and if you don’t change then you’re going to have to for the good of the country resign.’ We don’t need study it. Nobody needs to study this! What we need to do is change it. Here’s Obama, who is on track, if he hasn’t already, he’s on track to spend more than anyone since FDR, now tells us this.

OBAMA: Last week I signed into law the PAYGO bill.

RUSH: Stop the tape a minute. Recue it. When Nancy Pelosi and her cronies took over the House of Representatives in 2007, they announced PAYGO. This means you don’t pay for anything until you got the money. You either cut spending to pay for it or create new revenue somehow. It’s a sham, they haven’t done it and now here’s Obama signing into some executive order a PAYGO bill? If they’re going to do that, why do they need ‘Irksome’ Bowles and Alan Simpson up there? Oh, this wears me out. Here’s the bite.

OBAMA: Last week I signed into law the PAYGO bill. It says very simply that the United States of America should pay as we go and live within our means again, just like responsible families and businesses do.

RUSH: I can’t take it. Folks, I just can’t take it. There’s only one guy he should be talking to, and that’s himself. We need to send him into a carnival booth surrounded by a thousand mirrors so that whenever he talks, all he sees is himself because — (interruption) well, yeah, put the prompter in there, too. He’s the problem!

OBAMA: After taking steps to cut taxes and increase access to credit for small businesses to jump-start job creation this year, I’ve called for a three-year freeze on discretionary spending starting next year.

RUSH: Stop the tape. That’s a 1% freeze after he’s already bumped it up 25%.

OBAMA: This freeze won’t affect Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security spending.

RUSH: Which means there’s going to be no end in sight to the spending no matter what ‘Irksome’ Bowles and Alan Simpson and their 16 other worthless blue-ribbon panel people — What in the world is the president for? What is Congress for? What are all these czars for? Why do they have to go out and get these two guys and 16 other people to absolve everybody of responsibility, everybody that is culpable in this is to be absolved of responsibility. I can’t wait, I really can’t wait ’cause I bet you I can predict what the outcome of this blue ribbon panel is going to be. These people are going to fix it so that there is going to be a quiet revolution in November and virtually anybody that reminds the voters of this country of anybody in the past year and a half is gone, never to get back to Washington ever again.

OBAMA: And it won’t affect national security spending, including veterans benefits. But all other discretionary spending will be subject to this freeze. These are tough times and we can’t keep spending like they’re not.

RUSH: We can’t keep spending. Yeah, and let that be a lesson to all of you people. We can’t keep spending like this. We just can’t do it. You realize it’s our fault and we can’t keep spending and daddy Obama, he’s going to put the foot down now, it’s gotten out of hand. Oh, man.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: I guess I ought to be honest with everybody in the audience because I always am. You people are used to me being in a great mood each and every day — and as a highly trained professional, that’s my instinct. But I am so irritable today, I am just that close to exploding over a whole bunch of stuff. I’m doing my best to rein it in, but I am. It has nothing to do with any of you people, nothing whatsoever to do with any of you people. I just want to warn you in case I have one of these eruptions today. It has nothing to do with you. Even if Snerdley gives me Obama-type thinking phone callers, I promise — and now watch him try to do it just to get me to erupt because he gets entertained by it.

So we just listened to all of this BS, this total crap from the president of the United States with the appointment of two total retreads who represent exactly what got us into this mess in the first place. Does this mean that Obama is now going to retract his budget which has a $1.6 trillion deficit in it? Hmm. Is that going to happen? All of this is nothing more than a Big Lie, and I do not retract that this is being done on purpose. There is nobody — nobody — who is this stupid. There’s no collection of people this naive and ignorant. I don’t care how well-intentioned they are. This is purposeful — and I, for one… I am 59 years old. I have worked and worked and worked, and I know you have, too, your whole life. I didn’t do all of this to spread the wealth for this guy so that he can change the makeup and very foundation of this country which made all of this prosperity for so many of us possible.

I’m not suggesting do this by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m just going to tell you: If Obama needs some help in reducing his spending, what if we just all stopped paying taxes? The IRS doesn’t have enough people to come get it. I’m not suggesting it. I’m just pointing out here. This stimulus? There’s no such thing. The government does not have an endless stash of money sitting back somewhere that’s not being used. We don’t have any money! We are the future Greece. We don’t have any money! We don’t have — what was it? — $8 billion to guarantee loans for a nuclear plant. And, by the way, we don’t want the federal government involved in the nuclear power business anyway. That’s just a trick to advance his cap-and-trade idea. This guy is a destroyer — and, for some reason, he’s doing it purposefully. He’s not fooling a majority of people.

By the way, did you see, CNN…? I gotta get this number right. CNN’s numbers for 25-54, the big-time Democrat graphic in primetime, the last two months are lower than at any time in their history. They were beat out by a test pattern on a local station in Oshkosh, after midnight. Nobody’s watching CNN. Yet they’re coming out with this poll: ‘The vast majority of Americans believe Congress is not tackling the nation’s problems.’ This is CNN/Opinion Research Corporation. ‘Eighty-four percent of Americans think Congress has not done enough to create jobs, and only 14% said that they’re satisfied with the efforts so far.’ Congress cannot ‘create jobs.’ Where do you think the stimulus money comes from? We don’t have it, so we’re either borrowing it or we’re printing it.

In other words, it’s money that’s being taken out of the private sector and then put back in. There’s no net increase of money. They’re just redistributing it, reallocating to their political cronies in the public employee union, pure and simple. They’re trying to shore up states, making sure they don’t go bankrupt. But that’s just a little finger-in-the-dike business. That’s not permanent, either. None of this is permanent. It’s all stopgap, while Obama tries to come up with a way to pass the buck. Now, here’s this from the Associated Press: ‘A forecast of future economic activity rose for a tenth straight month but the pace of growth is slowing. Some economists have been worrying the growth in the economy will stagnate this year as government support programs wind down and unemployment remains high.’ You know, folks, I’m fairly smart guy here, but I’m so confused now. Obama yesterday said it’s a huge success, so did Biden. (sigh) All of this is phony — and there isn’t any of it, anyway. There is no growth, economic growth. There’s zilch, zero, nada. There’s government growth, but there’s no investment, there’s no consuming, and there’s no job creation happening in the private sector, which is where it matters for the health and the future of all of us in the country.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Now, back to this irritable Porkulus, Pickulus slush fund. I have two observations about this. Just yesterday, just yesterday we had the near criminals that run this administration, Biden and Obama, up there telling us that all of this Porkulus spending, the slush fund, saved us from the Great Depression. If that’s true why do we have to stop now? If that spending staved off a second Great Depression, why in the name of Sam Hill are we stopping? One other observation about this: Despite what Obama said yesterday, the stimulus was not ever supposed to protect us from a depression. Do you know what was? TARP! TARP was supposed to save us from a depression. TARP was supposed to save the world financial system. TARP was supposed to make sure that this disaster that we faced — and if we didn’t fix it in 24 hours, we were all going to be essentially smoke and mirrors. If we didn’t fix it in 24 hours, TARP was supposed to stave off the depression, and that was Bush.

Bush was TARP, Obama urged it. He was all for it, and apparently it did work, if we would accept — which is hard to do — what anybody in government tells us about that. But the stimulus, Obama’s stimulus was supposed to keep unemployment from getting too high and lasting too long. Obama’s stimulus is a disaster. It is an absolute failure. He has failed to do anything he said he was going to do, and the TARP program has been paid back — with a profit! Apart from the automakers’ part, which Obama and the Democrats tacked on. The stimulus has been a total failure. Meanwhile, the price for Obama’s stimulus has been ratcheted up another $75 billion because of ‘unexpected’ unemployment claims and compensation in payments. None — None; zilch, zero, nada — of the $862 billion taxpayer dollars will ever be paid back except in one way, and let me tell you how.

All of you Democrats — I don’t care whether you’re Blue Dogs, if you’re half-breeds, whatever kind of dogs you want to describe yourselves as — the way this $862 billion ‘stimulus’ is going to be paid back is in the form of votes kicking you outta town. I mean this from the bottom of my heart. The people of this country right now are bordering on hate for all of these establishment politicians — and that hate, that borderline hate is ratcheted up each and every time Obama and Biden (whoever else, Pelosi and Reid) get on TV and insult their intelligence. The people who are going to repay the stimulus by getting rid of everybody who’s responsible for it, love their country. They love the founding principles and they have a borderline hate for the people who have caused this. Mark my words. Do not doubt me.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Here’s Sam in Saginaw, Michigan. Welcome to the program, Sam, great to have you here.

CALLER: Thanks, Mr. Limbaugh. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re so much against the debt reduction task force. If we’re trying to reduce debt and get out of the deficit, why against the task force?

RUSH: Okay, let me ask you a question, let me give you an analogy. You have a house, Sam, or an apartment building you live in?

CALLER: I have a home, yes.

RUSH: You have a home. Okay. Suppose I come to your home tonight and fly an airplane into it after I bail out, I destroy your home, and then I call for a commission to examine how it happened? The people who are destroying the country in front of our eyes, Sam, are asking a bunch of retreads to come up with basically an idea that can’t be pinned on the administration to raise our taxes through the roof. That’s why this is being done. They’re absolving themselves of any blame, these two retreads and their 16 members are going to come up with one plan and one plan only and that’s massive across the board tax increases because they’re responsible for it and they’re trying to shovel it off to a bunch of people that have nothing to do with it and those people then get to prescribe the fix which shields Obama from the accusation he’s raising taxes because when it happens, (imitating Obama) ‘I’m just listening to suggestions from the blue ribbon committee that I appointed, I’m agnostic about this but I think I gotta do it.’ Raise taxes, that’s the next stage.

CALLER: But if we get these guys in there and they say let’s raise taxes and so forth and so on, isn’t that just another reason for us to really get behind some change and some things? Because folks are fed up with taxes. I mean I pay my fair share, and I’m sure you pay your fair share.

RUSH: Well, now, wait. What I’m hearing you say is let’s go ahead and let Obama destroy the country so we can show everybody else what Democrats do, and then let’s fix it. Everybody has all the evidence they need that this guy is a walking, talking disaster. We’re interested in fixing this, not trying to show a bunch of dummkopfs, about 6% who still don’t get it, because the people that still don’t get it are never going to get it because they’re just nothing more than pure partisans who are brain-dead, they’re flatlined out there while still breathing and spending everybody’s money. I’m glad you called. I appreciated my analogy.

Josh in Kansas City, you’re next on the EIB Network. Hello, sir.

CALLER: Hello, Mr. Limbaugh. I have gotta say, it is such an honor to be talking to you. I am the truest form of a Rush Baby. You started broadcasting in ’88, my dad started listening to you in ’88 and I was born in ’88.

RUSH: Thank you, sir. Well, it’s great to have you on the program today.

CALLER: I really want to thank you for the impact that you’ve had on my life, and if you’re ever in Kansas City I would love to buy you a beer or a hamburger or something to show you my appreciation.

RUSH: Stroud’s.

CALLER: Stroud’s, oh, yeah.

RUSH: Yeah, Stroud’s, screw the burger.

CALLER: Okay, no, I’ll buy you a chicken dinner at Stroud’s.

RUSH: And gravy.

CALLER: And gravy, of course. And the nice little cinnamon rolls that they got there.

RUSH: I was just going to say, cinnamon rolls next, and then gotta have some cottage fries in there, too.

CALLER: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: Oh, yeah. But no, I’m 100% serious. I would love to buy you dinner there.

RUSH: Thank you. Thanks very much.

CALLER: But, anyway, I wanted to say that I have never been a supporter of Obama. I’ve never liked Obama. I’ve always seen him as a disaster for this country.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: But I’ve gotta say, with him talking about opening up these new nuclear power plants, nuclear power is the way of the future, I see it so much more efficient than the solar panels, than the wind power, and I’m actually going to be signing my contract to go into the Navy on Saturday, and I’ll be going there. I’ll be working on the nuclear reactors in the aircraft carriers. So knowing that there’s going to be more nuclear power plants out there providing power for our country and knowing that that provides me a future job opportunity after I leave the Navy, I’m actually kind of tempted to be a little bit proud of Obama.

RUSH: I need to put you to the real test here of being a Rush Baby. You’ve got a lot of experience listening to this program. Would you explain to me why it is in this case you have fallen for an absolute lie and a trick played by the president of the United States, designed to coerce people just like you into thinking he’s doing a good thing. Don’t you realize that this is nothing more than in a roundabout way of getting cap-and-trade legislation and get the Republicans to sign on to it? This is nothing more than a trick. There aren’t going to be any new nuclear power plants. The government’s going to be loaning money. The government doesn’t know how to build anything. It’s going to take years and years and years for regulatory approval. Obama’s own base is gonna stop ’em. Obama’s own base is gonna oppose it. It ain’t ever going to happen. But he’s going to get a lot of praise: ‘He’s coming around, no more windmills, no more solar panels, Obama is going nuclear.’ It’s a lie. Everything they say is a lie. (kissing sound)

CALLER: I have to agree that most everything that comes out of his mouth —

RUSH: So why do you believe this?

CALLER: I don’t 100% believe it.

RUSH: Good.

CALLER: I don’t. I can’t say that I 100% believe it, but I do think that by him introducing the prospects, especially with this coming election, the Democrats are going to be out of office. When 2011 starts up and we get all the new people in office, Democrats are going to be a minority then and I believe that the Republicans are going to try to hold him to his word on this. I believe that they’re going to say, ‘Yes, nuclear power is the way, we’re going to drive it home.’

RUSH: I don’t disagree that nuclear power is the way, but Obama is genuinely not interested in it. Please don’t doubt me, please.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH: Tom in San Antonio, Texas, thank you for calling, sir. Great to have you here.

CALLER: Rush, an honor to speak with you.

RUSH: Thank you, sir.

CALLER: I’m calling in response to your first caller, Sam, you talked about it a little while ago where you gave the analogy of the plane flying into his house when he was talking about this debt panel. I think I might have a better analogy for him.

RUSH: Wait a minute, now. Was Sam the guy who didn’t understand why I was opposing the blue-ribbon panel?

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: Yeah.

CALLER: Right.

RUSH: I said burn down his house. I wouldn’t fly an airplane because that means I would die.

CALLER: That’s true. And we wouldn’t want that.

RUSH: No.

CALLER: But something simpler for Sam. Imagine if Sam were to walk into his boss tomorrow morning and say, ‘Boss, you know, I really like my job, I like how much you’re paying me, I like the perks, I like the benefits but, you know, parts of this job are really, really hard and I think you need to hire someone else to do the hard parts for me. I’d like you to keep paying me, I’d like to give myself a raise while we’re at it, but I don’t really want to do the hard parts of my job anymore.’ His boss would rightfully look at him like he was insane and throw him out of the room, and that’s in effect what this debt panel is, it’s an admission by the legislative branch of government and the executive that they’re not going to do their job.

RUSH: That is actually —

CALLER: They should be doing their job.

RUSH: That is actually —

CALLER: It just frosts me.

RUSH: That is actually a pretty good analogy as it relates to me personally. I can’t tell you how many times that happens to me. I’m not kidding you. You go out and hire some people to do something, and they want two other people to help ’em do it. I can’t tell you how often that happens. But the analogy for the sake of Obama is not quite there, and I’ll tell you why. It’s because there is an ulterior motive. The ulterior motive is to have somebody besides himself recommend these tax cuts that nobody can afford in order to fix this. He wants to at the end of this blue ribbon commission say the respectable ‘Irksome’ Bowles and the longtime Washington Senator immensely respected Alan Simpson have looked at all of this, and they conclude only one thing: We must raise taxes. So to complete your analogy, what I would have to do is come to you and say, ‘Boss, you know, I appreciate what you’re paying me, and I think I need a raise. But I got some really hard stuff in this job that I don’t want to do. I think you need to go hire some other people to do the hard part so that I can come back to you and say that they’re the ones who say this is what needs to be done, because I don’t want to be held responsible for what it is they’re going to say. I don’t want it, but I do want a raise.’

CALLER: And that is why you are the great Maha Rushie.

RUSH: Well, no, it’s a great analogy. And I’m sure that your analogy resonates with all kinds of people who own businesses.

CALLER: I’m sure, yeah, and frankly, at the base of it that’s why, when that panel was recommended, it just frosted me, like why do we elect you? Why do we elect these guys to do this exact thing —

RUSH: Look, it’s no different. Congress is a bunch of cowards, yellow-bellied sapsucker cowards. This is no different than the base closure commissions when it came time to close military bases. Guess what? Our lily-livered, linguine-spined, chicken, coward members of Congress and the Senate wouldn’t have the audacity to do the job themselves. So they came up with a bunch of blue ribbon ex-Senators and congressmen, brought ’em back for who knows how much money in perks, to make the recommendations of which bases get closed, thereby insulating them from any local criticism in their own state or their own district. In this case there’s not going to be a recommendation to cut spending. There’s going to be a recommendation to raise taxes, except it ain’t going to be Obama’s. But nobody, I’m telling you, nobody is gonna get fooled, because I’m not going to allow it. It ain’t going to happen.