RUSH: So yet another esteemed member of the journalism community is suggesting that the Mueller investigation shut down. It’s Daniel Henninger at the Wall Street Journal. He believes that it should shut down because it’s on the verge of destroying virtual systems, virtual systematic destruction.
This takes me to what I think of this… I guess this is what I think of this omnibus budget bill. We’ve had two hours here of dealing with it. I have taken more calls than usual today because a lot of people are fit to be tied over it and wanted to weigh in, wanted to unburden themselves. And I wanted to see what the cross-section of callers we would get thought, even though I can’t lay claim to it being scientific. I don’t take enough calls for that.
But I purposely avoided giving you my solid opinion on this, and the reason for that is I didn’t want to shape any other opinion. And I’ve noted that in the total number of calls we took, there were two, if I’m not mistaken — maybe three, but it would be in more than that. Two calls for certain from people who essentially said, “Leave Trump out of this. This isn’t Trump, and we can’t undermine Trump. This is only Trump’s second year now, and it’s unrealistic to expect the draining of the swamp to be happening rapidly” and so forth.
This deal is so egregious that it has everybody angry, but the thing about it is it’s par for the course. It really isn’t anything new. It’s just a longer period of time. Most of these things we’ve been getting in two-month, three-month increments as continuing resolutions. This is just being called omnibus ’cause it’s like a giant Christmas tree with anybody in Congress being able to put any present under that tree that they want. But I believe there are some things that no matter what have not changed, and it’s why I asked if anybody had heard from any of the Never Trumpers on this.
And we haven’t.
Well, if we have, I haven’t yet seen it. You know, some of the Never Trumpers live and write in obscurity. They live on blog posts, and sometimes they tweet out there. And it takes other people finding their blog posts and tweets and then amplifying them. But I haven’t seen much. Now, if Trump were nowhere around, if Trump had not won, the Never Trumper crowd would be as opposed to this as you are. Maybe.
Maybe not as you are, but they would be opposed to it. But you notice they’re not in the chorus yet of people lining up criticizing this. I think one thing has not changed — among many things, but there is one thing that remains constant — and it is this. The Washington establishment still dislikes Donald Trump and doesn’t want to have to deal with him and doesn’t want him succeeding and doesn’t want him anywhere around.
And I believe — and we will never be able to prove this. We never be able to say it with even ontological certitude. But I think part of this ungodly, over-the-top omnibus spending bill is in part designed by Washington establishment types to do damage to Donald Trump. I think the Never Trumpers in Congress and the Washington establishment types blew this bill up to this inordinate size in hopes that they could cause some blame for it to accrue to Donald Trump.
To weaken Trump in the eyes of his supporters. To make some of his supporters think that Trump is not gonna succeed, that Trump can’t drain the swamp, that Trump cannot really take on the establishment and win. Because, look! The establishment’s writing their ticket here, and they’re getting everything they want, and Trump is not getting much of anything he wants except defense spending and a little pittance toward his wall.
In other words, they know you’re gonna be fit to be tied over this. But they’ve been there and done that. McConnell and Ryan and these guys have been there forever. Trump is in his second year! This is not about Trump, and they’re trying to make it about Trump. This is the congressional side of the establishment asserting itself and essentially saying, “We don’t care that you elected Trump. We know what his election means to you. But look at what we’re doing anyway.” And even if it means some of them don’t win reelection, they are still going to remain in good standing and in high favor with other members of the establishment.
Like Andrew McCabe and James Comey will forever remain icons and heroes to the people in the establishment because of their valiant efforts to get rid of Donald Trump. So even if some Republicans and Democrats lose reelection because of this omnibus spending bill — and they’re probably figuring they won’t ’cause this is March and the election is not ’til November and you’ll forget it by then — they want you to blame Trump for this.
They want you to see or think that Trump is powerless.
If they tried this on George W. Bush, for example, the Republican leadership, House and Senate, would be fit to be tied over this, and we wouldn’t be hearing the end of it. But since it’s Trump, they’re willing to stand aside, let Mueller have his way under the guise that he’s the most brilliant person to run the investigation. Greatest reputation you could get! Smartest guy, great integrity, all of that. Anybody else they tried this on, they wouldn’t have this smooth sailing with the effort. Because this just doesn’t… This doesn’t compute. These people that ran for office on the Republican side got elected. They know. From the Tea Party on, they know what’s important to you, to Republican voters.
Their behavior isn’t much different. I mean, they continue to campaign on saying things you want to hear, but when it comes time to govern, that kind of vanishes or disappears. “But, Rush, but, Rush, Trump’s going along with it. Paul Ryan said Trump’s gonna go along with it.” Yeah. ‘Cause there’s some stuff that Trump desperately wants, but I actually think that Trump should veto this. I think that is the great equalizer here.
As I say, Ryan and McConnell and both parties leadership, they’ve been there, they’ve been in that town for who knows how long. This is their doing. This isn’t Trump’s doing. This isn’t Trump’s budget. Trump submitted a budgets earlier this year. This isn’t his budget. In fact, this isn’t even a spending bill. This is a borrowing bill because we don’t have any money. This is the omnibus borrowing bill of 2018. There’s one thing that has saved Washington, quote, unquote, saved Washington in all of this.
Normally when government so overspends way beyond what is commonsensical, well, one of the things that reins that in is that if government sops up all of the money that’s out there to be borrowed, there isn’t any left for the private sector. So there’s no money for investment in a small business or a development here, there, whatever, because government’s taken all the money, and then government can print what it needs. But interest rates for so long having been at zero has kind of eliminated that restraint on government borrowing.
So I don’t think anything’s changed. I think the establishment still wants Trump gone, as much now as ever. In fact, maybe more so now than ever because he has survived every attempt they have thrown at him. I think their frustration continues to mount, their anger continues to mount. Don’t forget, I have it on the highest authority that all of these intelligence community people and the media and this whole cabal pushing this Trump-Russia collusion business, I have it on good authority that the people in that movement literally thought that they would have gotten rid of Trump inside of six months.
And we’re now into month 15, and the frustration and anger these people feel at not being able to run this guy out of town or to force you to want him to be run out of time has them doubly committed to getting this done. And what better way to assert the power and the dominance of the establishment versus Trump than to present some gigantic, inexplicable, insulting omnibus spending bill that doesn’t even really advance Republican ideas. And to them the icing on the cake would be you getting mad at Trump for it and you seeing Trump as a failure in his primary objective of changing Washington and draining swamp.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Quickly in Detroit, Richard, great to have you with us on the program today. How are you doing?
CALLER: Good, Mr. Limbaugh. As a mature gentleman of your vintage, it’s not my custom to blow sunshine up people’s skirts, but I did want to commend you on your analysis of the true reason behind this so-called budget bill here. I thought it was brilliant. In the 20 years or so that I’ve been listening to you this is easily in the top 10, maybe in the top five.
RUSH: Really?
CALLER: Yes, sir. Seriously. And I wanted to commend you for that. And I’m hoping personally that when Mr. Trump sits down with the assassins from the Congress and looks at steaming pile on the table there in front of him that he realizes that he is on the menu. And I’m really hoping that he understands that and that somebody puts a bug in his ear about this and that he says, “No, no, no.”
RUSH: Well, there is precedent. Ronald Reagan vetoed some just outrageously exorbitant spending deals when the Republicans didn’t have 60 votes in the Senate. In fact, Reagan was the president that took a budget proposal one year up to the Capitol for his State of the Union. I think he did it at the State of the Union. And it was stacked so high he needed two people just to bring it up there just to demonstrate how ridiculous it was, how large.
This omnibus borrowing bill is 2200 pages, folks. I mean, the guys voting on this today have no idea what all it says. Whoever is voting on this, House has already voted, Senate’s gonna vote, they don’t know what’s all in this. It is literally like a Christmas tree, and you don’t know everything under the tree when you get up on Christmas morning, but they’re able to give themselves the presents.
My analysis is, if you missed it, that what Richard thinks is top five historical analysis is this thing is so over the top that I really think it’s the swamp versus Trump. And they’ve done this trying to make it look like it doesn’t matter that Trump’s there, that he can’t stop this, he can’t drain the swamp, he doesn’t have anything.
They want you mad at Trump. They want you blaming Trump for this. This is the establishment flexing its muscles, showing what they can still do. And it doesn’t matter who we elect as president there. But I think this is in part an effort on the part of the — ’cause remember these guys in Congress, on the Republican and Democrat side, have been there for years. This is not Trump’s budget. This whole thing is not about Trump.
They’re trying to make it about Trump. They want you to think electing Trump was meaningless, it isn’t gonna do anything. If Trump can’t stop this, what’s he worth, that’s what they want you thinking as a result of this. The added bonus is that they get all the spending.
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