RUSH: Tim in Glenview, Illinois, as we go back to the phones. Great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Mega Carbonite dittos, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you, sir.
CALLER: Yeah. I just wanted to call about the debate and some of the things that Newt said regarding unemployment.
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: My overall impression of the debate that Newt and Cain had was that I felt it was — I was kind of underwhelmed. It seemed like it was trumpeted up as an ideal Lincoln versus Douglas debate, but then they ended up — I mean, in one sense it was but it just felt a little too informal. When you think Lincoln versus Douglas you think —
RUSH: Did they seem too friendly with each other as far as you’re concerned?
CALLER: Yeah, too friendly, exactly. You thought there might be some debate like on a particular topic.
RUSH: Basically just a discussion. They weren’t really debating anything, just being polite.
CALLER: A formal discussion, exactly.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: But anyway, so that was my overall impression, it was kind of underwhelming. But Newt Gingrich’s talking about unemployment. Everyone says he’s a really intelligent man and he gets into the details, and it seems like I’d rather not hear about ways to fix unemployment, like, for example, he wants everyone to be trained before they receive any money, or to sign up for training, which, in other words, I’m not sure what that means. Does that mean you go to a college and sign up for a change of career, or you know it seems like he’s nitpicking, seems like Newt Gingrich is trying to micromanage —
RUSH: Instead of eliminating, he wants to fix things?
CALLER: Instead of eliminating, exactly.
RUSH: Yeah, it’s a problem that professional politicians have. Government is a viable entity that should be involved in things. It’s a trap that a lot of otherwise smart people fall into. You’re quite quick to catch that, by the way.
CALLER: Yeah. I’ve been through the unemployment program. I’m a 48 weeker so I know what it’s like to get paid to do nothing and I felt guilty about it. I felt guilty about being on it.
RUSH: Yeah.
CALLER: I don’t like the program. I think it should not exist. I could have gotten a job but I took the unemployment and, you know, for 48 weeks I was living it up.
RUSH: Well, speaking of that, I have a story here from the official unemployment writer for the Associated Press, state-controlled, Christopher Rugaber. “Most of the Unemployed No Longer Receive Benefits,” is the headline to the story. “The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of AmericaÂ’s unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits. Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent — a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of AmericaÂ’s 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.”
Isn’t this something that was unprecedented until the era of Obama? All these unemployment stats are worse than they’ve ever been under Obama. Don’t get the wrong idea here, though, folks. Mr. Rugaber of the AP is not delivering a testimony about how Obama has destroyed the economy. What he’s doing is using the AP to push for the extension of unemployment benefits for the tenth time. That’s why AP ran this story. “Most of the unemployed are no longer receiving benefits? Oh, no, how can a country as rich and prosperous as the US be so cruel and mean-spirited?” So the point here is to extend unemployment benefits. That’s what the AP is doing, fully in line with the State-Controlled Media. Tim, thanks for the call. I appreciate it.