Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show for Friday, October 14, 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 14, 1994 BRIEF SUMMARY OF TOPICS: Rush lists what's happened to the past rulers of Haiti; Mike Maimone gets suspended for fooling around with a PSA; Rush congratulates Robert W. Morgan for being inducted into the radio hall of fame; listener who's been wearing Uggs for years praises them; Ronald Reagan writes Rush a letter thanking Rush for his TV retrospective on the 80s and the Reagan record; Reagan's letter to Rush shows he understands the importance the people play, and how he has confidence in their abilities; cat and mouse game between Clinton and Hussein has begun; Mathilda Cuomo says if her husband's opponent wins, it'll lead to race riots in New York; Washington Post asks why the voters are "denying" Clinton any credit for the improving economy; Governor George Allen of Virginia signs law forbidding parole for violent crimes such as murder and rape; the U.S. has unfrozen bank accounts for Raoul Cedras, giving him $1 million, and is renting his homes in Haiti for $4,000 each per month; Moffett, OK to get $106,000 of Crime Bill money for new cops, even though it doesn't have a police department, can't afford the 25% of matching funds, and has a total budget of less than $10,000; President Clinton thinks Crime Bill's billions might reduce the federal deficit; the Eagles' new song "Get Over It" attacks the trend towards victimization in America; Rush's lapel pin is a pelican, not a stork, and Marta is not expecting; ABC News and Peter Jennings feature a piece on what to expect if Republicans win Congress, but it was so biased that it could have been written by the Democratic National Committee; Rush explains his statements about American Indians are not motivated by a dislike of them but rather an opposition to how there are those hard at work rewriting the history of America to portray them as perfect humans; two teams of female researchers find that men earn more when their wives stay at home; NRA is running ads against Tom Foley, who insist that he is concerned mainly with his constituents (even though he is suing those same constituents); Democrats are running TV ads against the 80s and Republicans' contract with America; Rush rates the weekend's NFL games; Republican caller is doubting his party loyalties because of GOP's reluctance to take strong action to solve problems with Social Security program and deficit; means testing of Social Security, while a valid step, won't save much money; caller thinks reform of taxes and Social Security is needed; deficit is declining in part because of short-term financing of the national debt, but this will backfire in the future; Rush is for free trade, but hasn't made up his mind about GATT yet; Rush is not worried about GATT's WTO; Howard Kurtz claims U.S. electorate is surly and that this is why attempting adds are so bitter and mean, but in reality voters have a lot of reasons to be angry at government; Rush reads part of a thread on CompuServe about how he's part of the CFR and Trilateralist conspiracy; Compuserve poster thinks Rush is a stooge of the CFR; supposedly, Rush opposed the Clinton health care bill only because his bosses at the CFR needed him to fake some conservative positions one in a while; Nightline piece featuring Phil Gramm and Leon Panetta asks if Republicans are conspiring to make the people hate Congress; the cat and mouse game in the Gulf has already begun; Democrats are not worried about how cities will pay for their share of the Crime Bill cops, but Kansas City doesn't want them because they don't have any extra money; caller updates Paul Westphall's joke about USC and Penn State; caller asks Rush to clarify his beliefs in individualism and conservatism; caller defends "poor Mr. Maimone." LIMBAUGH WATCH October 14, 1994 - It's now day 633 (day 652 for the rich and the dead, and 25 days until the November elections) of "America Held Hostage" (aka the "Raw Deal" which has 829 days left) and 696 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. LEST WE FORGET The following are from the Rush Limbaugh show on Friday, October 16, 1992: o The big news was the Presidential debate in Richmond, VA, but Rush said anyone who thought it was exciting also probably loved to watch PBS documentaries that got awards; at best, the debate was not a good discussion of the issues, but a "public policy seminar." Perhaps the most telling point of the debate was that about 49 minutes into it Bill Clinton gave his view of government: "elections are to determine what the President wants to do. Then you go to Washington, get together with the Congress, and do it." Rush, though, thought the questioner who told Bush to "get off the character issue" was an idiot. The press, however, had an orgy over how this guy put the President in his place, and how Clinton then said he didn't care about Bush's character, but wants "to change the character of the Presidency." Clinton followed this statement up by saying he was concerned whether the people could trust their President to do the right thing. But wasn't trustworthiness an essential part of character? If Clinton were truly concerned about trust, then why wasn't he concerned about character? Rush added that he didn't like anything about the debate except for the fact that it ended. Aside from the stupid format, moderator Carol Simpson was anything but impartial. When a questioner asked about education, Simpson, in a biting, sarcastic, and condescending tone, said "well, let's ask our education President." There were also questions such as "when do you think a black or woman would be President." Rush asked how anyone could answer that in a serious manner, yet when President Bush said he thought Barbara Bush could win, the media pundits insisted this meant Bush had no confidence in himself. John from San Antonio, TX doubted that the audience for the debate was undecided voters, and he noted that Simpson made a point of zinging both Perot and Bush, but conspicuously left Clinton alone. She attacked Bush on education and Perot on how he seemed to have an answer for everything, but didn't have any smart quips to make about Clinton. Jackie from Portland, ME asked why the media thought it had to explain what people had seen with their own eyes and ears; she wished the press would allow the people to make up their own minds on things. In particular, she was sick and tired of watching something like the Vice Presidential debate and then reading two days later that Gore won it. Walter from Richmond, VA was a dittohead who was in the spectator portion of the audience for the Presidential debate, in the "cheap seats getting a nosebleed." He, though, wasn't sure if last night's festivities were a debate or if Bill Clinton was the guest host for an episode of "Amazing Discoveries." Walter noted that the moderator was supposed to be unbiased but then asked leading and biased questions such as "if the education President would take a question?" Walter was also bothered by how one woman asked how the national debt had affected each candidate. Walter also thought the debate was a phony Donahue-esque program, and he laughed at how Clinton pretended to be so caring about everyone and every problem under the sun; Rush said he observed this, too, adding that Clinton hadn't met a baby yet that hadn't had a disease. Cathy from Jersey Shore, PA was impressed with Clinton's theatrics during the debate and wondered why he hadn't been attacked for being an actor, as Reagan was. Cathy had also noticed that every issue was Clinton's "number one issue." She also noted that the November issue of Good Housekeeping magazine listed all of the major issues in the campaign, saying that Clinton would start a "national deadbeat databank" and make it a felony for parents to cross state lines in order to avoid child support payments. The article claimed Clinton would also use the IRS to track down deadbeat parents, as well as report them to credit agencies so as to prevent them from borrowing any money until they paid up on their commitments. o Rush noted that in the Vice Presidential debate, when Vice President Quayle mistakenly said something was on page 304 in Gore's book, the press immediately jumped on his error. Yet when Gore claimed that the economy was the worst in 50 years, the media ignored this. Rush asked why the media, which was so insistent on exposing Quayle's error, was ignoring Gore's mistake. The economy grew by 2% in the first half of 1992, which admittedly was not fast enough to reduce unemployment, but it was growing, a fact at odds with the incredibly negative presentations that the press was putting out. In fact, according to Stanford economics Robert Hall and John Taylor, writing in the NY Times, "in recent months press reporting about the economy has become so pessimistic that it has completely lost touch with reality. The view that America has had the slowest growth in 50 years has become gospel. The view that we are in, or may be in, a period as bad as the Depression is going unchallenged." Hall and Taylor showed that "real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 30% in the Depression, compared with a 1% decline between 1990 and 1991. In the last 30 years, there have many times when growth has been slower than it has been in the last few years." In 1973 unemployment was between 8.5% and 9.0%, and the GDP was down 3%. In 1981 and 1982, unemployment was 10.5%, and the GDP was down 4.2%. In 1992, unemployment is 7.2%, and the GDP is down 1.4%, which is certainly better than in 1973 and 1982. o Gene from Sioux City, IA watched Senator Joseph Biden on CSPAN claim that Bush was out of touch with America because he vetoed Congress' enterprise zone bill and a bill that would have raised taxes on the rich. Gene, though, noted that Bush was elected in 1988 precisely because people did not want taxes raised; thus, Gene had to wonder who was really out of touch - Biden who wanted to raise taxes or the President who did not. o Dave from Trenton, NJ thought that George Bush had a winning campaign commercial if he displayed the Time magazine cover that asked "Bill Clinton, can you trust him?" and then replaced that with the picture of Bill Clinton wearing sunglasses playing the saxophone. This picture would then be moved to the left side of the screen, and next to it would be shown in rapid succession all of the world's trouble spots - Bosnia-Hercegovina, the Middle East, Russia, etc. Again the question would be asked "who can you trust?" Rush said this would be a good ad that made the point, but unfortunately people "don't give a rat's ass about foreign policy." o Bill Keane, artist for the Family Circus comic strip, sent Rush a copy of a political cartoon he did for the October issue of GQ magazine. This was his first attempt at a political cartoon, and it showed all the pitfalls "Little Billy" had to avoid as he "skipped to the nomination." o Vicki from Charlottesville, VA had seen an interesting phenomenon - as the owner of a small business, she had talked to many other owners of small businesses, and all of them were scared to death of a Clinton Presidency. These business people had already assumed that they would have to scale back their businesses, and their only question was how much they would have to downsize in order to pay for Clinton's programs. o Mark from La Mirada, CA noted that Clinton was claiming that trickle-down economics had failed, but in reality it was Washington social spending that had failed to trickle down. Mark said that according to his figures, two-thirds of all government money got "eaten up by bureaucratic moths before reaching the poor." Rush noted that the GAO had already announced that only 28 cents out of every welfare dollar got to the poor. o For months New York Governor Mario Cuomo had been saying that George Bush had to be voted out of the White House because the nation's cities had to be rebuilt, and that only a Democrat would be able to give cities such as New York what they needed (i.e. money). However, after the Richmond Presidential debate Cuomo appeared on NBC to state that when Bill Clinton became President, he would have his hands full turning the country around from the current economic malaise created by Reagan and Bush. Cuomo thus said that because Clinton would be so busy in rebuilding the country, he would not ask him for any help in rebuilding the nation's cities or states. o An Albuquerque man sued the city police for not preventing him from driving drunk. The man, who was paralyzed during a recent drunk driving accident, broke down in tears while on the witness stand as he described how the doctors broke the news to him that he would never walk again. The former construction worker said that the police ordered him not to drive, but allowed him and a friend to walk away. By not preventing the man from driving away, the defendant insisted that the police deprived him of the rights guaranteed to him under a state law that allowed police to drive intoxicated people to their homes, a detox facility, or jail. o Sporting columnist Dave Kindred finally stated what should have been said months earlier about Magic Johnson and AIDS. Kindred wrote that Johnson should tell the public how he got this disease, especially since the statistics on infection of males showed it was really hard for them to be infected through heterosexual sex. Johnson had to have been really promiscuous in order to get this disease, and since he was a role model, he owed it to the country to be more honest about this. o Certain welfare recipients in the Netherlands would be able to qualify for government funds to pay for prostitutes. The government's health secretary reported that she could not rule out "professional sexual relief" for long-term patients in the country's health care facilities. o Clarence from Haines City, FL gave "ozone-sucking dittos," and Rush noticed that he sounded a lot like Governor Clinton. Clarence was less than thrilled with this compliment, but Rush asked him to say the following phrases so EIB could get them on tape: - "The richest got all the breaks in the 80s, saw their income go up and up, while the rest of us saw our taxes go up and our incomes go down. We've got to get rid of this trickle down stuff." - "My plan will destroy America." - "My wife tells me what to do every night." - "These are not the worst times in the last 50 years." - "I don't have any idea of what my policies are really going to do - I just want to be President." - "I am amazed at how easy it has been to fool people into believing I'm a moderate." - "I am amazed at how easy it has been to fool people into believing I'm not a liberal." - "I loathe the military. There needs to be more places like Moscow. They'd love to know what I really did there." - "Gennifer, just be quiet! If you blow it for me it will be the last time you do it for anybody." ******** MORNING UPDATE Tomorrow, Jean-Bertrand Aristide will reclaim the Presidency of Haiti, accompanied by the Congressional Black Caucus, Randall Robinson, and Jesse Jackson. It thus would be interesting to examine the fate that might be in store for this defrocked priest. Rush looked up what has happened to Haiti's 40 previous rulers since independence was declared in 1804, and he found that 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." Rush thinks it's now obvious why Aristide never blinks - he's scared to death. He obviously knows his history and what has happened to his predecessors, so Aristide is going to need a lot of luck - once American troops pull out and Aristide is left home alone, he's going to need some luck, especially since it's highly unlikely the Congressional Black Caucus is going to hang around for long. FIRST HOUR Items o Rush starts off the show by announcing that Tony Lo Bianco will be broadcast engineer both today and Monday because regular engineer Mike Maimone has been suspended for two days without pay for altering one of the PSAs that EIB plays during its "B" time commercial breaks. Earlier this week a woman called to complain about a PSA for panic disorder, and she had some justification, given that Maimone had gussied the PSA up with people screaming, the quacking of a lame duck, and other such noises, all to amuse himself during commercial breaks. Rush admits he knew about this, but in the finest tradition of the current administration, he insists it's not his fault because he had nothing to do about it, so he's axed Maimone for the next two days. "It's not my responsibility," he states, adding that Maimone's doctoring of this PSA was totally unauthorized, and even though this PSA was not supposed to be heard nationally, the fact that it was broadcast on the satellite meant such meddling was not allowed. Rush notes that this is the second such suspension in EIB's long history - as long-memoried listeners might recall, the first suspension was of Bo Snerdley, who dared to interfere with an EIB official poll by broadcasting subliminal messages to the audience which Rush couldn't hear in his headset. Lo Bianco shows how outraged he is about all this by playing the sound of a cuckoo penny whistle, which brings Rush's wrath down on his substitute engineer. Lo Bianco insists it's not his fault because the other staff members forced him to do this. Meanwhile, local EIB thug Mo Thacker comes into the studio to look menacing, but Rush is not worried because Thacker is a member of the United Screenwriters of America, which has no jurisdiction over broadcast engineers. o Rush has long respected Robert W. Morgan of Los Angeles, one of the broadcast industry's giants who helped to revolutionize the top 40 radio business in the late 60s. Morgan will be inducted into a new radio hall of fame in California this weekend, along with Ronald Reagan, Larry King, and three others. Rush thus congratulates Mr. Morgan and the other inductees, but singles out Morgan for long overdue recognition. o Rush received a letter from a listener who has been wearing Uggs for years, long before Rush started advertising them. The listener, who used to be known as "Sky Fargo the Trailsman" when he worked in radio in Michigan, now works in a computer store in Redwood City, and wears his Uggs even now. The man would have written Rush earlier about this but he uses a `real PC,' not a Mac, and his modem stopped working for a while because it had slipped out of its slot. He hopes Rush keeps "giving them hell," although he never talks about Rush at work because these "liberal geeks" in Redwood City would go bonkers. o Rush got another letter dated October 13th from a man who appreciated the retrospective on the 80s that Rush did on his TV show. The man was Ronald Reagan, who writes: "Dear Rush, my staff tell me the phones haven't stopped ringing this morning, and I know your show last night is the reason why. I happened to catch the program myself and was truly humbled by your kind words. It certainly was a walk down memory lane, and you'll never know how much it meant to me, that you boldly defended our record and all we accomplished. "Unfortunately today, we can't escape the so-called experts who are busy chipping away at all we accomplished. Not only our record, but also our convictions and even our integrity. Frankly, I've never been distracted by the revisionists' claim but feel strongly that we should allow our record to stand the test of time. Let history decide - I know it will judge us fairly. "I'm comforted to know that our country is in the capable hands of gifted young individuals like you and your listeners. You are the backbone of our great nation, solely responsible for the success of our worldwide crusade. God bless you and your audience for believing, for having faith in America's future and for making a difference in this world. Keep up the good work. Sincerely, Ronald Reagan." Rush is impressed that President Reagan was watching his TV show, given that EIB didn't tell him in advance about it. Furthermore, he wants a copy of the show since Nancy didn't see it. However, Rush is most impressed by two things which he immediately noticed when he first read this letter, so he rereads the letter, and then notes that Reagan is still not bothered by his revisionist critics; to this day, he still doesn't get mad or angry by this, and Rush will discuss this a bit more after the break. *BREAK* Rush remarks that the first thing he noticed about the letter from President Reagan was the paragraph: "Frankly, I've never been distracted by the revisionists' claim but feel strongly that we should allow our record to stand the test of time. Let history decide - I know it will judge us fairly." Rush wrote about this in his book when he examined his critics and the various ways he could respond to them; some people were telling Rush to just ignore them, while others encouraged a direct approach, taking on the critics immediately, point by point. Reagan, though, obviously chose the first approach - never responding in anger, ignoring attacks such as those against the 80s. Reagan's letter points out just how confident he is about what happened in the 80s - he's so confident about his legacy that he knows history will vindicate both him and it. He doesn't feel a need to respond now, because he knows history will do this for him in time. Rush, though, is not as patient and doesn't want to wait for history to get it right. For example, after Rush did the television show about Reagan, he asked his commie make-up babe, Debra Phillips, want she thought about it. She replied that it was a nice show, "but the 80's are so far away and so long ago - today is the 90s!" Rush told her that economic concepts are timeless and that the 80s worked, but she still thought "it's so far away." Rush, however, notes that the nation even now is looking back in history to find simpler and easier times, so why not look back at the 80s? Rush admits he envies Reagan's attitude, but confesses that he is not so patient to wait for history to make its judgement. He'll thus continue his crusade to get the truth out about the 80s. The second thing Rush noted in Reagan's letter was the paragraph saying: "I'm comforted to know that our country is in the capable hands of gifted young individuals like you and your listeners. You are the backbone of our great nation, solely responsible for the success of our worldwide crusade. God bless you and your audience for believing, for having faith in America's future and for making a difference in this world." In other words, Reagan clearly understands the important role that Rush's audience plays in his show; this was always Reagan's message - he never put the people down or attacked their abilities or intelligence, but rather was convinced that if you could only unshackle the people and give them the freedom they need, ordinary people would and could become extraordinary people. Yet the current leadership of America thinks America is a country full of stupid, lazy people who are incapable of living their lives without the help of big government. Reagan, though, has faith in the American people, in spite of how the left portrays him as an evil ogre who would steal the last bean from a starving homeless person. Reagan's letter, though, illustrates the confidence and optimism he has in the American people; his approach of exalting Americans is in sharp contrast of those who think that Americans in general, and listeners to talk radio in particular, are nothing but a bunch of dolts and fools who don't know what's best for them. Reagan, though, has always had more in common with the average American and more respect for them than anyone in Washington today; the contrast between him and the current administration in this stands out like a beacon. Rush thanks President Reagan for his note. *BREAK* Items o The cat and mouse game between Bill Clinton and Saddam Hussein has begun, just as Rush predicted, and it's all the more worrisome given that Iraq and Russia might be firming up their alliance, with perhaps North Korea jumping in for good measure. o The wives of the New York gubernatorial candidates have jumped into the political fray, with Mathilda Cuomo doing her best Rosalyn Carter impersonation. Rush recalls how Mrs. Carter during the 1980 campaign remarked that her problem with Reagan was that "he makes us comfortable with our prejudices," and now Mrs. Cuomo is attacking Republican George Pataki, claiming that his election will generate race riots. Mathilda Cuomo is insisting that Pataki pits one group against another, and her remarks just illustrate how desperate the Democrats are becoming. o The Washington Post has another "why isn't President Clinton getting any credit?" type of story. This one is titled "Rising Tide Doesn't Lift Clinton," and the piece goes on about how although the economy is recovering, "voters deny Clinton credit on pocketbook issues." This is the most arrogant claim - that the voters are denying Clinton credit, as if he were entitled to the credit just because he's the President. Rush can't recall the press even once writing a story like this about Reagan and Bush; did the press ever ask why Reagan or Bush didn't get the credit they deserved after losing a congressional battle? However, the Post's story is the just the latest in a two-week attempt to revive Clinton. The press, of course, answers this question of why Clinton is not getting any credit by assuming that the American people are idiots who don't know what they want; for example, they assume that the people don't realize that they should want more Haiti operations, and it shows how out of touch the inside the Beltway crowd is. o The governor of Virginia, George Allen, has signed a new law forbidding parole for crimes such as murder, rape, and armed robbery. Governor Allen has warned criminals that his state will no longer tolerate such crimes. o The U.S. not only paid $1 million to get Cedras out of Haiti, but is also paying $4,000 a month to rent each of his three or four homes there. The U.S. also unfroze accounts totalling $79 million which will be distributed to Cedras and his supporters, according to the NY Times. o Two independent surveys, both conducted by teams of women, have data that will "nuke" the foundations of modern feminism, and Rush will talk more about this during the second hour. o Moffett, OK, a town of 340 people, just received its share of the Crime Bill money: $106,000. However, in order to collect this money to hire new cops, the town will have to come up with 25% in matching funds this year, even though its total annual budget is less than $10,000. Furthermore, Moffett city officials pointed out that they don't even have a police department, much less a need for new officers. They were surprised that they got this money, being one of the first of 392 towns in America to get $200 million from the Crime Bill to hire new cops. David Lindsay, one of Moffett's two city counselors, noted that all his town really needs is a part-time officer three nights a week on weekends; "a retired cop who will work cheap, that's all we need," Lindsay noted. Thus, $106,000 of federal funds is going to be given to a town that doesn't even need it or want it, and which couldn't afford to come up with its share of matching funds in any case. This is what the federal government thinks is "saving money." And to top it all off, when President Clinton announced these grants a couple of days ago, he came up with the nonsequitor of the year by remarking that "the genius of this may be that spending this money will reduce the deficit." o Rush had a caller on hold who was going to talk about the Eagles' new song, "Get Over It," but she is no longer on the line. However, Rush has perused the lyrics of this song, which is from the Eagles' new album "Hell Freezes Over." The song is a protest against all the "victimization" going on in America today, and Rush was stunned to hear it, given that he just assumed the Eagles were big liberal types. However, this song seems to belie that notion, and Rush plays some of it to illustrate why: <> "Turn on the tube and what do I see, A whole lot of people crying `don't blame me!' They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else, Spend all of their time feeling sorry for themselves A victim of this, a victim of that, Momma's too thin and daddy's too fat!" <> "Get over it! Get over it! Always whining, crying, and bitching a fit, Get over it! Get over it!" <> "You say you haven't been the same since you had your little crash, You might feel better if they gave you some cash. The more I think about it, ol' Willy was right, Let's kill all the lawyers, let's kill them tonight! You don't want to work, you want to live like a king, But the big, bad world doesn't owe you a thing!" <> "Get over it! Get over it! If you don't want to play, then you might as well quit, Get over it! Get over it!" Rush is impressed by this change in pop culture against the culture of American victimization. "Dare we say, we're winning?" he asks, hoping that now that he's praised this song, the Eagles don't recall all their new CDs to take this song off of it. *BREAK* Phone Mark from Manassus, VA Mark thinks Rush's TV shows this week have been among the greatest ever, and Rush says tonight's will be a classic, too. Mark, however, would like Rush to clear up something - he and his wife have noticed a lapel pin that Rush has been wearing, and his wife thinks it's a stork that maybe signals that a little Rushie is on the way; Mark, though, thinks the pin is only a pelican. Rush says Mark is right and sadly his wife is just engaging in some wishful thinking. He notes that he loves pelicans, having seen his first one in Florida only two years ago, and he's become fascinated with them. Marta, though, having grown up in Florida thinks these birds are little better than pigeons, but Rush still loves them, thinking of them as "wise, old men." Marta, being a loving wife, went out and indulged Rush by having a special pelican pin made. He notes, though, that if a little Limbaugh crumb-cruncher is ever on the way, his audience will quickly know about it. Phone John from Havelock, NC John says that on last night's ABC World News Tonight Peter Jennings had a segment about what would happen if Republicans won a majority in Congress this November, and Jennings was very negative and pessimistic. Jennings predicted that about 47% of the voters this November would vote Republican, with only 44% or so voting Democratic, and he portrayed this situation as if it would be the worst thing that could happen to America. Basically Jennings portrayed Republicans as some sort of bogeymen. Rush says he didn't see this program himself, but when he came home late last night he was surprised to see that his wife was nearly climbing the walls in outrage; this really surprised him because his wife rarely gets bothered by what Rush thinks is news bias. The two of them used to argue a lot about whether the media was biased, but slowly Rush is winning her over. Even so, Marta's reaction surprised him. Rush doesn't think, though, that Mark is talking about Jennings but rather John Cochran, whom Marta called "the Spock-looking guy." Mark says both Cochran and Jennings were part of this story, and Jennings was particularly blatant in his portrayal of Republicans as the worst evil that could happen to the nation. Rush notes that he was intrigued by Marta's description of this story because she was beside herself in outrage, which was very uncharacteristic for her. She told Rush that this blatantly biased piece was not a news story but rather a `warning' to Americans of what would happen should Republicans get elected. For example, the piece predicted Jesse Helms would become a major figure in the Senate, and that Republicans would block Clinton at every point. Mark says this was Jennings' final point - that if Republicans win, it'd be back to gridlock, with Clinton not being able to do anything. Mark thought it was clear that the whole point of this piece was to scare Americans into voting Democratic, and Rush says Marta had this impression, too. Rush asked Nick "Crapshoot" Africano of his TV show to make a copy of this tape, so he'll watch it later today, but curiously Africano thought the piece was "middle of the road." Rush, though, is going to trust his wife because it takes a lot of bias to get her angry, and if she and Mark are correct, it's just another example of how the liberal press is trying to resuscitate Clinton and the Democrats. Rush doubts that Marta is wrong about this, though, because her instincts are usually right on, and she rarely gets as emotional about such things as she did last night. *BREAK* Phone Chuck from Jacksonville, MS Chuck gives 99.9% dittos and says he would like Rush to clarify his statements about American Indians, given that Rush has at times called them savages and beasts. Rush says he's never called Native Americans beasts, although he has used the word "savages." His main point is that the Native Americans were not any better than anyone else. He resents the mythology that is being created that portrays them as a peaceful, perfect people, and that had white Europeans not arrived on North America, this continent would be a lot better off because the Indians were at one with nature. Rush has no personal animus against these groups of people, but rather opposes those who are hard at work rewriting history to portray them as perfect humans and everyone else as murdering barbarians. *BREAK* SECOND HOUR Items o The paperback version of "See, I Told You So" is now available nationwide, and Lo Bianco notes that he saw it in the stores. Rush asks if Lo Bianco bought a copy, but he replies no, given that he knows he can always score a free copy at EIB; however, he did leaf through the book to read the new chapter. o Two teams of women have done surveys about what men and women earn. One survey of Fortune 500 companies was done by Loyola University of Chicago professor Linda Stroh and Northwestern University profession Jeanne Brett. The other study was done by Pace University professor Frieda Reitman and Rider College professor Joy Schneer, who analyzed salaries of 231 men. The two studies both basically found that men with children and working wives earn less than fathers who have stay-at-home spouses. Rush notes that some listeners will be stunned by these results, but others won't. He reads from the AP news story: "One study surveyed 348 married fathers in management at twenty Fortune 500 companies, and found a wide gap between the salaries of men with stay-at-home wives and those in two-income families. The other study looked at the earnings of men who held master's degrees in business and found a similar disparity. "The researchers in business management speculated that the upper ranks of corporate America favor men whose wives stay at home. They also suggested that such wives actually further their husbands' careers by relieving them of the demands of raising the children and by entertaining and building social networks. " `It is also possible that dual-earner husbands self-select into jobs that are not quite so fast-paced, not quite so high-risk,' said Brett. `They may not be on the fast-track.' "That study did not rule out the possibility that wives of higher-earning husbands are more likely stay at home because they can afford to, Brett said. However, all the men in that study earned so much it was doubtful their wives needed a job, she said. "With Loyola University Chicago Professor Linda Stroh, Brett analyzed the salary progressions of mid-level managers from 1984 to 1989. They found that pay for fathers in two-income families rose 59% in the five years. Salaries of fathers who provided all their family's income climbed 70%. "The other study, by Pace University Professor Frieda Reitman and Rider College Professor Joy Schneer, analyzed salaries of 231 men who received MBAs in the late 1970s. The average pay for fathers in two-income families was $95,140 in 1993. Men who were the sole provider made $124,510 on average. Both studies were presented at the annual August meeting of the Academy of Management." Rush notes that these studies show that men who are the sole providers for their families might have be more highly motivated in their careers, perhaps taking higher risks to climb the corporate ladder and get higher-paying jobs. Also, this study also found that wives who stay at home might further their husbands' careers by relieving them of the duties at home, in addition to entertaining and building social networks. This goes straight to traditional family values. One doesn't have to go back too far in America to a time when this was the norm in many places, and Rush bets that when these studies gets out, they will rock the foundations of the modern feminist movement. These studies show that the most successful households are those in which the man works, and the wife furthers her husband's career, with everyone benefiting. And it was female research teams that came up with this information. o The National Rifle Association is buying $50,000 of advertising time on three Spokane, WA television stations to campaign against the re-election of House Speaker Tom Foley (D- WA). The NRA has confirmed that these ads would be aired, but wouldn't release any information about their contents. The NRA previously has supported Foley, but when he signed the Crime Bill and its Assault Weapons Ban, the NRA decided that since Foley had abandoned them, they would abandon him. Foley's response to this was "my responsibility is to my constituents, not to an organization. I don't think people in this district need outside groups coming in telling them how to vote." Foley, of course, is the man who has sued his own constituents because they dared to vote for term limits, which makes his remark about his responsibility to his constituents a curious one at best. The Democrats, by the way, have begun a national television campaign to help their members win re-election, and the campaign includes four TV commercials that attack the 80s and the Republicans' Contract with America. Some Democrats, though, don't want these ads to be aired in their own districts because they don't want to run on national issues or run against the 80s. In fact, Stanley Greenberg is telling these Democrats that they should avoid mentioning national issues or the Democratic party, running on local issues; Foley's response is exactly such a move, trying to avoid any mention of any national issues. However, his race is getting all the more closer. *BREAK* Rush thinks the best NFL games of this week will be the Miami vs. the Raiders, and the Forty-Niners vs. the Falcons; on prompting from his staff, Rush agrees that Philadelphia vs. Dallas will be THE "bone-crunching, smash mouth" game of the week. Sadly, though, New York fans will miss this game because they will have the "privilege" of watching the Anaheim Rams play the Giants. Phone Matt from Tallahassee, FL Matt is 22 and gives "sorta, kinda dittos," and says he's so happy to get on the show that he'll light up a Gloriana Cubana as soon as he gets off the air. However, he's a born and bred Republican who's starting to fall away from the party because Republicans seem willing to stand up and shout about reducing government, the federal budget, etc., but when it comes right down to it, Republicans are no more willing to take concrete action on this than the Democrats. Republicans also prove that they are for the rich with their Social Security policies. Rush says that the two authors of the book "Revolution X" were on Equal Time last night, and they had a lot to say about how Generation X'ers see demons in both parties, especially with regard to Social Security. In particular, these young people are looking at their future lives, fearing they are going to be saddled with an incredible debt, and ever-increasing taxes to pay for it and for those who don't work. Matt agrees with this and adds that he's been looking at Social Security for some time - the country is giving Social Security payments to the rich who don't need it, but the moment anyone talks about means testing this program, everyone runs away screaming, and Republicans run away fastest of all. Rush says he has to disagree with this opinion to some extent - his own grandfather at 103 has been trying to give back his Social Security payments for 40 years, without success. However, even if means testing was applied so that everyone making $75,000 a year or more, such as might be the case with investments, was denied their Social Security benefits, it wouldn't save much money. Thus, means testing, while a valuable step, is not going to solve the problem. It's the same thing as with taxing the rich - you can take all the money the rich make, but it would still run the country for only a month. There are other things which you must do, which Rush will explain after the break. *BREAK* Phone Matt from Tallahassee, TN (continued) Matt says that the real problem with Social Security is that people get penalized for working; they have to pay taxes on their Social Security, just because they have to work at Burger King to earn money to eat. Rush notes that the Clinton administration just levied increased taxes on those who are making more than $32,000 a year; this was part of the 1993 Clinton budget deal, and every seasoned citizen knows this. Matt says this might be, but there still is an unfair taxation of earned income and unearned income. A grandmother working at Burger King gets taxed on Social Security because she's earning $5,000 a year, but one who's getting $300,000 a year from a trust account isn't getting taxed on Social Security. Rush notes that all income is earned, but Matt says that investment income is unearned for the purposes of taxation. Rush says that all income ends up being taxed, but Matt says he's not talking about the taxes on income, but rather the taxes that get levied on their Social Security. Rush agrees that this is true, but there aren't that many people earning $300,000 a year from their investment accounts; to generate $50,000 of income a year, you'd need from $750,000 to $1 million in investments. The point is that changing the taxes on such people isn't going to do much to solve the Social Security problem. Matt, though, thinks means testing on these people is a good idea, and Rush agrees; however, the political reality is that these people were sold a bill of goods in the 30s and 40s, told that Social Security is theirs and that they've paid their share into it. Matt, though, says that the average person gets back what they paid into Social Security in only a matter of a couple of years; they thus end up collecting Social Security for twenty years or more, taking out far more than they put into it. Rush agrees this is a problem, but they were still promised that Social Security would be there for them. They have the expectations that these promises will be kept. Matt says everyone is continuing this lie by refusing to face up to the problems that exist. Matt adds that the CBO released figures showing that the deficit was going down, that in 1992 it was $290 billion but in 1993 it was about $200 billion. The projection for 1995 is for a deficit of $162 billion. Rush says the deficit is coming down, but there are some bookkeeping tricks being used to achieve this. However, while the deficit is shrinking for the moment, last year's deficit was still higher than the highest Reagan deficit of $221 billion. And the deficits during the end of Reagan's term were coming down, getting to about $150 billion, thanks to economic growth. However, when Bush passed the 1990 budget deal, tax revenues dropped and the deficits increased. The Clinton administration, however, has gotten the deficit down now in part because of how it's financing the national debt with short-term bonds; since the historically low interest rates of the past two years were not locked in for 30 years, the nation will end up paying much higher debt servicing costs when it comes time to roll over these short-term bonds. This will end up pushing the deficit and debt way higher. In fact, the Clinton administration projects a budget deficit of about $300 billion by 1997 or 1998. Matt asks why the Republicans can't get their act together and do something about this, explaining all this to the nation, showing how the government is lying to the country. Rush says that the administration is not really lying, but rather taking risks; they gambled that interest rates would stay low, and they lost that bet. The country used to finance 75% of its debt-financing with 30 year bonds, but the administration changed that so that only half is done with long bonds. The administration took this gamble so it could lower the deficit in the short term, but the gamble failed. And everyone will have to admit that it's clear that the deficit has not been going down because the country is spending less money. The only way to stop the deficit and budget problems the nation is facing is to lower spending; the American people aren't going to stand for any more taxes. Matt, though, still thinks this is a scam on the part of Washington. Rush agrees that in a broad sense this is a scam, but had interest rates stayed low, Clinton would have taken a gamble that paid off. This didn't happen, so there will be some higher debt financing costs in the future. Matt asks what effect GATT and its lowering of tariffs will have on all this; won't GATT mean the country will be receiving less revenue from tariffs? Rush says this is an interesting question because Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen did say the other day that while tariff revenues will decline, this will be made up for by more business and economic growth. Lower taxes create more business activity, which expands both the economy and federal coffers. Matt, though, wishes Rush would come up with a firm stance on GATT, given that he hears a lot of conflicting things about this. He thinks free trade should be the goal, but doubts that the U.S. lives in a world where true free trade is possible anymore. There are countries that have lower wage costs than those in Mexico, so how can the U.S. compete with them? Rush says the U.S. can compete, just as it's competing now with Mexico. Matt, though, says that the U.S. is losing a factory a day to Central America. Rush says that even if this were true, it's only half the story - you also have to find out how much factory expansion is going on. Matt says GATT scares him, especially because of the sovereignty issues. Rush says that Judge Robert Bork doesn't think the World Trade Organization is a problem, given that the U.S. can just ignore its issues. Matt says if the U.S. can do this, then so can everyone else, so why bother signing a worthless agreement? Rush says that this same argument came up during the NAFTA debate, and the basic answer was that if the U.S. constitution is such that America can lose its sovereignty by signing a piece of paper, then the nation is no longer worthy of surviving. Perhaps the best way to examine this issue is to examine who's lined up on what sides of it. However, while Rush does like the idea of free trade, there are still some things about GATT he doesn't like, so he's still undecided by it. He thinks, however, that the U.S. will survive any free trade because the U.S. lives in a global community and it is the leader of that community. As to Social Security, Rush would encourage Matt to plan for his own retirement, given that his investments are bound to do far better than anything Social Security can do. *BREAK* Rush had some time to kill last night, so he logged onto the ISSUES forum where he found a thread in the Rush Limbaugh section about how "Rush hung up on a conservative call." Rush found this on-line conversation to be both the funniest and most frightening thing he's ever read, because these guys taking part in it were creating a huge conspiracy theory about how Rush was now part of the Trilateralist Conspiracy, and everything tied into GATT, Ernest Hollings, etc. Rush wishes he could read this thread on the air, but while he printed this thing out at home, he didn't bring a copy with him to the studios. However, if his dear wife could fax the printouts to her loving husband, he could share it with his listeners. Marta calls Rush on EIB's supersecret phone line to tell him "it's on the way!" Rush tells his staff to pick the fax up from EIB's supersecret fax, and tells his responsive wife "I love you, sweetie!" *BREAK* Phone Jean from Logansport, IN Jean wants to ask a favor - she tried to tape Rush's radio show on Tuesday to get a copy of his monologue about what the American people were angry about, but her tape broke. She thus would love Rush to repeat this segment at some point. Rush says he probably can squeeze that six or seven minutes of tape onto the last hour of today's show. "What the hey!?" he exclaims, asking his staff to find it. *BREAK* THIRD HOUR Rush lives up to his pledge to replay the monologue he did at the top of the third hour of Tuesday's show, given that EIB has gotten a number of requests for it. He notes that he'll take a break after this, and then get to the discussion on CompuServe about he's part of the Trilateral Conspiracy. <> Today's Washington Post has a front-page story by Howard Kurtz about the "bitter bromide TV ads" which are "serving mean cuisine to voters fed up with government." One Republican consultant is quoted as saying that voters want substance; instead of "soft and fuzzy stuff" and "video cliches," they want the "meat." The "objective" Kurtz, though, defines the "meat" as "rather raw": being in favor of the death penalty, longer prison terms, cutting off welfare benefits, against higher taxes, and cutting congressional perks. Kurtz then goes on to say in this allegedly unbiased story to say that issues don't matter as much as "tapping into the electorate's rather surly mood." Rush, however, disagrees - once again the dominant press misses the whole point by being so out of touch with what the American people want. The American people are motivated by the issues and they're not surly because they're uninformed or mean; the people of America are fed up and tired at how for the past 30 years they've been told that compassion meant paying more in taxes, with the money going to "wipe out" racism, poverty, and all other social ills. The working people are being blamed for every problem, in effect being told that the problem in America is that the working people aren't paying enough in taxes. This is what the working American is sick and tired of hearing. Despite 30 years of the War on Poverty and Great Social transfer programs totalling more than $3 trillion, there are more people in poverty than ever before. The American people are tired of paying more in taxes, just as they're tired of being afraid to leave their homes and worry whether their children, wives, and other family members might be robbed, raped, or mugged. These people are upset that criminals aren't serving full sentences, and that the crimes being committed by these criminals are being blamed on law-abiding citizens who own guns. These citizens should be surly because they've been pummeled with all this rot for the past 30 years. The American people are tired of a condescending and arrogant political class that considers the average American to be an idiot that cannot be trusted to run his own life, and that therefore more and more power must be ceded to government. The American people simply are tired of hearing all this, even as their members of Congress are able to exchange stamps for cash or to write checks for money they don't have. The working American is being blamed for everything going wrong in the country, and when they try to correct the problems - such as stopping illegal immigration - they are blamed for being cruel and lacking in compassion. Americans are tired of hearing that they are responsible for everyone else's illnesses because they oppose the idea of universal coverage. And those who have written all these laws have taken great pains to exempt themselves from these laws. Meanwhile, those who want a moment of silence in school or dare to suggest posting the Ten Commandments in school are called kooks and a danger to democracy. While these people are accused of violating the principle of the separation of Church and State, they then have to listen to Clinton give sermons at a Harlem church. The American people are tired of hearing how they - who play by the rules, obey the laws, and are only working to make sure their kids have a decent future - are to blame for all the country's problems. These people should be surly and are justified in doing whatever they can to make sure that politics as normal don't continue as normal. Those in the press and in the dominant media had better learn that the people think it's they who pose the greater threat to this nation. These people are trying to save the institutions and traditions that made America great, and they are acting on those fears at the ballot box, by making phone calls, sending email letters, and by faxing each other. Only six years ago, the Washington pundits were worried about the public apathy they saw, but now with the people getting more active then ever, the Washington crowd is trying to shut these "idiots" up. Yet these "idiots" won't shut up because they are the country and they are the ones who make it work; they'll do everything they can to fix this country and solve its problems, regardless of what the DC Beltway crowd thinks about it. <> *BREAK* Rush notes he normally ignores threads about him on CompuServe, but he thinks it's hilarious how there are now those who think he's a member of the "Trilateralist Conspiracy," standing alongside David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, and all those other "one world government," Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) types. He first confesses, though, that he went to many John Birch Society meetings in 1975 and 1976 while living in Kansas City; he was doing a talk show then and identified as a conservative, so the Birchers invited him over. A young and naive Rush was taken in for about six months, but then he started asking all sorts of questions which they couldn't answer. When they accused William F. Buckley of being a Communist, Rush realized how ridiculous this was and said "I'm out of here." Now, Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) is telling anyone who will listen that Rush has been forced into supporting GATT because GE has put pressure on him. Rush, though, hasn't taken any position on GATT yet, nor does he have any associations with GE. He was thus intrigued when while scoping out the ISSUES forum last night on CompuServe, after an absence of about a couple of months, he saw a thread titled "RL cutsOffConserv.Call." Rush started reading it, and learned all sorts of interesting things. For example, one poster wrote: "Do you think Rush has ties with the CFR? What is your concern with the CFR? Why did you think he might be tied with them?" The answer came back: "Do I think Rush has ties with the CFR? Good question! And why do you think he might be tied with them? That's another good question. Let me respond. Do I know for sure? No, I don't. Am I suspicious? Yes, I am. Why? First, there is the fact that Rush rose from being a nobody to being Mr. Talk Radio and he did it on the back of Mr. Roger Ailes. "Now the fact that Mr. Ailes happens to be a CFR public relations asset is, in my estimation, meaningful, particularly when one considers that this would be consistent with the sort of operation that might be run. It has been reported that the CFR used PR firms to continually profile the public. If this is true, then the CFR will know what trends are surfacing before the public is aware of them. If the CFR were to detect a trend towards rising grass roots concern and to detect the emergence of the talk radio phenomenon, it would be consistent for them to want to control the agenda. "Controlling the agenda is sort of a maxim, so the selection of a talk radio guy, quick witted, with an eye out for his personal interests, and not particularly dedicated to conservatism beyond mere talking, to groom to national prominence would be beneficial to their interests." In other words, Rush notes, he is a member of the CFR conspiracy because Roger Ailes is a PR guy for the Council on Foreign Relations who back in the late 80s discovered that there was a rising tide of grass roots conservatism. So they found a talk show guy - Rush Limbaugh - and put him in New York, turning him into "Mr. Talk Radio." One of the things that "proves" this conspiracy is that Rush refuses to take calls about the CFR, so he "obviously" must be part of them. Rush wrote the guy back to tell him that it was posts like this, which went on for three pages, which were why he didn't talk paranoiac CFR calls. Rush also informed the guy that he only met Ailes two years ago, and Ailes had nothing whatsoever to do with the radio show which started six years ago. Rush concluded his letter by saying he'd love to talk more about it, "but David Rockefeller is on the phone, waiting to tell me what to say about GATT. Got to go, see you next time." Rush, though, doesn't think the CFR theorists will give up their beliefs; if anything, they will claim that they must be getting close to the truth because they forced Rush to go on the air to discredit and ridicule them. This "obviously" proves that Rush is a CFR lackey and that the conspiracy theorists are getting close. Other "proof" of Rush's CFR ties is that he doesn't talk about gun control enough. In addition, Rush's "stirrings" about health care and the lobby reform bill - i.e. his conservative stance on those bills - also prove he's only a fake conservative because "if Rush doesn't exhibit at least some conservative tendencies, what would happen to his credibility?" This, by the way, is what the John Birchers said about William F. Buckley - that the CFR had hired him to act like a conservative, so as to throw the people off the scent and not realize he's a Communist. "Buckley's pink on the inside," they told Rush 20 years ago, who replied "you guys are lunatics, I'm outta here!" Evidently, they now think the same about Rush, which means "I've made it, I've arrived! I'm major media!" *BREAK* Phone John from Philadelphia, PA John says he also thought the segment on ABC News last night about the Republicans taking over could have been something the Democratic National Committee would have done. John expects normal media bias, but this went so far beyond the bounds of even the media's decency as to be atrocious. Rush says this has to be the case, given that his own wife thought the same way; however, Nick Africano of Rush's TV show thought it was "fair and balanced," so Rush will be very interested in seeing a tape of the show later today. He notes that a lot of people have told him what John has said - that this segment was not news, but a scare piece designed to frighten voters into voting Democrat. John agrees and says this piece destroyed any credibility that Jennings might have left. Rush recalls that on Nightline a couple days ago, Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) and Leon Panetta were the guests, and the setup for them was something along the lines of "are Republicans conspiring to make you hate Congress so that you will vote against Democrats?" However, Congress is the only reason people are feeling negative towards Congress, and John agrees. He adds that he suspects that after the elections, sanctions against Iraq will be lifted; this would be in character for Clinton. Rush says something has to happen with the Gulf since the U.S. has been sucked into another mess. Yesterday Clinton responded to an initial retreat by Iraqi troops by saying "they have seen our message," and he responded to the Iraqi moves by saying that only 7,000 Marines instead of 19,000 would be sent to the Gulf. However, Iraqi troops then stopped their retreat and dug in about 100 miles from Kuwait; they even started hiding their tanks. This is exactly what people feared would happen - Hussein would make a minor conciliatory move and then start playing cat and mouse with the U.S. Hobart Rohan pointed out earlier this week that Clinton has three options, none of which are good: starting a war to get Saddam, keep U.S. forces in the Gulf for 50 years, or lift the sanctions. Meanwhile, the Iraqis are forging closer relations with the Russians, and the centerpiece of all this activity is oil - the Iraqis have reserves that rival the Saudis' oil reserves, but they need the equipment Russia can supply. Thus, there's an alliance just waiting to be made there, and it'll be all about oil. Phone Pat from Seattle, WA Pat has been listening to Rush since 1988 when Rush "joined" NOW and "really blew our minds out." Pat says that the Crime Bill is supposed to put 27 new policemen on the street in Seattle, but when a county commissioner was asked he'd pay for the new cops when the federal subsidies stop in three years, he replied "don't worry about that, we'll worry about it when the time comes." This basically is the philosophy of the Democratic party. Rush says in many cases, this is the truth - the Democrats write a bill and then don't worry about the "details," such as funding, instead saying "don't worry, we'll deal with that later." Pat adds that he was in Kansas City recently, and the head of the police department said he didn't want any Crime Bill money because the city doesn't have the money to come up with its share of the cost of the new police. He noted that if Kansas City had any extra money for new cops, it'd be using them for new cops right now. Rush says many people are forgetting that the Crime Bill requires matching funds, not to mention how the story of Moffett, OK shows how foolishly some of this money is being spent. This city will now have to come up with 25% of their share of $106,000 allocated by the Crime Bill, but the town's whole budget is less than $10,000. Meanwhile the town just wants a part-time retired cop, yet Clinton thinks his Crime Bill is a perfect example of his "reinventing government" idea. Phone Bob from Columbus, OH Bob recalls that Rush recently quoted Paul Westphall as saying that making players going to class was devastating the basketball team of his alma mater, USC. Rush says that the two of them were watching the football game between Penn State and USC, and it was 35 to nothing at half time; Westphall then sighed and joked "you know, ever since they started making those guys go to class, it's just not the same." Bob would reply, though, that the Penn State players show what happens when you always go to class, which is the case with them. Rush agrees and notes that the coach at Penn State is not only a great coach but a great motivator with high standards. *BREAK* Phone Keith from Sandusky, OH Keith is glad that Rush replayed his monologue about why Americans are fed up with Washington, but would ask Rush to consider taking a more radically philosophical approach to the problem of big government and the economy. Rush right now stresses individualism when talking about economic and political issues, but often when talking about social issues, he stresses more conservative philosophies. Keith wonders if Rush sees any conflict between the philosophies of individualism and conservatism. Rush says he doesn't think conservatism and rugged individualism are exclusive, and Keith agrees, although he does think there is a demarcation line when talking about religious issues. In particular, Keith thinks Rush would be more effective in making and encouraging political change by making a decision in favor of either conservatism or individualism. Rush says that individualism is not the sole requirement for a successful nation, but some rugged individualism - risk-taking and entrepreneurism - is crucial. Not everyone will be like this, of course, but there do have to be leaders, and those leaders have to be free to lead; in particular, they shouldn't be punished when they do succeed. Rush, though, doesn't see too much difference between individualism and conservatism; it benefits everyone in a family, for example, if one of their members succeeds and prospers. Individualism is based on self-reliance, not waiting for government to do something for them. Keith agrees, but doesn't think this is compatible with conservatism; he thinks modern religious issues tend to conflict with individualism, and he thinks the founding fathers, although religious people, were intent on avoiding religion as part of the public debate and government policy. Rush says he never advocates that religion become part of government policy, but he also doesn't see any problems with religious people serving in government. Keith agrees, but he notes that Rush often advocates positions that would have religion determining some part of government policies: school prayer, the criminalizing of drugs and abortion, etc. Rush says that an individualist would not support the legalization of drugs because such a person is governed by morality and law; being an individual doesn't mean you believe you can do whatever you want as long as it "doesn't hurt" anyone else. Rush is not for state-established prayer, but he would encourage a moment of silence in schools. Furthermore, he doesn't think the Ten Commandments - which aren't the Ten Suggestions, as Ted Koppel once remarked - pose any danger should they be posted in schools. Rugged individualism, as far as Rush is concerned, implies a sense of responsibility and self-reliance, not selfishness. *BREAK* Phone John from Houston, TX John commends Rush for putting out the Limbaugh Letter, particularly the tribute he did in it to the WWII generation. However, he does think Rush is being "too severe on poor Mr. Maimone," who was only engaging in the true EIB spirit, thumbing his nose at federal intrusion into private life, bringing along a spirit of levity and humor. John says he loves Lo Bianco, but thinks Rush is being too severe with poor Maimone. Rush understands, but notes that rules are rules, and Maimone's altering of a preproduced piece is no different than what might have happened to his TV show in Pittsburgh: a female voice overdubbing Rush's voice while he was speaking about Ronald Reagan. Maimone took a furnished PSA from the National Mental Health Association, added blood-curdling screams and shouts, plus a number of other sound effects, such as the penny whistle which Lo Bianco interjects even now as Rush is speaking. Rush reminds Lo Bianco that he can suspend two broadcast engineers at a time, but Lo Bianco pleads innocence, saying the rest of the staff forced him to do it. Rush continues on to say that the EIB Bylaws and Constitutions expressly forbids such tampering. In fact, that particular clause was added after Bo Snerdley took it upon himself to interject a subliminal message while Rush was taking a 900 poll about some issue. EIB no longer tolerates this kind of meddling, and Maimone will have to endure his unpaid suspension until Tuesday. Rush and EIB have spoken.