{"id":222915,"date":"2017-02-23T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-23T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?p=222915"},"modified":"2021-05-20T11:07:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-20T15:07:32","slug":"scott-baio-calls-the-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2017\/02\/23\/scott-baio-calls-the-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Baio Calls the Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Okay. We\u2019re going to the phones. We\u2019re starting in Los Angeles. Hi, Scott. Great to have you with us on the EIB Network. Hello.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Thanks, Rush. You know, I\u2019m a hard-core conservative. I listen to you every day. I watch the news. I\u2019m on the internet. So I\u2019m a fairly informed individual. And I was watching Mnuchin today<\/a>, and I thought my head was gonna explode. August? August. President Trump a few weeks ago said, “In a few weeks, I\u2019m gonna roll out my tax plan.” Now, Rush, we\u2019ve got a very small window here to show this country that conservatism works and that conservatism is the only way to go.<\/p>\n

Okay? And, to me, there is one man — and, by the way, knock out these liberals forever. And to me there\u2019s one man that\u2019s stopping all of this, and that man is Paul Ryan. I think Paul Ryan doesn\u2019t like Trump. I think Paul Ryan is hamstringing Trump. Because there were six bills that were sent to Obama to repeal Obamacare. Where are those bills today? They\u2019re nowhere. So, for me, Paul Ryan… because Trump is a guy that gets it done. Paul Ryan I don\u2019t think wants to work. I think Paul Ryan wants the status quo, and I think Paul Ryan is a Never Trumper. I\u2019d like your thoughts.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, all right. Let me just for the sake of responding to you, stipulate all that. just for the hell of it.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Yep.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Then what\u2019s the solution? Trump\u2019s gotta get up there and fight him. I mentioned this yesterday.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I agree!<\/p>\n

RUSH: Because somebody… I had frustrated somebody like you, “Isn\u2019t Trump gonna…? Are they gonna happen to give Trump anything?” I said, “They aren\u2019t gonna give him jack! He\u2019s gonna go up and defeat them. He\u2019s gonna have to win it. He\u2019s gonna have to defeat them, including the Republicans. He\u2019s gonna have to fight them for it.”<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Right. Trump has to do what Reagan did. Trump\u2019s gotta go on the air and tell us what his tax plan is and put it in our faces and put them on the spot. That\u2019s what I think he should do.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well… (chuckles)<\/p>\n

SCOTT: What would be the downside of that?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, let me think. The downside. There wouldn\u2019t be a downside. Well, now, wait a minute. If it\u2019s Trump versus Ryan, if that\u2019s what it looks like on TV, if Trump goes on TV and starts attacking Ryan, I mean, that\u2019s red meat for the media. They can turn it into whatever. Trump\u2019s busy, though. I mean, Trump\u2019s got an agenda. We can see it. He\u2019s meeting with these people. He\u2019s doing what he said he was gonna do on immigration.<\/p>\n

\"\"SCOTT: I agree. I love the immigration thing, I do, but, to me, the economy is everything. If he doesn\u2019t get this economy going, because, like you said earlier, the summer break\u2019s gonna come around; these guys will look for every escape to get out of town.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yep.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Then 2018, and the midterm elections come up, and then nothing happens.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Look —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: So he\u2019s gotta strike now.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I agree with you. For the purpose of stipulating your premise here, I have made it clear . I didn\u2019t state it as directly as you have by personalizing. But there\u2019s no doubt, the Republicans who are funded by their donors and they care about that more than voters don\u2019t want the Trump immigration agenda, for example. They probably don\u2019t care one way or the other about the Trump transgender reversal. They want comprehensive immigration reform, and they want amnesty, and that makes them an enemy of Trump.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: But don\u2019t they want power, Rush?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, naturally.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Well, then, Trump gave them power by winning, and by implementing his agenda —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Oh, you think they should be grateful?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Absolutely!<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: They\u2019ll win more.<\/p>\n

RUSH: This is Washington, D.C.! (laughing) There isn\u2019t any.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I know, I know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: There (laughing) —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Sorry. I\u2019m in Hollywood so it\u2019s the same thing. Sorry about that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You\u2019re in Hollywood?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Yeah.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. Let me see the Scotts I know in Hollywood just off the top of my head. Scott, Scott, Scott, Scott.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: No. I don\u2019t know you. I know people you know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I know but try names.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I\u2019ll give you my last name if you want.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Do.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Baio.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You are Scott Baio?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I am.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, it\u2019s an honor to meet you. I\u2019m happy that you\u2019re in the audience. It\u2019s great that you\u2019ve called.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I\u2019ve been in the audience every day, I\u2019m a huge fan, and I\u2019m dying to play golf with you, Rush.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, where do you play out there?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I have a local course out here where I play. I could play wherever.<\/p>\n

RUSH: All right. Well —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I\u2019m in the West Valley in the San Fernando Valley.<\/p>\n

RUSH: San Fernando Valley. Okay, look, when we finish here if you stay on the line, if you give an email address to Mr. Snerdley —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Yep.<\/p>\n

RUSH: — next time I\u2019m out there, we\u2019ll play. I\u2019d absolutely love that. Now, look, your premise is right on the money. But, see, identifying Ryan, I know a lot of people think this. I think it\u2019s bigger than that, though. I think it\u2019s the entire establishment. Not just Ryan. He probably personifies it \u2019cause he\u2019s speaker. But I think it\u2019s the entire Washington establishment that is against Trump. There\u2019s no excuse for this. We won everything; the Democrats can\u2019t stop us. If they were really desirous of implementing tax cuts, they could be working on it right now.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: What frustrates me — and pardon the expression, but — power, I think, trumps everything for those people. So if they want the power, what people voted for was his agenda. And, you know, you can have your own personal feelings about anybody\u2019s agenda, but, at a certain point, I want to keep my power that gave it to me.<\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s the point. They don\u2019t think Trump had anything to do with them winning. They thing their donors made that possible. Hang on, Scott. Let me get back with you when we get back from the break.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Welcome back, Scott Baio, from Hollywood. You know, one thing that you\u2019re right about and I want… We glossed over this, but this is a really crucial point that you made, and that is that the House passed six Obamacare repeals when Obama was president. They knew that he would veto them, so there was no pain. There was no hassle. It was easy to do. They were throwing bones to conservative and Republican voters. But now the moment Trump became president, the repeals and the votes on the repeals have come to a screeching halt. Why? Because they think Trump might sign it!<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Which leads you to believe what? That they\u2019re heart really isn\u2019t in it.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Right. Exactly.<\/p>\n

RUSH: And then we got Boehner, who\u2019s today in Florida making a speech predicting that it\u2019ll never be repealed and replaced, that they\u2019ll just tinker with it at the edges. And that is all that\u2019s gonna happen. Let\u2019s go back to the campaign, Scott, and set the table here, because I think this helps explain everything. Even at nine o\u2019clock on election night everybody still thought Hillary was gonna win the election.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: The Republicans had built their plans based on losing. They had gotten together, I\u2019m sure, and based their political futures — how they were gonna behave in Washington — what their agenda, if any, was gonna be based on losing. Then everything happened and everything ends up upside down. Trump wins, they win, Ryan is speaker. That was probably gonna be the case, but they hold the Senate. Now they got all three branches. Now they\u2019ve got no excuses. This is not what they planned for. You know it as well as I do.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Yep.<\/p>\n

RUSH: They didn\u2019t have a plan for this.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I know they didn\u2019t have a plan for this, Rush. They had three months to get their act together, come up with a plan and implement it. Because I tell you what: If I were Paul Ryan and he doesn\u2019t get this done, I\u2019d be afraid to go home. I\u2019d be afraid for his next election, because somebody\u2019s gonna come up on his right and take him out. That\u2019s… And all these guys. That\u2019s what I believe. So, for me, just an average American — I play a lot of golf, I hang out with my friends, I smoke cigars — you know, all the guys that I know are starting to get upset about this and they\u2019re getting upset, and they all feel it\u2019s him.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, well, you know… Well, it is, but it\u2019s more than that. Don\u2019t —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: It\u2019s the whole… Look, you go back to the campaign again. We know — we know — that the Never Trumper contingency was huge and consisted of most of the Republican Party, during the campaign, during the primaries. They were all expecting him to implode.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Mmm-hmm.<\/p>\n

RUSH: The early money, of course, was on Jeb Bush. I\u2019m just saying, in their world… This is not an excuse. Their world has been turned upside down. They clearly… Trump is not establishment. That is such a big deal. He\u2019s outsider. They\u2019re insider. They\u2019re establishment. What… A question I wanted to ask you is, “What do you think…?” They didn\u2019t make plans. After Trump won, they were running around talking about how great Trump is, how excited they are. They themselves are saying, “No excuses.” They were making it look like they owed Trump everything, ready to go. But they haven\u2019t done anything.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Because I think the answer is, they assumed that Trump was all talk and no action like everything they\u2019ve dealt with for their entire lives. So here comes a guy that says what he means and means what he says, and they didn\u2019t get it. So now they\u2019re panicking, \u2019cause they don\u2019t know what to do. So how do you deal with a guy like that? They don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: But do you think they still oppose him?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Uh, I think they do to a certain extent. I absolutely do. I think Paul Ryan does not want to repeal Obamacare. I don\u2019t think they want to cut taxes. I don\u2019t think they want to… I know they want some form of amnesty. They don\u2019t want immigration.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Why don\u2019t they want tax cuts?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I\u2019m sorry?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Why do they not want to cut taxes?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Why don\u2019t they want to cut taxes?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

\"\"SCOTT: I think because it\u2019s worked for them, and I think because they\u2019re gonna be called out as being racist and insensitive to the middle class and to the poor. “You\u2019re cutting taxes for the rich.” That\u2019s what they\u2019re used to. Rush, you say it every day: They\u2019re playing on a playbook from 30, 40 years ago.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, I know, but they won! It\u2019s about time to stop be afraid —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I agree.<\/p>\n

RUSH: — and go on offense, for crying out loud!<\/p>\n

SCOTT: I agree a hundred percent. But they don\u2019t know… But if you don\u2019t know how to play offense, how do you play offense? If you don\u2019t know how to throw the ball, how do you throw it? They don\u2019t know how to do it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, I guess they should call Andy Reid. He doesn\u2019t —<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Or call Tom Brady —<\/p>\n

RUSH: (laughing) Better idea.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: — and learn to throw the damn football!<\/p>\n

RUSH: I was being facetious. (laughing)<\/p>\n

SCOTT: (chuckles) I know.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You\u2019re being serious.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: But, anyway, this is the frustration. And again, I\u2019m in show business, Rush, but I like to think of myself as a regular guy. I\u2019ve been working my whole life, but I see things, and I know that people starting to get frustrated. And I hope that the Republican Party starts getting in gear.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, let me go back tax cuts one thing. It was Mnuchin, and that\u2019s Trump.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Yep.<\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s Trump\u2019s Treasury secretary who said they\u2019re gonna have a tax cut plan in August. Reagan\u2019s tax cuts were signed into law in August. So Mnuchin is Trump. Mnuchin is the Treasury secretary. What do you think Trump ought to do, knowing — and let\u2019s just stipulate that you\u2019re right, that he\u2019s got some opposition among Republicans on Capitol Hill. Here\u2019s Trump meeting every day with his CEOs of this and that. He\u2019s dealing with immigration. He\u2019s reversing some Obama stuff. How should Trump go about this?<\/p>\n

SCOTT: Trump can\u2019t throw Mnuchin under the bus, you can\u2019t do that. The guy just came on board. I\u2019m just going by what the president said. A few weeks he said, “In a few weeks we\u2019re gonna have a plan.” Now, maybe Mnuchin misspoke. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know what Mnuchin… I don\u2019t think Mnuchin is a television savvy guy. So I don\u2019t know what his intention was. He might be trying to backpedal that a little bit, because to wait for August is crazy. So I honestly… What I said earlier, Rush, was Trump should come out and say what his tax plan might look like.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Right.<\/p>\n

SCOTT: That, to me, is everything.<\/p>\n