RUSH: Now, this is hilarious. You’re going to love this, folks. Welcome back, Rush Limbaugh, the EIB Network and the Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies. MSNBC is fit to be 
tied right now. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Washington, is interviewing the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, and she’s mad, and the graphic on the screen says: ‘GOP shuts down debate on Senate health care bill. GOP delays debate.’ It’s the Republicans’ fault. Here’s what it’s about. Senator Tom Coburn has demanded a reading of an amendment, a 767-page amendment to the health care bill, it was written by Bernie Sanders, Bernie Sanders the lone admitted socialist in the US Senate from Vermont. And his amendment would make health care single payer, right off the bat.
It’s a single payer amendment for health care and Coburn said, ‘I admire Senator Sanders for his willingness to fight for publicly what many advocate only privately, a single-payer system funded and controlled by bureaucrats and politicians in Washington. Every American should listen to the reading of this amendment, pay careful attention to its vote tally.’ The clerk in the Senate is reading Bernie Sanders’ 767-page amendment right now. So that’s the delay and they’re all ticked off about it. ‘GOP uses Senate procedure to slow down health bill.’ Andrea Mitchell, they are fit to be tied, ‘Steele, what are you guys doing? How can you stand in the way of our young new president here and his effort to reform health care for every American?’ Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It’s just great.
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RUSH: Senator Jim DeMint has joined Tom Coburn’s effort to read the entire 767-page Bernie Sanders amendment to the health bill. Furthermore, DeMint has vowed to have the entire health care bill read on the floor whenever it comes out. Do you realize the whole bill has not been put together yet? They’re still waiting on CBO scoring and all these changes in there for Lieberman and Ben Nelson. Now, this helps, DeMint joining Coburn. They have to keep somebody on the floor while the clerk is reading it, otherwise the Democrats can shut it down. So they need to be some other Senators in there along with DeMint and Coburn to make sure that this thing gets read in its entirety. They’re thinking of doing the same thing — vowing to do the same thing — when the entire bill comes out and because delay is a key element here in screwing up the strategy. The strategy on the Democrat side is to have the final on Christmas Day or the day after, and that’s cutting it real close. You’re required to have 30 hours of debate before the cloture vote, and if they can delay this by a 30-hour cycle or something… It might take 34 hours to read the whole bill. It’s 2,000 pages. So they could really gum up the works of Obama being able to say the Senate passed his bill prior to Christmas.
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Here’s a little observation I have for you. The Republicans now, Tom Coburn and Jim DeMint are reading the Bernie Sanders amendment, all 767 pages of it (well, they’re having it read by the Senate clerk), which delays debate on the health care bill, which is a good thing. And this is the first time the Republicans have done something that obstructs any of this — which is something we’ve been urging them to do, hoping they would do it. Now, the Bernie Sanders amendment, if you look at it, it’s up-front and honest about what they want: Single payer. The government’s going to pay for everybody’s health insurance. My guess is that the people who support the Obama plan think that the Sanders amendment is what they’re actually going to get, and they’re not going to get that. That’s why Bernie has offered the amendment, and it’s now being read.
Now, remember, in the recent weeks Democrat strategerists from the White House on down had been warning Democrats in the House and Senate: ‘The reason you lost the House in 1994 is because you didn’t pass health care. If you had passed health care, Hillarycare in in 1994, you would not have lost the House — and the Republicans, and the Republicans would not have won it. So it looks to me like you could almost analyze this as say if the Democrats are right about that (which of course they’re not) the Republicans must be willing to commit political suicide over this, since they’re now obviously being obstructionist. Either they are suicidal or they don’t believe that health care reform is as popular as the media claims it to be. Remember, the media kept telling us that the Democrats lost in ’94 ’cause they didn’t ram through Hillarycare. But, of course, the Republicans bragged about it! The Republicans bragged about killing health care, and they won a landslide.
So again, the effort here to get this passed and to get Republicans to shut up, worked for a while. This absurdity that the only reason the Democrats lost the House is because they failed to ram through health care? The fact that they tried and got so close is one of the many reasons they lost in a landslide in 1994. So the Republicans finally standing up and doing some obstruction here in the form of reading Bernie Sanders’ amendment — and DeMint’s vow to read the whole health care bill, all 2,000-plus pages of it — is a fascinating concept. Maybe the Republicans are figuring out now that they’ve been sold a bill of goods, that everybody’s being sold a bill of goods about the Democrats must pass this in order to avoid being defeated. In fact, look at it this way: We know Pelosi’s willing to lose 30 or 40 seats in the House. She’s willing to thin the herd.
She doesn’t like these so-called moderate Blue Dogs being there. And how is she going to lose ’em? By having them vote for this. So she’s tantamount admitting that voting for this is political suicide for Democrats. So once again, another lie. The Democrats did not lose Congress in ’94 because they failed to get health care. They lost, in part, because they tried for it. It stands to reason. And Dingy Harry, too. There are some Senators they wouldn’t mind losing over there. And the way to get these people defeated is to have them vote for this. History may be repeating itself here, 2010 to 1994.
By the way, that last call was from Orlando, which happens to be where Tiger Woods lives. And get this. This story ran today in the Orlando Sentinel: ‘Gordon Morgan tried on a Tiger Woods shirt at Edwin Watts Golf but ended up putting it back on the shelf. ‘We’re banned from buying any,’ he said — adding, by way of explanation, ‘the wives.” Their wives will not let ’em buy Tiger Woods shirts made by Nike. Now, this is one little anecdote in a newspaper story, but it does point up something. That’s the greatest source of Tiger’s income is these endorsement deals and Phil Knight of Nike said (paraphrased), ‘Ah, this is nothing! It’s going to be a blip when this is all over. It’s going to be a blip of a memory. Nobody’s going to remember this.’ That stands to be seen.
Back to the audio sound bites. Here’s Andrea Mitchell grilling the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele — and she is fit to be tied over the ‘delaying tactics’ of reading the Bernie Sanders amendment on the floor of the Senate.
MITCHELL: Mr. Chairman —
STEELE: Mmm-hmm?
MITCHELL: — let’s face the fact that Bernie Sanders’ amendment, the single-payer amendment isn’t even a talking point anymore for Democrats. It’s an amendment that’s going to be voted down just as likely as Republican amendments are voted down. So why take the time to read more than 700 pages of an amendment that’s not even germane to where this bill is going?
RUSH: Now, aside from her question — Why are you doing this? Where are you delaying debate on something our brand-new and lovable president wants? Why are you doing it? Why are you doing it? — The thing that sticks out at me here with this is she’s admitting that single payer, which is what Bernie Sanders’ amendment is — and it’s crystal clear — is the most honest thing the Democrats have put forth in this whole health care bill, from the bill to all the amendments. Bernie Sanders is it, and it’s unabashedly honest. ‘We want single payer! We want the government in charge of every aspect of health care,’ and Andrea Mitchell says that’s not germane. Everybody knows this is going nowhere; this is not going to happen. Well, you people on the left who probably think the Sanders amendment is what the entire health care bill is, how many Obama voters do you think — it has to be those that still support the plan. How many Obama voters do you think really believe that what they’re going to end up getting here is the government paying every health care expense they have; it’s not going to cost them anything; a couple of rich people gonna pay higher taxes to pay for it? And Andrea Mitchell has just sent the signal to the kook-fringe leftists: This isn’t about single payer; it can’t get passed; the government running every aspect, we still can’t get it. I don’t know if she’s aware that she sent that signal because I’m convinced that a number of Democrats still support this belief that the Sanders amendment is exactly what the entire health care bill is. Here’s Michael Steele’s answer.
STEELE: It is germane. It’s germane to the debate. You know, it’s as germane as tort reform, which is not a part of this as bill. It’s as germane as HSAs, which have been gutted in this bill. It’s as germane as the tax provisions on small business in these bills. But none of that has been discussed in any great length. Largely the members don’t know what’s in this bill. Harry Reid has kept this thing in his coat closet from the very beginning. We still don’t know what it’s going to cost. And so yeah. Let’s slow this thing down and try to get in front of it instead of being steamrolled over by it and the leadership’s approach to try to get something done.
RUSH: That’s exactly right: Slow it down. You know, that’s a good point to make that Reid has kept it secret. Dick Durbin said the other day he hasn’t even seen the bill, and he’s on Dingy Harry’s leadership team! Next sound bite. This runs five minutes. We’re not going to play the whole thing, but this is a portion of the clerk reading Bernie Sanders’ amendment on the floor of the Senate.
CLERK: ‘(a) In General — For purposes of this Act, a comprehensive health service organization (in this section referred to as a ‘CHSO’) is a public or private organization which, in return for a capitated payment amount, undertakes to furnish, arrange for the provision of, or provide payment with respect to — (1) a full range of health services (as identified by the Board), including at least hospital services and physicians services; and…’
RUSH: Stop the tape. Stop the tape. If you’re just joining us, what you’re listening to is an amendment written by Bernie Sanders — avowed socialist from Vermont, US Senate — 767 pages, to the entire health care bill. This amendment is an amount which would make sure that the government becomes the single payer and provider of all health care in America. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said, ‘We’re going to read the whole thing. I want people to hear it. I want people to hear this as the clerk reads it.’ So that’s what you’re listening to. You’re listening to a piece of legislation, an amendment to the health care bill offered here by Bernie Sanders.
CLERK: (2) out-of-area coverage in the case of urgently needed services; to an identified population which is living in or near a specified service area and which enrolls voluntarily in the organization. (b) Enrollment — (1) IN GENERAL — All eligible persons living in or near the specified service area of a CHSO are eligible to enroll in the organization; except that the number of enrollees may be limited to avoid overtaxing the resources of the organization. (2) MINIMUM ENROLLMENT PERIOD — Subject to paragraph (3), the minimum period of enrollment with a CHSO shall be twelve months, unless the enrolled individual becomes ineligible to enroll with the organization. (3) WITHDRAWAL FOR CAUSE — Each CHSO shall permit an enrolled individual to disenroll from the organization for cause at any time. (c) Requirements for CHSOs — (1) ACCESSIBLE SERVICES — Each CHSO, to the maximum extent feasible, shall make all services readily and promptly accessible to enrollees who live in the specified service area.
RUSH: Stop the tape. She needs reverb. If there was reverb added to this, then it might be a little bit more compelling. Let’s keep listening. I’m still waiting for one word of substance about what the hell this amendment’s about.
CLERK: ‘(2) CONTINUITY OF CARE — Each CHSO shall furnish services in such manner as to provide continuity of care and (when services are furnished by (3) BOARD OF DIRECTORS — In the case of a CHSO that is a private organization — (A) CONSUMER REPRESENTATION — At least one-third of the members of the CHSO’s board of directors must be consumer members with no direct or indirect, personal or family financial relationship to the organization. (B) PROVIDER REPRESENTATION — The CHSO’s board of directors –‘
RUSH: Again, ladies and gentlemen, you’re listening to the clerk of the Senate read parts of a 767-page amendment to the health care bill offered by Bernie Sanders, urging a single-payer health system in America.
CLERK: ‘– of the satisfaction of members with services provided by or through the organization. Five. (5) MEDICAL STANDARDS –‘
RUSH: We need a translator!
CLERK: ‘Each CHSO must provide that a committee provide that a economy or –‘
RUSH: I feel like I’m listening to Kim Jong-il.
CLERK: ‘– committees of health care practitioners associated with the organization will promulgate medical standards, oversee the professional aspects of the delivery of care, perform the functions of a pharmacy and drug therapeutics committee, and monitor and review the quality of all health services (including drugs, education, and preventive services). (6) PREMIUMS — Premiums or other charges by a CHSO for any services not paid for under this Act must be reasonable. (7) UTILIZATION AND BONUS INFORMATION — Each CHSO must– (A) comply with the requirements of section 1876(i)(8) of the Social Security Act (relating to prohibiting physician incentive plans that provide specific inducements to reduce or limit medically necessary services); and (B) make available to its membership utilization information and data regarding financial performance, including bonus or incentive payment arrangements to practitioners. (8) PROVISION OF SERVICES TO ENROLLEES AT INSTITUTIONS OPERATING UNDER GLOBAL BUDGETS — The organization shall…’
RUSH: All right. All right. All right. I think you get the idea. It’s a brilliant stroke to read this thing — not to be obstructionist, but to illustrate what the hell this is and what it’s not, and how nobody is going to be able to understand this without hiring a law firm.
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RUSH: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, ladies and gentlemen, Andrea Mitchell is just fit to be tied over this Republican obstructionist tactic, to have the clerk read from the Senate floor the entire 767-page Bernie Sanders amendment requiring single payer. (imitating Mitchell) ‘It will never pass. It will never pass. Why are they doing this? It will never pass. It has no chance of passing. Why are they doing this?’
Is Andrea Mitchell upset about Obama’s lies about transparency? Are you upset about that, Andrea? Nobody has seen Harry Reid’s bill. The reason nobody has seen Harry Reid’s bill is on purpose. He doesn’t want people to see it ’til the last minute to be voted on. Yet Obama claimed he was going to have the most transparent administration ever, and the Democrats are still hiding their dirty work so nobody can see it. So the Republicans have finally pulled a little rabbit out of their hat and said, ‘Look, if you won’t tell people what’s in the bill, read this one, read the amendment,’ and DeMint has vowed that the whole Reid bill when it’s finally presented will also be read.
Is Andrea Mitchell upset that these senators have not read what they’re asked to vote on? I think this is an important moment in the GOP reestablishing its credentials and in standing for the people against the leftists and the radicals in this government. They are demonstrating that they, the Republicans, are finally showing that they are the only thing that stands between individual liberty and freedom and government run amok. Now, let me tell you what the media is gonna do. Andrea Mitchell is already doing it. The media will report Tom Coburn’s parliamentary action is a terrible act of defiance as something unseemly, as something undemocratic. ‘Why would they do this? It’s an amendment that has no chance of passing. These are the just-say-no Republicans all over again.’ Well, let me tell you something, Coburn and those who follow him in reading amendments are patriots. It is Obama and the Democrats who have defied every public opinion poll and the people, who have conducted themselves in secret, who have lied repeatedly.
Don’t fall for this. The Republicans are finally doing something to delay this because it’s obvious. The Democrats don’t care what’s in it. They just want it passed by Christmas. It’s all about Obama. He doesn’t care what’s in it at this point. The Democrats are the ones who have used every contemptible trick and procedure to impose on this nation something this nation does not want. It is the Democrats who cannot be honest. It’s the Democrats who are plotting the destruction of the private sector of this country and they’re doing it in private and their willing allies in the media are helping them cover up what this is really all about, Andrea Mitchell an example of it today. It’s Obama and the Democrats who are obstructing true reform through market competition. It is Obama and the Democrats who are attacking the institutions and traditions that have defined this nation’s greatness.
Folks, it is not complicated here. What’s going on here is a battle between liberty and the loss of liberty, freedom and an attack on freedom. And Tom Coburn from Oklahoma and the Republicans are standing up for liberty. They’re standing up for freedom for each of us, for the Constitution, against a rising tide of tyranny from this administration and the Congress. And the media are in on this monstrosity. The media are in on it. They are the propagandists. So the Republicans finally wake up, they don’t roll over, and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Washington, her whole show today, or practically her whole show, (imitating Mitchell) ‘Why would they do this, why would they do this, this doesn’t have a chance, it’s never going to pass.’ And stop and think about that. The Bernie Sanders amendment, simply a single-payer government-run health care system amendment, is simply saying, ‘Forget the 2,000 pages, what we’re going to do here is establish a single-payer government-run health insurance program in this country.’ And Andrea Mitchell is admitting that doesn’t have a prayer. She’s admitting it doesn’t have a prayer.
It ought to tell everybody on the Democrat side if you think that what you’re going to get is unlimited health care with somebody else paying for it, i.e., the government, it ain’t going to happen. The Democrats’ own propagandists are saying so.
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RUSH: MSNBC can’t get over this. They cannot get over the clerk reading the Bernie Sanders amendment. This is funny. This is the helpless, the hapless Contessa Brewer responding to all of this today.
BREWER: At this hour, Republicans [are] resorting to stall tactics intentionally to slow down the health care bill in the Senate. They’re forcing the clerk to read the entire text of the 767-page Sanders amendment which would establish a single-payer, government-run health care system. The reading could take until midnight! Now, that just doesn’t seem fair to the clerk.
RUSH: ‘[T]hat just doesn’t seem fair to the clerk.’ It’s the clerk’s job! Doesn’t seem fair to the clerk? Do you think they’ll get a couple other clerks in there to rotate reading this thing? I would think so.
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RUSH: Oh, man, this is great. They are livid, the Democrats are livid. Bernie Sanders and his 767-page amendment, which would convert the US health care system into a single payer government-run health care program, is livid. Now, his amendment is the most honest thing the Democrats have put forth in this entire health care debate. Bernie Sanders’ amendment spells out what the endgame is. Bernie Sanders just went to the floor of the Senate and tried to pull his amendment so that the clerk could no longer read it. They realize what’s going on here, and this is going to happen when the whole bill is done and presented.
DeMint has vowed that the whole bill is going to be read again. Dick Durbin went down there. Dick Durbin is all ticked off about it, too. He said, (paraphrasing) ‘The Republicans are doing this, reading this bill, making the clerk work hard, and this is gonna result in our continuing resolution to fund the troops in Afghanistan not being passed, and if that happens, these Republicans, and it’s not just the Republicans, there’s some independents involved in this too.’ That was a swipe at Sanders for even introducing this thing.
So they’re in panic mode up there ’cause they know exactly what this is. They’re now trying to get the media to report that the Republicans will result in military troops not being funded in Afghanistan via continuing resolution because all the time for debate is going to be taken up reading the amendment. Bernie Sanders went down there and tried to pull the amendment so the clerk would have nothing to read. Exclamation point made, ladies and gentlemen, here. This is great because the most honest thing they have put forth they’re now recalling and retracting.