RUSH: Jay in Dayton, Ohio. Great to have you on the program. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Rush, thanks for letting me lead off.
RUSH: You bet, sir.
CALLER: Hey, I’m a former general manager for Northwest Airlines, and I’m far from a fan of the TSA. I heard you talking about the petty White House canceling the tours at the White House and then on the other hand I’m hearing that TSA agents are getting new uniforms, at something like a thousand dollars a pop. It’s gonna come out to $50 million, and I was kind of wondering how many tours the White House could run for $50 million. The TSA is that same group that spent, what, $700,000 for an awards ceremony —
RUSH: Wait a second. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a minute. I had not seen that a TSA uniform is a thousand dollars.
CALLER: I don’t know if they’re getting multiple uniforms or what, but $50 million has been appropriated to the TSA for the agents to get new uniforms.
RUSH: Well, if they’ve been wearing the same uniforms for the last, say, ten years, it might be time for a change.
CALLER: It’s not. They’ve had several uniforms and the TSA is the same group that spent $700,000 for an awards ceremony three years after they started, Rush, and they handed out lifetime achievement awards.
RUSH: (laughing) After three years?
CALLER: After three years. Those of us in the industry knew that we were in trouble. And I mentioned I was a former general manager for Northwest. I lost my job in 2001 and I wanted to tell you that your show has been just daily encouragement for me to keep going. My 25-year airline career was over. I decided to go to day trading. I actually moved into a motel room. I lived there for seven years, and, Rush, you have no idea how much your show meant to me then, as it does now, and currently I’m in the top 1%, one of those dreaded people that Obama’s after. I’m living the dream, and I’m thrilled to have the chance to say thank you for all that you’ve done for me, for my family, and for the students I teach. It means everything. You’re a football fan. Jay Ratliff is a defensive tackle for the Cowboys and he and I have the same name, and I used to think living in that motel room how neat it would be to be him, and I don’t think that anymore, and you’ve been a huge influence in my life, Rush, at 50 and so many millions of people.
RUSH: Thank you. Why did you move to a motel? Is that all you could afford?
CALLER: That’s all I could afford, yeah, and I spent seven years trying to learn how to day trade and I sold everything I had. I figured I’d be there a few months. I lived there for more than seven years and you talked about how people that are after something, they don’t need a government handout. They just need an opportunity.
RUSH: How are you doing with Apple stock?
CALLER: Oh, actually doing quite well. I don’t hold it for long, I don’t hold anything for long. To me risk is having money in the market for long-term, and, you know, the volatility that exists right now in the market with things just going absolutely nutty it’s kind of a target rich environment for all of us. It’s a fun, exciting time, and there’s certainly some interesting things –
RUSH: Well, I appreciate it. I thank you very much, Jay. I really appreciate it, and you are a life lesson for people. You certainly are. Speaking of the amount of money being spent, it does work out to a thousand dollars per uniform. And, by the way, the uniforms, I have learned, are partly made in Mexico. The uniform contract for the TSA workers, $50 million. Divided by the number of TSA employees, it does work out to about a thousand dollars per employee per uniform.
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