RUSH: And here is Sue from New Lebanon, Ohio, as we head back to the phones. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Mr. Limbaugh. How are you today?
RUSH: I’m great. Thank you very much.
CALLER: One point real quickly. I am wondering why Mitch McConnell has not implemented the same option that Harry Reid did in order to get the health care bill passed. They call it nuclear option, which I understood at the time that the Republicans were so upset because they were only to use that option when it concerned a budget item, and certainly the Homeland Security budget is a budget item, so I don’t get why he isn’t. I wanted your thoughts on that.
RUSH: Well, I think you’re talking probably about budget reconciliation.
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: People have been asking me, Sue, I hate to — I’m not diffusing your question. People have been asking me for 27 years, “Why are the Republicans doing X?” I don’t know. All I could do is guess, the same as you. Why won’t the Republicans use the same techniques on the Democrats that the Democrats use on us. That’s what the question is.
CALLER: Correct.
RUSH: I haven’t the slightest idea. I can only guess. And my guess would be somewhat informed, but still end up being a guess, and that is they’re just afraid of any media criticism they’re gonna get for what they do. Consultants have told them they’re gonna anger the independents. I think right now what probably is — and this is just a wild guess, because, frankly, Sue, to tell you the truth, I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t care anymore so now I’m having to fake caring about this, while giving you an answer, ’cause you obviously have an interest in this.
My wild guess, rooted in a lack of passion on this, is that they are so worried about not screwing up 2016, the presidential race, that they are trying to avoid any action they think would be provocative, would upset the Democrats, would upset the media. They’re trying to lay low just like they did during the campaign last year. The Republicans didn’t campaign for anything, nationally. The Republicans didn’t have a message. They didn’t have an agenda. Their mission was to shut up, not say anything, and don’t get any criticism and don’t offend anybody. And I think they’re just carrying it forward, thinking the best weapon they have is silence, and no opposition, and not be provocative, so as to not screw up their chance to win the White House in 2016.
CALLER: But at the same time, then, aren’t they alienating their very base?
RUSH: They think, based on this last election, the base is gonna show up no matter what. I am convinced they think that. I’m convinced they’re not worried about losing the base.
CALLER: I think they’re very wrong.
RUSH: And I think even further, I think there’s a sizable percentage of the Republican leadership that wouldn’t mind losing the base, even if it meant being in the wilderness for two or three elections.
CALLER: Oh, I think perhaps it could be longer than that, forever.
RUSH: A lot of people agree with you. But that’s as good a guess as I can give you. I mean, how do you explain the senseless?
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RUSH: Biloxi, Mississippi. This is Jordan. I’m glad you waited, sir. You’re next, and hello.
CALLER: Thank you. Thanks for taking my call, Rush.
RUSH: You bet.
CALLER: Look, I think I speak for a lot of people out here when I say I am fed up with the Republican Party. I think they’ve written this nation off. I think they’ve written it off every bit as much as the Democratic Party has. And until I see some fight from them — and I don’t think I’m gonna see it — I’m gonna sit the next election out. I’m fed up with them. There’s no reason to support them anymore. They’re just like the Democrats.
RUSH: I understand the frustration. You have a massive landslide victory among people who voted. Now, it may not have been a super large turnout in November, but the people that voted count, and of those people it was a massive landslide victory for the Republicans. There was one message, there was one reason those people showed up, and it was stop Obama. And there isn’t any of that going on. I understand totally how you feel. I understand your frustration. I understand your desire to stay home. It’s not so much you want to teach ’em a lesson. There’s no sense. You’re questioning whether or not they have a different view of government than the Democrats do.
CALLER: Yes. That’s exactly right. And I don’t see that they do. Where’s the evidence of it?
RUSH: Yeah, I know.
CALLER: Rush, when these people get on television, I’m talking about the Republican Party, Republicans don’t speak with any passion. They say things like, “I’m disappointed in the Supreme Court decision regarding Obamacare.” What kind of talk is that? We want to see them pound the desk a little bit. We want to see them fight the way Democrats fight —
RUSH: I know.
CALLER: — and they just won’t do it.
RUSH: I know. I know. We can sit here and explain. I could probably tell you why they don’t. I think I pretty much understand that. It isn’t gonna solve anything for you. It isn’t gonna mollify you, and it shouldn’t. It isn’t gonna make you feel any better.
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