Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show for Thursday, October 13, 1994 by John "Yeoman John" Switzer This unofficial summary is copyright (c) 1994 by John Switzer. All Rights Reserved. These summaries are distributed on CompuServe and the Internet, and archived on CompuServe (DL9 of the ISSUES forum) and Internet (cathouse.org and grind.isca.uiowa.edu). The /pub/jrs directory at ftp.netcom.com contains the summaries for the past 30 days. Distribution to other electronic forums and bulletin boards is highly encouraged. Spelling and other corrections gratefully received. Please read the standard disclaimer which was included with the first summary for this month. In particular, please note that this summary is not approved or sanctioned by Rush Limbaugh or the EIB network, nor do I have any connection with them other than as a daily listener. ************************************************************* October 13, 1994 BRIEF SUMMARY OF TOPICS: Children's Defense Fund announces crusade to stop the number of children killed by gunfire; BATF stops import of firearms; American Association of Physicians for Human Rights changes its name to the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; Norman Schwarzkopf comments on Saddam Hussein; Santa Cruz changes Columbus Day to Indigenous People's Day; White House Counsel Mikva rules that Tony Coelho doesn't have to follow federal disclosure laws because he is a "special employee, at best"; South Korean official says that U.S. has given North Korea five years in which to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities; William Perry orders Pentagon to come up with "non-lethal weapons"; paperback version of "See, I Told You So" has reached national distribution; Clinton suffers a drop in approval rating after Gulf deployment; Democrats decide to campaign against the Republicans' contract with America because it represents a return to the 80s; Washington Post doesn't seem to understand that Americans' money doesn't belong to Washington, but to the working people; Senator Hollings again claims that Rush changed his position on GATT because of pressure from GE; Rush has no ties with GE, except when he eats at the Rainbow Room in the GE Building; Jesse Jackson says he's accompanying Aristide to Haiti to "protect him"; the differences between Reagan and Clinton are obvious to see; caller thinks Clinton's ratings are dropping because nobody has any confidence in him; Washington Post story makes the point that the situation in the Gulf is all about oil and oil revenues; if Iraq could resume full oil production, it would force the oil price down, putting pressure on countries such as Saudi Arabia; French's oil investments in Iraq are motivating their refusal to support a demilitarized buffer with Kuwait; Iraq owes Russia about $6 billion; William Gray praises Aristide as a man of the cloth, but whenever religion is associated with conservatives in any way, it becomes a major danger to democracy, at least as far as liberals are concerned; caller thinks that had Bush sent allied troops in to Baghdad in 1991, Arab terrorist attacks against the U.S. would have quickly followed, plus there would be no MidEast peace process now; Colin Powell did not support going into Baghdad, so will he be criticized as Bush is?; caller thinks those who most dislike the 80s are from the most heavily taxed states which benefited the least then; Rush gives tech support advice for CompuServe download section; Rush explains the truth about the 80s, including how its job growth was in good-paying jobs; Reagan's tax cuts double federal revenues, so they can't be responsible for the deficits of the 80s; congressional spending that was out of control was responsible for the deficits of the 80s; Clinton's pollster Stanley Greenberg advises Democrats running for re-election to use negative words about the 80s, such as "trickle-down" and "Reaganomics"; some of the Haitian military leaders are being allowed into Miami; caller points out that had Bush gotten Hussein during the Gulf War, it could have divided Iraq into three warning factions, creating an Iran client state on Saudi border; Canadian Broadcasting Service describes Hussein as "even less popular than Bill Clinton"; Rush gives a list of what has happened to previous leaders of Haiti; rare octopus species has males trying to mate with each other; Ivan the Gorilla is moved from Tacoma mall to Atlanta zoo, riding in first class, talking with his vet and being read to out of Crichton's "Congo"; World Wildlife Fund releases list of ten most endangered species; caller asks if media is setting Clinton up to fail in the Gulf by criticizing Bush for not getting Hussein; someone doctored Rush's TV show when it aired in Pittsburgh; Rush wishes a happy birthday to his mother; Today show shows clip of moth getting mashed on a football field; Susan Estrich blames Rush for defeating Clinton's bills, but also puts the blame on those Americans who let Rush's supporters monopolize Washington faxes and phones; caller says America should adopt new aquafuel as is being done in New Zealand; Rush can't believe anyone would consider awarding Yasser Arafat the Nobel Peace Prize; liberals got the peace with Russia they wanted, yet they still don't applaud Reagan for acquiring it; caller pledges to take Rush up on his challenge to total up her family's total taxes. LIMBAUGH WATCH October 13, 1994 - It's now day 632 (day 651 for the rich and the dead, and 26 days until the November elections) of "America Held Hostage" (aka the "Raw Deal" which has 830 days left) and 695 days after Bill Clinton's election, but Rush is still on the air with 659 radio affiliates (with more than 20 million listeners weekly world-wide), 250 TV affiliates (with a national rating of 3.7), and a newsletter with nearly 500,000 subscribers. His first book was on the NY Times hardback non-fiction best-seller list for 54 consecutive weeks, with 2.6 million copies sold, but fell off the list after Simon and Schuster stopped printing it. The paperback version of "The Way Things Ought To Be" was on the NY Times paperback non-fiction best-seller list for 28 weeks. Rush's second book, "See, I Told You So," was on the NY Times best-seller list for 16 weeks and has sold over 2.45 million copies. NEWS o The Children Defense Fund's Marion Wright Edelman announced a new crusade to stop the number of children killed by gunfire each year. Edelman stated that "it's time that the American public, religious leaders, parents, all of us to stand up and say it's morally unacceptable for 5,000 children a year to be killed by guns. That's one every two hours. Edelman and the CDF define "children" as anyone up to 19 years of age, and their death figures include gang members and others killed while committing crimes, suicides who killed themselves by gun, and deaths by gun accidents. o The October 14th issue of GunWeek magazine reports that the Treasury Department, through the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, has halted all firearm imports into the U.S. According to BATF officials, this action was taken upon orders that came from the White House. Previous news reports had indicated that Treasury officials were worried at how requests to import more than 7 million Russian firearms had been received to date in 1994. o The American Association of Physicians for Human Rights admitted that it was a gay rights organization by changing its name to the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association; this change was done on Tuesday, "National Coming Out Day." The association has 1550 members, and executive director Ben Schatz noted that the group's purpose has always been "to eliminating the necessity of the closet," so the name change reflects its "obligation to be out and honest and clear about who we are." Schatz, though, insisted that the group had always been honest about its support of gay rights initiatives. o Former allied commander General Norman Schwarzkopf was asked Tuesday about what Saddam Hussein was trying to do in the Gulf with his troop movements. Schwarzkopf admitted that he didn't have a clue, saying "I spend eight months trying to get into Saddam's head and predict what he'd do. I finally decided to pick the stupidest course of action he could take, and I'd come pretty close." Schwarzkopf did give one possible theory for Saddam's actions, saying that to Hussein, "If you compromise with him, you lose. So he sends his troops down, gets everybody worked up, then pulls them back and says `see what a good guy I am? Now send Jimmy Carter over and let's talk!'" Schwarzkopf admitted, however, "having said all of that, it beats me what he's doing." o The Santa Cruz (CA) City Council declared last Monday to be "Indigenous People's Day," changing it from the traditional Columbus Day. The city council's resolution said the change was needed because Columbus' arrival was an "invasion," and American Indians were killed by the diseases Europeans brought with them. Skip Tara of Stagnaro Brothers Seafood, though, wasn't impressed, saying that "it didn't surprise me because they've done so many odd things. We try not to get excited when they go stupid like they do." Santa Cruz, like Berkeley, which several years ago adopted the new holiday, is the site of a University of California campus. o White House Counsel Abner J. Mikva released a report saying that Tony Coelho would have to give up his chairmanship of the President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities because of his work for the Democratic National Committee. However, Mikva also ruled that Coelho wouldn't have to disclose his business dealings with the firm he works for, Wertheim Schroder Investment, nor would he have to reveal his clients. Mikva rejected Common Cause's insistence that Coelho disclose his private interests, saying that federal ethics laws requiring such disclosure for public employees don't apply to Coelho, who's a "special employee, at best." Furthermore, Mikva said that while Coelho couldn't be chairman of the President's commission, he could still serve on its panel. o According to Lee Se-ki, member of the South Korean ruling party, the United States was going to give North Korea five years to open up its nuclear facilities to international inspection. This compromise was reached at talks in Geneva, but Se-ki warned that South Korea, which wants the inspections before it replaces North Korea's current aging nuclear plants, will take issue with the delay. LEST WE FORGET The following are from the Rush Limbaugh show on Thursday, October 15, 1992: o Geno from Tampa Bay, FL said he was an ex-Republican party aide and worker, and he was concerned that the Republican party and Bush had dug themselves into a hole. When Geno worked for the party, it was a "cloth coat party" but had become a "mink coat party" that no longer represented the average person. GOP officials were wining and dining top CEO executives and giving them everything they wanted, including the S&L bailout. Geno thought a lot of southern Democrats who supported Reagan were going back to the Democrats or Perot; in 1980 they didn't like the liberal "bullcrap" but in 1992 they didn't like how the Republican party seemed to be a shill for the wealthy. Rush agreed that this was the popular image of the GOP today, but he noted the party still had a lot of people who were frustrated at its patrician image. Regardless of how the 1992 elections went, Rush knew there would be a four-year battle over the soul of the Republican party. o Kathleen Baylog of Upland, CA filed a lawsuit against Bill Clinton because the prospect of having a draft-dodger and Communist sympathizer as President was causing her "emotional distress." o A Congressional committee started probing charges of illegal links between the 1988 Bush campaign and the independent group that created the Willie Horton ad. CBS News reported that the FEC received an anonymous tip that the woman who was part of the group that developed the ads might have been given newspaper clippings about Horton from a researcher for the 1988 Bush campaign. o Amy Pagnazi called Rush "an ornery ozone-sucker" in her column in the NY Post. Pagnazi, though, was most upset that Senator Al Gore blew it in the Vice Presidential debates by not pinning Quayle down on environmental issues; this bothered her because she thought that Bush and Quayle, "abetted by that ornery ozone-sucker Rush Limbaugh," had given environmental issues lip service by implementing only "limp-wristed" regulations. In a similar vein, Pete Hamill wrote a column in the NY Post attacking Republican "chicken hawks"; Hamill wrote that it was inexcusable that Republicans were investigating Clinton's past and draft-dodging, because "now they insist the war should have been fought as long as it was by others. `They' include Richard Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Rich Bond, Pat Buchanan, and other Republican bravos." Rush noted that Hamill was just one of many liberals who were trying to portray conservatives as people who loved war and loved seeing people die. This was their complaint about Reagan - that he would send the sons of America's poor off to die. Conservatives, though, never liked war, but at least they understood what war was about - killing people and breaking things. Conservatives never liked war, and wanted to end it and its horrors as quickly as they could. This was why leaders such as Schwarzkopf were honored, not because they were bloodthirsty warmongers, but because they understood the true nature and horrors of war. Rush admitted that if Clinton opposed the way the Vietnam War was fought, then Rush would agree with him - LBJ built up US military forces to 500,000 but these soldiers weren't allowed to do what they needed to win. However, if Clinton opposed what the war was all about, then Rush had a serious disagreement with him about it. All one had to do was to look at what happened when the US lost the war and pulled out - hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people were slaughtered in Cambodia. Stopping the tyranny of Communism was a worthy goal. o Senator Alfonse D'Amato, running for re-election, was called a "fascist" by his opponent, Robert Abrams, and by an Abrams' supporter Gloria Steinem. The term "fascist" was particularly offensive to the Italian D'Amato, and Abrams apologized to Italians for his use of the term, but insisted that "fascist" was an accurate description of D'Amato's "misleading and disruptive campaign tactics." Gloria Steinem then said she supported Abrams because D'Amato was not only a fascist but an outright nazi as well, claiming "D'Amato's anti-abortion positions exactly replicate those of the Nazis. The first thing the National Socialists did when they were elected to power between the wars in Germany was to padlock the family planning clinics and to declare an abortion a crime." Steinem had previously said that the "patriarchal society" in America was based on Nazi roots. o In 1991 Ross Perot paid 6.8% of his income in taxes, compared to the average tax rate for the entire country of 11%. Perot paid only $15.8 million in taxes on his $230.4 million income by heavily investing in tax-free municipal bonds. "That's pretty good," Rush remarked. o The Los Angeles Times reported that the new season's syndicated TV shows were receiving lower ratings than their lead-in shows; "`You Bet Your Life,' `The Whoopi Goldberg Show,' `Rush Limbaugh,' `Star Search,' `Vicki!,' `Infatuation,' and `That's Amore' were all receiving, on average, lower ratings than their lead-in programs" in the top 25 US markets. However, the Times noted that "Limbaugh has been the only one to show any growth at this early juncture," plus Rush's show had "come the closest to meeting his projected numbers." Whoopi Goldberg's show, however, had taken a drop of 0.5 points since its debut, and its syndicator reported it would have to give "make-goods" (free advertising time) to some of its advertisers. o NOW president Patricia Ireland spoke at a noon rally in Santa Rosa, CA, and the local newspaper presented the story as if a huge crowd appeared, even though only 50 people showed up. o Mikhail Gorbachev denied that when he was President of the USSR he failed to disclose that Soviet leaders ordered the execution of 14,000 Polish officers during WWII. "I didn't hide anything that I knew," stated Gorbachev. o Rush devoted another hour to callers who were supporting Clinton. Quentin from Kensington, MD said he was voting for Clinton because of the "total decadence that I've observed in the 12 years of the Reagan/Bush administration." Bridget from West Hartford, CT said she supported Clinton because during the 80s, Republicans encouraged everyone to spend all their money and use credit; because of that everyone was faced having to pay back the piper. Bridget said she had just graduated from college and was still unemployed. She had lived with a friend of hers, though, for a while in the East Village, which "is not pretty." This was quite a contrast to the upper middle class home and community she grew up in, and she was shocked to realize that her "fantasyland" idea of America as a "land of prosperity in which everyone is taken care of" was wrong. She lived in East Village for a month and saw children playing with rats and glass in the gutters, with their 14-year old mothers standing nearby. One day she went to the neighborhood grocery store and the clerk asked if she would be paying cash. Bridget assumed that the clerk was asking if she was going to use a credit card, but she realized her mistake when the cash register was opened and "there were food stamps there piled a mile high." "I had the audacity," stated Bridget, "to come in from the upper West Side and ask if I could charge my groceries. How dare I, as an American citizen, be that out of touch with what is going on in our country! That is no different than Mr. Bush one year ago going into a grocery store and saying `oh, gee, isn't that cool, these scanner things.' This man has not been in a grocery store for 35 years. This man has no idea of how hard I had to work to get through college. Mr. Bush has no idea of what we, as average human beings in his country want or need, or what our daily needs are." Bridget went on to say that America was giving "billions to Russia, billions - B-I-L-L-I-O-N-S - to Russia? We need it right here! Those kids didn't eat that evening!" Rush asked how Bridget could think that the government was not doing enough for the poor when she herself saw a cash register drawer piled high with food stamps. She didn't think it would be an easy four years under Clinton and Gore, but she felt betrayed by Bush's administration, especially with his many scandals. Her friends at Fordham had to die because Bush sold arms to Iraq and then had to fight a war. Rush asked how many of her friends died in Iraq, and Bridget replied "one kid in New York" that she knew died. Tim from Weimar, CA said that the first Presidential debate changed his mind. Clinton told the entire nation that Arkansas was the number one state in creating new and high-paying jobs. If Clinton could do this in his 12 years as Arkansas' governor, then he could do the same thing for the rest of the country. The fact that Bush didn't refute Clinton on his claim must have meant it was true. ******** MORNING UPDATE The October 10th issue of the Army Times has a story headlined "Perry Seeks Directive on Non-Lethal Warfare Feat." Defense Secretary William Perry has directed the Pentagon to purchase and use non-lethal weapons for humanitarian and peace-keeping missions, which makes Rush wonder if Perry is following Joycelyn Elders' advice about safer guns and safer bullets. According to Perry, though, in military operations such as those in Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, and other global hotspots, "non-lethal weapons can make available significant new capabilities - they can minimize fatalities and undesired damage to property and the environment." Rush can't believe that what's being considered here is a compassionate and politically correct, environmentally friendly military. Rush wonders if Perry is going to arm his troops with pepper spray or mace; should they be given slingshots and warned not to put anyone's eye out? Maybe some assault frisbees could be issued? Somalia, though, was supposed to be a humanitarian "meals on wheels" type mission, but it ended up with American soldiers being killed by those whom America was supposed to be helping. Rush notes that the administration obviously doesn't understand that the purpose of the military is to kill people and break things; this sounds harsh, but it's true - military missions are not scouting expeditions or environmentally-friendly crusades or field trips. U.S. troops need weapons that kill because this is how they save their own lives; Perry's idea is a bad idea that will cost American lives. FIRST HOUR Items o The paperback version of "See, I Told You So," complete with a new chapter, is now in stores nationwide. The EIB staff think this is an "election year plot," but Rush would prefer to call it an "election year bonus." He notes that this paperback has been in some stores for a while, but national distribution was achieved only yesterday. Rush discovered this fact, though, only last night when he got some paperback versions of his second book to sign. He adds that the extra chapter in this book deals with the challenges that the Republican party faces in the near future. o The November elections are starting to heat up, and the polls are now showing that President Clinton's approval rating dropped when he sent troops to the Gulf. The Times Mirror poll shows Clinton has a 38% approval rating, down from 43%, which is an amazing thing. Meanwhile, the Democrats' strategy for the November elections is to run against Ronald Reagan and the 80s, and Rush really has to wonder if they know what they are doing. His TV show last night was a tribute to the 80s and Ronald Reagan, showing the truth about Reaganomics and the economy of the 80s, and it showed the folly of the Democrats running against this. President Clinton spoke to a crowd of at most 1,000 people yesterday at Dearborn, MI, telling them that the Republican contract with America was a "throwback to the 80s." Clinton even said that the 80s had the worst job growth since the Great Depression, which is an incredible, bold-faced lie. When Rush heard this, he decided to illustrate just what the 80s were. He finds it amazing that the Democrats are running against the 80s, as opposed to running on their record or their President's record. No Democrat, though, is running on Clinton's agenda or their party's agenda; instead, they're continuing to run against the 80s, of all things. The Democrats have latched onto the Republicans' contract with America because they're scared by it; they're scared by a prospect of returning to the 80s because the 80s worked. Liberal Democrats as a rule think that what makes America great is bigger and better government programs; any time a problem surfaces, their pat answer is to commit more money, more resources to the problem. Republicans, though, believe that freedom is what has made and still makes America great; this freedom allows ordinary people to become extraordinary people, and the 80s put these two philosophies in stark contrast to one another. The 80s saw the creation of 21 million new jobs, and they weren't minimum wage "hamburger-flipper" jobs, but good, high-paying jobs of substance. Rush wants to repeat what he did on his TV show last night to document how even though all Americans received a reduction in their tax rates, the percentage of total taxes paid by the upper 5% of wage earners went up 11% after these tax cuts. If the Democrats want to run against this, Rush will be more than happy to take them on and accept the challenge of defending the 80s and Ronald Reagan. The liberals' view on all this was epitomized by an editorial in yesterday's Washington Post which opined that there shouldn't be any middle class tax cut because "Washington doesn't have the money to give the middle class a tax cut." In other words, the Post actually seems to think this money belongs to Washington, but most Americans know this money isn't the government's, but that of working taxpayers. This is the difference between liberals and conservatives - the liberals believe all money belongs to Washington, and that whatever people end up with is due solely to the beneficence of those in Washington. Rush would tell them, though, "Washington, it ain't your money," and it's about time that those inside the Beltway stop thinking they are entitled to the wealth that is created by Americans. Americans are tired of hearing this sort of thing, so today Rush will issue statistics and figures that give the truth about the 80s and why they worked. o Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) seems to have already lost his mind. Hollings had previously stated that Rush had changed his position on GATT because of pressure from GE, which allegedly "owned" his station, a charge which Rush has refuted. However, on CompuServe this morning Rush found some email informing him that Hollings is continuing to make this ridiculous accusation. In a Senate hearing this morning, Hollings again stated that Rush used to be against GATT but is now in favor of it because EIB is owned by NBC and its parent company GE. Somehow "pressure" has been brought to bear on Rush to get him to `change his mind.' Rush notes, though, that he is not owned by GE at all, nor is anything he does touched by them in any way. EIB is an independent, entrepreneurial company, and the closest it gets to any network is ABC, which owns EIB's flagship station WABC and which distributes Rush's show over its ABC Satellite Distribution services. The closest Rush ever gets to GE is when he sits on a jet that has an engine manufactured by GE or when he's in the Rainbow Room in the GE Building. Furthermore, Rush hasn't taken any firm position on GATT one way or another because he's still researching it and learning about it. Rush thus doesn't know who is Hollings' source on this, but it's obvious that Hollings is not listening to Rush's radio show or watching his TV show. Interestingly enough, by the way, the GE PAC has been one of Hollings major contributors over the years, while in contrast GE has contributed nearly nothing to Rush - he doesn't even own any GE appliances. The only possible way that GE contributes to Rush's coffers is that EIB advertises a few CNBC programs on Rush's radio show. Thus, Senator Hollings must have lost his mind, or else he's got some bizarre source which he trusts implicitly. Rush marvels at it all. o Jesse Jackson said that the reason he was going to Haiti with Aristide this Saturday was because he wants to "protect" the Haitian leader. Rush, though, has found out what has happened to all 40 of Haiti's previous leaders; Cedras, of course, hopped a plane to Panama last night, and Rush for a moment thought he was watching the movie Casablanca. Meanwhile, the White House has announced that it is unfreezing the bank accounts of Haiti's former leaders. Another word for this, Rush notes, is "payoff." *BREAK* Phone Bob from Yelm, WA Bob saw Rush's TV show last night and was very moved by how it reminded him of the good times of the 80s. As he watched the show, he also remembered that when President Reagan talked about the opposition party, it was always with respect, with the assumption that those in the opposition were good intentioned but mistaken; his goal was always to unite the nation. President Clinton, though, is exactly the opposite - he talks about the opposition with venom and hatred, with the goal of dividing the nation. Rush agrees - Reagan never got mad, but kept smiling and was courteous. The current President, though, works hard at creating division, and those who think Republicans are obstructionists and divisionists should look at the Democratic party; the Democrats have been far more divisive, not just during the past 12 years, but even now, governing against the popular will more than any other President in current memory. Rush lists the Presidents since WWII: Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton. He asks which one of these Presidents took the most time bragging of his successes, and which took the most time complaining he didn't get enough credit for his successes. Was it JFK? LBJ? Ronald Reagan? Did President Reagan go on TV every night to boast about the jobs he's created or did he complain about not getting enough credit? During the Reagan administration did the media ever do the soul-searching it's doing now about why the President isn't getting the credit he deserves? Why does President Clinton stomp his feet and complain about not getting any credit, while insisting he's not to blame for anything bad? Is this a character issue or a generational issue? Does this say something about Bill Clinton or is it an indication of a generational shift? Rush thinks the answers to all these questions are obvious. He recalls how Clinton quickly passed the buck even back in the beginning of his administration, such as the Waco massacre, and this sort of thing continues even now. *BREAK* Phone Liz from Portland, ME Liz says she thinks that the reason Clinton's ratings have dropped is because nobody has any confidence in that "Bubba-head." It's one thing to send troops to deal with Haitians who are 100 years behind the times, and another to deal with the truly dangerous types who are in the Middle East. Rush observes that the Democrats are complaining that the people of America are ambivalent about the 80s, or even that the people don't want a return to the 80s; the Democrats really think this approach will sell and win elections. At the same time, though, the Democrats act as if the people really care about Haiti and really think it's worth sending 20,000 American troops to reinstall Aristide. It's obvious that the Democrats are misreading the minds of the American people. Liz agrees, but confesses she is scared by what's happening in the Middle East and how Clinton is way out of his league. Rush notes that the Middle East is all about oil, no matter what others might want to think. Everything involving Hussein, Iraq, and Kuwait has to do with oil, and Rush recalls that during the Gulf War, James Baker admitted that the Gulf War was about jobs - jobs in the oil industry, in the industries that depend upon oil, etc. Today's Washington Post has a column by Hobart Rohan about this, which says in part: "It was not a misreading of Bill Clinton - Saddam did not imagine, as some have suggested, that Clinton would chicken out and not respond. To the contrary, Saddam knew precisely that Clinton had no choice but to spend a couple billion dollars to reinforce the Kuwait defense troops with a huge American force. Rather, Saddam gave Clinton three alternatives, none of which is desirable from the standpoint of the U.S. and its closest ally in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia: "He could mount a costly war, chasing Saddam to Baghdad and beyond. He could keep a garrison force in the Gulf for perhaps the next 50 years. Or he could enter into a negotiation that would lift the sanctions and make Saddam a respectable member of international society. "Well, for Clinton, this poses a dilemma - the Saudis are under great financial pressure because of the declining costs of oil and their rising budget outlays. The last thing King Fahd wants to see is a revivified Iraq capable of producing 6.5 million barrels of oil a day, which will keep oil prices on the very low side for a long time. Anything that Clinton decides to do in the Gulf will need Saudi support. "And how can Saddam be trusted? The simple answer is that he can't be, and therein lies Clinton's `catch-22.' The underlying lesson for the President is that foreign policy will almost always emerge as a responsibility at least equal to domestic problems, and during the 1992 campaign, Clinton all but ignored foreign policy issues. He knows better know, and that's likely to make him a better President over the next two years than he was in his first two." Rohan continues on to note that even assuming that Iraq pays 30% of all oil revenues to Kuwait for war reparations, as required by the 1991 cease-fire, its capacity of 6.5 million barrels of oil per day means Hussein would keep the revenues of 4.5 million barrels a year. This would make it a major rival to Saudi Arabia and drive down the cost of oil world-wide. Rohan quotes one oil expert that Russian, French, and Italian companies are discovering all sorts of new oil fields in Iraq, and the French are not supporting the idea of creating an expanded demilitarized zone within Iraq that is forbidden to Iraqi troops. This is because the French are depending on oil revenues from Iraq. Meanwhile, Hussein owes Russia about $6 billion, so Yeltsin is a strong supporter of Saddam, and therefore he might oppose any further military actions against Hussein. The lesson is that this entire situation is about oil, and how countries that need oil money don't want to see Iraq flooding the market with oil, which he would do if the embargo were lifted because he needs the money, too. Also, it has to be remembered that Hussein's express objective, as is the case with all dictators, is to stay alive and stay in power. Hussein doesn't care about his own people, about the economic plight of his country, or any of that; all he cares about is his own plight, and he needs oil to keep himself in power. The Saudis, though, don't want to see Hussein pumping more oil because that will drive the price of oil down, hitting into their profits. In short, this whole issue is about oil, and it's ironic that Clinton is being forced to base his foreign policy on capitalistic concerns which he is rejecting here at home. People might not like hearing that American troops are being expected to fight for oil, but oil is essential to American freedoms and sovereignty. *BREAK* Rush heard William Gray, Clinton's envoy to Haiti, comment that Aristide was a Catholic priest, a brilliant and compassionate man, so there could be nothing wrong with him. It seems that whenever Aristide's religion is mentioned, it's considered a bonus and a positive. However, should any American conservative have any religious connections, all hell breaks out. It's okay for Aristide to be a defrocked priest and praised for that religious tie, but Americans who have similar religious ties are portrayed as threats to America and democracy. "There's so much hypocrisy out there," Rush observes. Phone Jennifer from Washington, DC Jennifer says that if George Bush had sent U.S. troops all the way into Baghdad in 1991, there would have been a slew of terrorist attacks in the U.S.; the Arab world would have viewed the U.S. as invaders, and there would have been a lot of World Trade Center type bombings. People should remember this danger when they think about what the U.S. did during the Gulf War; Rush agrees, and adds that any invasion of Baghdad would have broken up the Arab portion of the allied coalition. Jennifer also thinks that if the U.S. had invaded Baghdad, there would be no peace process going on right now because the Arab world would not have trusted America any longer. Without the U.S. being there as a trusted intermediator, the Arabs would never have agreed to talks with Israel. Rush adds that if Iraq had been totally humbled, Iran would have only been strengthened and encouraged. Most people understand these things; it's only the ignorant who are claiming that the U.S. should have gone all the way to Baghdad during the Gulf War. Jennifer also wonders if Colin Powell will be hurt by this trend, given that he didn't want to go to Baghdad either; will the people criticizing Bush for "not finishing the job" similarly criticize Powell? Rush doubts it because Powell has such a reservoir of good will that this sort of thing won't hurt him. General Norman Schwarzkopf hasn't been hurt because he wanted to go in, and Powell hasn't been hurt by the fact that he originally opposed sending in the troops. However, once Powell got his orders, he carried them out, doing what he was told what to do. Jennifer agrees, saying that this is a debatable issue, given that nobody knows what would have happened had the U.S. forces advanced on Baghdad. However, she just has to wonder if this sort of thing will hurt the undercurrent of support for Powell. Rush says only time will tell, but Powell is highly respected right now, although there are some people who aren't smitten by him. Powell could be hurt by some things should he assume a major political position, such as running for President or becoming Secretary of State. Right now, though, Powell isn't really much of a target, and nobody is going to attack him for carrying out his orders. Rush would love to hear from anyone in the audience, though, who thinks that the U.S. should have continued on into Baghdad to get Saddam. The Gulf War, though, was not about getting Saddam, but about oil. *BREAK* Phone Mark from Wentzville, MO Mark did some research on what Rush said about taxes and the 80s on last night's TV show because he couldn't understand why people were criticizing the 80s so much. He quickly figured it out, though - the people who griped the most about Reaganomics and the 80s were from the states with the highest taxes: New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, etc. The high taxes in these states is why businesses left those states and why those states' economies did so poorly. It wasn't the 80s that caused these problems, but Democratic policies that had taken hold over those states. It was the liberals' high state taxes that destroyed those states, not Reagan's federal policies, and that's why the liberals are complaining about the 80s. Rush notes that the average liberal citizen complains about the tax breaks given to the rich, and Mark agrees this is what they do, but it's not true at all. Rush tells Mark to stay tuned, because this is what he will be talking about at the top of next hour's monologue. *BREAK* SECOND HOUR Items o Rush got a scathing note from some guy on CompuServe who called Rush a fool because he tried to download Rush's response to FAIR by entering GO RUSH DL. Rush again reminds everyone that you have to GO RUSHDL (no space between RUSH and DL) to get these files. "Do you follow instructions?" Rush asks, obviously unaware that for a brief second in time he is sharing the same sense of frustration that every single tech support guy feels every day while on the job. o The paperback version of "See, I Told You So," complete with a new chapter, has now reached national distribution. "Let's go for number one again, folks!" Rush encourages. o Rush repeats that Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) is way offbase in saying that Rush has 1) changed his position on GATT because 2) of pressure brought by GE. o Rush's TV show last night was a retrospective on the 80s, which Rush feels passionately about. He's tired of liberals trying to cast the 80s as one of the worst economic periods in American history. This charge is being made by many Democrats, including President Clinton who recently claimed that job growth during the 80s was the worst since the Great Depression. Yet the 80s saw 21 million new jobs created, and according to Labor Department figures, only 6% of them paid less than $7,000 a year in 1984 dollars, which puts the lie to the Democrats' claim that Reagan created only minimum wage, "hamburger-flipper" jobs. Yet during the Carter administration, 42% of the jobs created were minimum wage jobs. Furthermore, during Reagan's administrations, 46% of the jobs created paid between $7,000 and $28,000 a year; in contrast, this figure was 68% during the Carter years. Sharp-eyed listeners will notice that so far, Carter's figures come out to 110%, but this is because during the Carter years, the nation lost 10% jobs that paid more than $28,000 a year. During Reagan's administration, however, 46% of jobs created paid more than $28,000. Thus, the jobs that were created during the Reagan years were about equally divided between those paying between $7,000 and $28,000 and those paying more than $28,000, with a very small amount paying less than $7,000. In contrast, most of the jobs created during Carter's administration paid between $7,000 and $28,000, nearly half paid less than $7,000 a year, and the nation lost jobs that paid more than $28,000 a year. It should thus be clear that Reaganomics did not create "hamburger-flipper" jobs, although this is what happened during the Carter years. Clinton, though, is claiming that the 1980s were the worst period of job creation since the Great Depression. Furthermore, between 1981 and 1988 an interesting thing happened to the rich in terms of taxes; the Democrats claim that the rich got an unfair tax break during the rich, with everyone else's taxes going up. Clinton, Robert B. Reich, and liberals are all making this claim, but they are wrong, and they know it. In 1981, the top marginal tax rate was 70% and the top 5% of wage earners were paying 35% of federal income taxes; the bottom 50% of wage earners was paying 8%. In 1988, though, the top marginal rate was only 28%, yet the top 5% of wage earners were paying more than 46% of federal income taxes, an increase of 11%, in spite of the fact that tax rates went down. The reason for this apparent paradox is that because of the lower tax rates, high-income workers were producing more, earning more, and declaring more income, therefore paying more in taxes. Sheltering their income was no longer cost effective, so the taxes paid by the rich went up, even though their tax rates went down; there just wasn't the incentive any more to try to hide or avoid additional income. This was also why federal revenues grew from $515 billion in 1981 to $985 billion in 1988 - because entrepreneurs and others were able to keep more of what they made, they pushed themselves more, worked harder, and took more risks, thereby creating a lot more wealth. Because there wasn't as much incentive to shelter income, it got taxed, resulting in higher federal revenues, in spite of the lower tax rates. Meanwhile, while the bottom 50% of the income earners in 1981 paid 8% of the total tax burden, after Reagan's tax cuts, they were paying only 6% in 1988. In other words, the bottom half of wage earners - the poor and lower middle class - were paying less in taxes than they were before. Furthermore, in 1981, the top 1% of wage earners were paying 18% of the total tax burden, but this jumped to 28% by 1988, when Reagan left office. If the Democrats want to claim that this is unfair and the rich "not paying their fair share," then Rush will be more than happy to take them on. He promises to get the facts out to the American people, using facts from the Joint Economics Committee, the IRS, and Department of Labor. These aren't fake statistics, but rather the cold, hard numbers from the U.S. government. If the Democrats think they can win by running against the 80s, where everyone benefited, then Rush will also be more than happy to remind them that inflation in 1980 was 13.5%, but it dropped to 4.6% when Reagan left office in 1988. Yet the 80s saw the strongest period of peacetime growth since WWII and the strongest economic recovery of the nine since then, but this was done without rampaging inflation. The fact is that the Democrats are running against Reaganomics not because it failed but because it worked too well, and because the Democrats don't dare mention Clintonomics and their own President. *BREAK* Phone Dick from Brookline, MA Dick says that Rush's monologue on Tuesday about why Americans are "surly" towards those in Washington was one of the finest he's heard, but he still has to complain about how Rush is praising Reagan without mentioning how the deficit shot up during his eight years. The deficit had been going down before Reagan, but the Democratic Congress zapped it back up, using it as ammunition against the Reagan years ever since. He'd thus love Rush to explain this again. Rush again notes that the federal revenues nearly doubled, from $515 to $985 billion, during the Reagan years. However, the deficit still exploded, so if the revenues were going up so much, then the problem has to be on the spending side. Thus, Reagan's tax cuts cannot be responsible for the deficit. Dick agrees, and Rush notes that the Democrats are still trying to claim the deficit is the result of Reagan's tax cuts. While Reagan can't escape the fact that he didn't keep the deficit down, the fact still remains that those deficits resulted not from Reagan's tax cuts but from the fact that members of Congress couldn't contain their out of control spending. *BREAK* Rush admits he can't defend the deficits of the 80s, especially since Reagan got the budgets and spending that he wanted; Reagan went out to rebuild the military, and he succeeded in this. It's only because of this that Clinton now has the F-117, the cruise missiles, the stealth bombs, etc. which he might soon be using in the Gulf. Some of this technology started during the Carter years, but it was Reagan who built the military back up and got those weapons in production. Reagan also authorized the Tax Equity and Fiscal Reform Act (TEFRA) during his term; this was the largest tax increase in history at that time, but it also included spending cuts which never happened. Congress never followed through with its pledge to come up with these cuts. Reagan, unfortunately, signed a couple of other deals like this - accepting tax increases in exchange for future spending cuts - and again Congress never came through. Meanwhile, though, the Democrats are claiming that the deficits are purely Reagan's fault - because he spent too much on the military, because he got his tax cuts, because he gave tax breaks to the rich, etc. The Democrats running for re-election in 1994 are still trying to claim this, but their claims are absurd. Reagan cut taxes and raised revenues during the 80s, so the tax cuts can't be responsible for the deficits. Furthermore, if revenues were nearly doubled, but the deficits went out of control, then isn't it spending that was the problem? And it wasn't military spending, but entitlement and welfare spending which have risen to obscene levels; as if this weren't bad enough, these government programs are destroying the family, destroying self-esteem, destroying a sense of personal initiative and responsibility - there's an entire class of dependent people being created, and this is criminal. The Washington Post yesterday shed some light on how those in Washington think about this by claiming that the government doesn't have the money to give the middle class a tax cut, as if all money belonged to Washington, which therefore had the sole right to decide how it's spent. But this is not Washington's money, much less money to "give"; the only thing Washington does is take the money that others earn. If the Washington Post, though, believes this, then elected officials must believe it far more. So while the deficit is a problem and it did become a major problem in the 80s, the deficit was a result of ballooning spending; the American taxpayer is not to blame because they didn't pay enough taxes during the 80s. Similarly, the solution to the deficit is not higher taxes - tax cuts didn't cause the problem, so higher taxes won't solve it; the solution is responsible spending and responsible handling of the debt. The administration financed the debt by using the short-term bonds, and higher interest rates are going to send debt financing costs higher now, as those bonds get turned over. The administration's own figures show that the deficit could reach $300 billion by 1997 or 1998. People have to understand the truth about this, especially since Rush seems to be the one lone voice among the media who is telling the truth about the 80s, and the assault against the 80s continues. The Washington Post, for example, reports that Clinton's pollster Stanley Greenberg wrote a letter on October 12th to the Democratic leadership in Congress, telling them that "the message is much more powerful when it includes references to Reaganomics and Reagan's trickle-down policies." Greenberg found that voters had more negative than positive feelings towards "trickle-down," "Reaganomics," and "Star Wars" than other buzz words of the 80s. Among undecided voters, 48% responded negatively and 23% responded positively towards "Reaganomics." Greenberg also advises Democrats to link the GOP's contract with America to negative terms such as "explode the deficit," "trickle-down economics," "tax cuts for the wealthy," "billions in defense increases," and "cuts in Medicare." However, when "Ronald Reagan" and "the 1980s" were mentioned, voters more than two-to-one tested responded positively. Rush thus wants Republicans to force Democrats into saying they are running not against Reaganomics, but Ronald Reagan and the 80s. Rush hopes listeners are not fooled by the Democrats, and also remember that the only way to balance the federal budget is to reduce the amount of spending. The country just can't take more and more money arbitrarily from the American public; the people in Washington have to live by the same rules that everyone else has to live by and live within their means. Tony Coelho, though, loves to say that it's "time to pay the bill for the party in the 80s," but in reality the time to pay the bill is November 8, when those who have spent this country into debt are voted out of office. Paying the bill does not mean the American people paying more in taxes. The American people are not to blame because they didn't cause the deficit by getting a tax cut; instead, the American people generated the biggest economic recovery since WWII, simply because they got to keep more of their own money. Rush will always believe that he wage-earner can spend their money than someone in Washington, but those in Congress actually believe that they can spend people's money better and more morally than they themselves can. People shouldn't believe this, though, and they should never believe that they're at fault for the deficit simply because they got to keep more of their money in the 80s. *BREAK* Phone Arlene from Midland, MI Arlene heard on the news that the Haitian military leaders are being allowed into Miami. She wonders why this is being allowed. Rush says this is Clinton's payoff to these guys, but notes that Cedras himself is not going to Miami, although some of his associates are. Arlene, though, wonders why these people, whom Clinton last month said were so terrible, are being allowed into this country. Shouldn't this news be making more headlines than it is? She doesn't think that America should have to make payoffs like this to men such as these. Rush says Arlene should be prepared for more than this, and he bets Cedras is not going to be satisfied with Panama. Sooner or later, Cedras, his wife, and his mistress will go country-shopping again, given that their bank accounts have now been unfrozen. Rush adds that in the third hour he'll describe what happened to the previous rulers of Haiti, and it does not look good for Aristide. But to answer Arlene's question, the reason these guys are being allowed in Haiti is that this is the payoff to them to get them out of Haiti. *BREAK* Phone Holly from Petersburg, VA Holly thinks another thing to remember about why George Bush didn't try to get Hussein during the Gulf War is that if Iraq were thrown into chaos and a civil war, it would probably break into three parts: the Kurds in the north, Iran's Shiite allies in the south, and the Arabs in the middle. This would have been catastrophic, and the Saudis definitely did not want a puppet government of Iran on their borders. Rush agrees - Iraq is a buffer between Iran and the rest of the Middle East, and there are many strategic reasons why it should be kept that way. Phone Marilyn from Coarsegold, CA Marilyn hopes Rush keeps hitting the Democrats on the Reagan years because the 80s were great for the country. The Democrats seem to think they need to warn the country about the 80s, just as they warned the Republicans about the "Christian right." Rush notes that these attacks are really a sign of hysteria and panic because they know the 80s worked. Rush, though, hopes the Democrats keep attacking the 80s - he'll even run DNC Chairman David Wilhelm's commercials for free on his show because it's about time this issue got straightened out and about time that the truth got out about the 80s. Phone Eve from Toledo, OH Eve says that the Canadian Broadcasting System recently did a story about the build-up in Iran, and they referred to Hussein "as a person who is even less popular than Bill Clinton." Rush loves this description and thanks Eve for calling with it. *BREAK* THIRD HOUR Saturday is the big day for defrocked Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who will then reclaim the Presidency of his country, accompanied by the Congressional Black Caucus, Randall Robinson, and Jesse Jackson. Rush, though, has done some research in order to see if he could find out what fate is in store for Father Aristide. His historical researches have discovered that Haiti has had 40 previous rulers since independence was declared in 1804. Of those, only one died of old age, one retired, seven fled to Jamaica, six were overthrown, four fled to parts unknown, three fled to France, three resigned, two (including Aristide) fled to America, two died of illness, the fate of two others is unknown, one was executed, one was shot, one committed suicide, one was blown up, one was poisoned, one was murdered in jail, one was taken hostage, one was dismembered, one had apoplexy, and there were (as far as anyone can tell) zero incidents of "impeachment by voodoo." Obviously, this is not a past history that will comfort Aristide, so it should be obvious why the man never blinks - he's scared out of his mind about what could happen to him. Update Animal Rights (Andy Williams, "Born Free" with gratuitous sound effects including some lame ducks in honor of the November elections) There are three items into today's update: o British scientists who photographed two previously unknown species of octopuses say that they might know why the animals are so rare: two males were trying to mate with each other. This species were seen only once, and one of the observing scientists noted that the unnamed octopuses might be trying to make the best of their bad situation by trying to mate with every other octopus they find, "rather than to leave opportunities for reproduction unexplored." o Ivan the Gorilla is an urban lowland gorilla who was moved to the Atlanta, GA zoo seated in first class, sedated with a fruit juice and tranquilizer gorilla. The gorilla had spent the previous 27 years in display at a Tacoma, WA shopping mall. Ivan's sedative had worn out when the plane landed, though, and his veterinarian remarked "he's just been a trooper! I think he enjoyed the adventure, he's been talking to us, making happy, rumbling sounds!" The vet added at during the trip, people read to the gorilla from Michael Crichton's book "Congo." So the gorilla was talking to the people, and the people were reading to the gorilla. Rush says it's good that they didn't Ivan about Mrithi the Gorilla, star of "Gorillas in the Mist," who was killed during the Rwandan civil war. o The World Wildlife Fund has published its list of the ten most endangered species, and it includes the Asian yew tree, a tiny Middle East tortoise, and a Russian horned antelope. The Fund hopes that action can be taken by 125 governments to protect these species. Rush, though, thinks that given the news in this update, the best thing that can be done to save these species is to put them in a mall. Then they get a sedative cocktail, a first-class trip to Atlanta, and a vet who talks to them and reads top novels to them. *BREAK* Phone James from Austin, TX James notes that during the 1992 campaign, Clinton promised to change the Bush Haitian policy, but then when he was inaugurated, he adopted the Bush policy because it was the right thing to do. James thinks that the liberal media should therefore realize that their criticisms of how Bush "didn't finish the job" are just digging the same hole for Clinton, given that these criticisms are basically saying that Clinton can't get any victory there unless he gets Hussein's head on a lance. Rush says this is a good point - if Clinton doesn't get Saddam Hussein, the media's definition of a successful Gulf mission means that Clinton will have "bungled" it, too. James adds that the liberals in Texas are doing much the same thing with their commercials; they're trying to run against the 80s, but end up just putting their feet in their mouths. James also thanks Rush for his success - five years ago he was delivering and selling pizzas from his car for another company, but he kept listening to Rush's show every day. He got inspired by what Rush said about entrepreneurs and started buying his own equipment at auctions and such. Today he now owns two pizza delivery and carry-out restaurants - The Pizza Guy where the second pizza is always half price; he's making good money now, and the only down thing is that he's in too high a tax bracket. Rush thinks this is a great story and thanks James for calling. He notes that James proves how America is a country where you can create your own job. Phone Rick from the University of Pittsburgh, PA Rick was watching Rush's TV show last night at 1:35 a.m., and Rush remarks that his show got a "major move" in Pittsburgh - from 2:30 in the morning to 1:35. Rick says that during the show, while Rush was talking about Reagan and how the Democrats were running against the 80s and the "most popular living President," a female voice cut in to say "and unlearned." In other words, someone doctored Rush's show with some liberal editorial comment. Rick has this show on videotape, so he'll be glad to send Rush a copy of it. Rush asks Rick what he thought of the show, and Rick says he liked it. He had seen it earlier on a FOX station, but he wasn't able to record it then; however, he did stay up late to catch it in the morning. Rush says this is the first he's heard about his show being edited; he does know he was the only host of his show, so someone had to have done it after the show was uplinked. He puts Rick on hold so Bo can give him EIB's FedEx number so Rick can overnight it to the EIB offices. He thanks Rick for calling with this interesting information. *BREAK* Phone Millie Limbaugh from Cape Girardeau, MO Rush welcomes his mother to the EIB Network, given that today is her birthday. Rush is surprised that his mother is at home, given that she usually goes out to her club with the "Blue-Haired Bloody Mary Gang." She explains that this is scheduled for tomorrow, but Rush's brother, David, and his wife will be taking her to dinner tonight. Rush is glad to hear this, and Mrs. Limbaugh remarks that the show today is really going well. She adds that she, Rush's brother, and his wife went to Washington several weeks ago for Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum Meeting. They flew coach in a DC-9, but she was seated in the first row of coach class, so when she stretched her feet, they at least got to fly first class. Rush chides his mother for not flying first class, and she says she basically did, given that the plane was nearly empty. He remarks that his mother is so devoted to him that she tapes each day's radio and TV show, and she adds that if she misses it, she can always listen to the replay of it later on. Mrs. Limbaugh notes that she and Margaret Thatcher were born on the same day, so they are the same age: 69 years old. Rush remarks that he would have called earlier, but doubted that she would have been home. She says this was the case because she had to talk to the dietician about gaining weight. Rush sighs at how his mother has to go to a hospital to gain weight; why didn't he inherit those genes? He asks what advice his mother got, and she replies that she was told to east some fattening foods. However, she's already doing this - for example, she already had her Carnation Instant Breakfast this morning. Rush laughs at what thin people think are "fattening foods," but Mrs. Limbaugh rebukes her son, noting that she put into the drink three scoops of ice cream, chocolate malt powder, and extra Hershey syrup. Rush agrees that this fits the definition of fattening food and is glad to hear that his mother has things under control. Rush suggests, though, that if his mother wants to gain weight she ought to visit her son in New York and eat what he eats. He wishes her a happy birthday, and she remarks that her birthday wish would be for everyone to understand Rush. Rush says the liberals do understand him - this is why they get so hysterical and panicked. Mrs. Limbaugh notes that the few critics she talks to never seem to listen to Rush too much. Rush is not surprised and hopes to be coming home to see her soon. Mrs. Limbaugh notes that she's got a lot of "homework" (signing copies of his book) waiting for him when he does, and adds that she knows Rush is happy because he talks about Marta all the time. Rush says he is very happy and loves his mother a lot, blowing her a big radio kiss. Rush bets that the Blue-Haired Bloody Mary Gang will now come over in their van and pick his mother up for a celebration. Phone Shirley from Brawley, CA Shirley says that the last hour of the Today show this morning featured Lynn Berman, who on his "Spanning the Globe" feature showed a clip of a football player with his toe on the ground and heel in the air, and a little bird came limping across the field, moving under the football player's arch just as the player put his foot down. The show then cut to Katie Couric, who was trying hard not to laugh. Rush says he saw this clip a week ago, but thought it was a huge moth; it was obviously on its last legs, though, given how it was hobbling across the field. He finds it interesting, though, that Couric was laughing about this, given how she presided over a "live lobster murder" earlier on the show. Shirley adds that Rep. Barney Frank just accused the press of being responsible for everything going wrong with the Clinton administration. This reminds Rush of a column written by USC law professor Susan Estrich that's in today's papers. The headline is "Rush Isn't the Real Problem," but the headline writer obviously didn't read the column because Estrich does think Rush is the problem, or at least part of it. Estrich notes "minorities rule when the majority is sitting on its hands," and she blames Rush for making 39 Republicans change their minds on the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act; she claims most Americans want such reforms, but they were silent while "Limbaugh's supporters were faxing and phoning." Estrich then states "if Rush Limbaugh can kill a bill the majority of American support, it's only because we let him. The problem isn't that democracy has failed but that we haven't worked hard enough to make it succeed." "Zowie!" Rush exclaims, amazed that he's now being accused of killing the lobby bill. He points out that he didn't kill health care either - health care was killed by the health care bill, and the lobby act was killed by the grass roots provisions which Americans didn't want. He thanks Shirley for calling. *BREAK* Phone William from Rockledge, FL William says he knows Americans are dependent on energy, but oil doesn't have to be the only source of that energy. The current political structure, though, is designed for the oil producers, and this is just hampering continued growth. New Zealand, though, is going to put a new fuel system, aquafuel, into production that will reduce its dependency on foreign oil, and he can only hope America eventually look into this new technology. William has been working in the energy business for 20 years, and this aquafuel can work in any standard internal combustion engine without any modifications. Plus, the exhaust of this fuel is cleaner than the air coming in, and producing it will create thousands of new jobs. William has a personal interest in this because his own son will be going to the Gulf, and he'd prefer not to trade red blood for black oil. Rush says America will not produce alternative sources until it has to, and even if the decision were made to switch over now, it still would take decades before its dependence on foreign oil could be ended. Rush knows there are many conspiracy theories about how the oil companies are keeping new technologies off the market, but he's not interested in hearing such stories. The fact is that America is now dependent on oil, so until this changes, America has to conduct its foreign policy to protect its oil sources. Phone Mark from Beachwood, OH Mark asks if Rush thinks Saddam Hussein is trying to interfere with the Israeli peace negotiations, perhaps by sending some Scud missiles over there. Rush doubts it, plus Hussein firing some Scuds at Israel might not interfere with the peace process at all. Mark asks if Rush heard the news about Yasser Arafat receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and Rush says he doesn't know how anyone could give a terrorist a peace prize like this. Arafat has spent his life killing people and blowing things up, and Rush just doesn't see the logic in honoring him for peace. Of course, this is the Nobel prize, and Rush has rarely agreed with their selections of Peace Prize recipients. After all, they gave it to Mikhail Gorbachev, while Rush thinks if anyone deserves it, it's Ronald Reagan who nearly single-handedly defeated the Soviet Communist state, ending the most barbaric country this world has seen. The liberals throughout the 70s and 80s were clamoring for peace, and when Reagan was President, they accused him of wanting to blow up the world. They kept condemning Reagan for his tough stance towards the Soviets, complaining that the U.S. had to "learn how to get along" with them. However, it was Reagan who got peace precisely because he stood up to the Soviets and with his support of Star Wars forced them into a game they could not win. The liberals got what they want, yet they still vilify Reagan. *BREAK* Phone Di from Lincoln, NE Di heard Rush comment yesterday about how most Americans would be surprised at how many taxes they really pay, when you figure in everything from income taxes to sales taxes to government fees, etc. She thus would like to make a challenge - she'd be willing to chart her taxes on a daily basis and give Rush the total at the end of the year. Rush would love to make Di a "field reporter for the EIB Network," and would be glad to work out a "compensation schedule with no taxes" in exchange for her efforts. In fact, Rush says he'd like to get a month-to-month report from her, and passes her on to Bo to set things up.