{"id":36909,"date":"2010-11-23T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:20:13","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T00:20:13","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:20:13","slug":"sharpton_to_fcc_shut_down_rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2010\/11\/23\/sharpton_to_fcc_shut_down_rush\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharpton to FCC: Shut Down Rush"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I have just today been made aware of something that happened last Friday on an obscure radio program on a barely breathing radio network. It\u2019s a program hosted by the Reverend Al Sharpton, and last Friday, the Reverend Al Sharpton called on the FCC to take my broadcast license away from me.<\/p>\n

SHARPTON: Part of what I think FCC needs to do is give the guidelines of what is excusable and what is not, what is permitable or permitted, I should say, and what is not, because clearly you\u2019re not trying to block free speech, but I think that for people to engage in programming shows that will use racial or gender bias as their format, we\u2019ve got a right to say there are standards that FCC can say that you cannot continue to have licenses to do that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Right. People who engage in programming shows that will use racial or gender bias. Now, this came on the heels of Sheila Jackson Lee saying she was outraged at my vernacular. And I even forgot, what were they upset about? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah, Driving Miss Nancy, yeah, Sergeant Schultz. Well, that was ethnic vernacular, that was ethnic vernacularity, and Sheila Jackson Lee was upset about that. Yeah, Driving Miss Nancy, all upset about that. The Reverend Sharpton said of course we\u2019re not talking about trying to block free speech. (laughing) No, we\u2019re not. He just wants the FCC to take my license away. He then went on to say this.<\/p>\n

SHARPTON: You gotta remember that those stations that Rush Limbaugh is on and others are regulated by FCC, granted by FCC. They go back to them to get waivers. They go back to them to get consolidation. They have the right to set standards. That does not impair your right to speak what you believe, but it does say you are not going to be able to do that to offend groups of Americans based on their race, their gender, their sexual status. None of that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, I\u2019m trying to be charitable here, but the best way I can describe this is we have Sheila Jackson Lee, okay, you\u2019re gonna go on television, you\u2019re gonna be asked a question, and just when the red light goes on just start talking, whatever comes to your mind. Just make sure that racism, discrimination, whatever comes to your mind, just say it, and when the red light goes off, stop. That\u2019s what you get here. ‘You gotta remember those stations that Rush Limbaugh\u2019s on and others are regulated by FCC, granted by FCC. They go back to them to get waivers.\u2019 Waivers? No. It\u2019s McDonald\u2019s asking for waivers from Obamacare. Stations don\u2019t get waivers for speech or personalities on the radio. ‘They go back to them to get consolidation.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Now, what he\u2019s talking about there is that when a massive corporate entity wants to buy a whole bunch of radio stations owned by a bunch of small mom and pops, see, the left hates that. It\u2019s called consolidation, they don\u2019t like it. So that\u2019s a knee-jerk term. So you gotta go to the FCC to get consolidation. Somebody with a rudimentary, just a surface knowledge of what he\u2019s talking about here, knows the words, so he uses the words in ways that only somebody who knows what he\u2019s trying to say can interpret. This is me. (interruption) Sharpton, was he in Selma? Sharpton was in Selma. They can\u2019t shut me down. I was in Selma, in spirit. Nobody can prove that I was not there. I was in Selma. ‘It does say you\u2019re not gonna be able to do that to offend groups of Americans based on their race, their gender, their sexual status.\u2019 So Al Sharpton is calling on the FCC to take my license, and I don\u2019t have one. <\/p>\n

Now, speaking of the FCC, this is from TheHill.com: ‘The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has a Christmas gift in store for the phone and cable industry: it may move ahead on its controversial net-neutrality regulations three days before Christmas. An FCC source confirmed on Friday that the commission plans to push its December meeting back by a week, meaning it will fall on the 22nd of the month. That\u2019s the same meeting in which analysts say the agency may move forward on its controversial net-neutrality proposal. Though the FCC has not confirmed that it will vote on net neutrality this year, rumors are swirling that it will,\u2019 before the new Congress takes over. ‘The timing of the meeting is already raising eyebrows. Some see it as a way to move the matter along before the GOP assumes the majority and while Congress is not in session to criticize the effort. <\/p>\n

Now, this has already been voted down in Congress. It failed an FCC vote. Now they\u2019re gonna do it again, and net neutrality, of course, it\u2019s not what it claims to be. It\u2019s like so many other liberal things. It doesn\u2019t mean that there\u2019s gonna be neutral on the net. It doesn\u2019t mean that there\u2019s not gonna be bias on the net. What it\u2019s going to do is limit the amount of conservatism that you will be able to find on the Internet. That\u2019s what its purpose will be, via blogs, via search engines, or what have you. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: You know, speaking of the Reverend Sharpton, ladies and gentlemen, the National Action Network is a nonprofit organization — and it is regulated by the IRS under the Internal Revenue Code. Now, maybe the IRS should take away his tax-exempt status. I mean, he says the FCC should take away my free speech rights. You know, make sure Sharpton\u2019s group is kosher, no violation of tax laws, fulfilling its mission. Make sure people are not paid too much. I\u2019m not saying he did anything wrong, don\u2019t misunderstand but, you know, maybe just a routine check by the IRS. You aren\u2019t allowed to use at 501(c)(3) to campaign for candidates, for example. I wonder. Should the IRS check to see? Because these organizations like Sharpton\u2019s are regulated to make sure that they\u2019re not offending people. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying he\u2019s doing anything wrong, just do a routine check. In fact, here in the New York Daily News there is an exclusive today by Douglas Feiden: ‘National Action Network\u2019s $1.1 Million Debt Doesn\u2019t Stop Rev. Al Sharpton\u2019s $250,000 Salary.\u2019 Now, this is the New York Daily News. ‘The Rev. Al Sharpton paid himself a six-figure salary for the first time last year — even as his civil rights group drowns in red ink and his tax bill hit nearly $1 million.\u2019 (interruption) I don\u2019t know how you do that. The National Action Network owes ‘$1.1 million in unpaid city, state, and federal payroll taxes as of Jan. 1st.\u2019 (interruption) Well, you ask me ‘How do you do that?\u2019 You do that by not paying your taxes. Is that what you mean? (interruption) <\/p>\n

Well, no. The question is: How do you get away with it for that long if you owe that much in taxes…? (interruption) Well, that\u2019s a good point: Ask Charlie Rangel. He got away with it for decades. ‘After back-to-back years in which he took no compensation from the National Action Network, Sharpton pulled down $250,000 last year, the organization\u2019s federal tax filings show. The payday comes even as his group, a Harlem-based nonprofit organization, lists $1.1 million in unpaid city, state and federal payroll taxes as of Jan. 1, the group\u2019s auditor told the Internal Revenue Service.\u2019 So the IRS has been checking into it. Routine check. I\u2019m not saying he did anything wrong. I just say the IRS should conduct random checks here. <\/p>\n

‘At the same time, the reverend has three outstanding warrants totaling $988,000 in unpaid personal income taxes from 2002 to 2007, the state Department of Taxation and Finance says.\u2019 Now, I get audited every year by the same bunch people, and even when I don\u2019t owe any taxes they claim I do. ‘Reached in Georgia, Sharpton told the Daily News he and his organization have been in advanced settlement talks with the state and the Feds. He says he has worked out a repayment plan and has been paying down his debt in agreed-upon installments, with a portion of income from his nationally syndicated radio talk show earmarked to pay his personal tax liabilities. Meanwhile, the National Action Network has been negotiating a compromise offer with the IRS since February, and in March, it paid off its debt to the city and state, its auditor says in tax documents. <\/p>\n

”The liability will be completely wiped out by the end of 2010 or the first quarter of 2011,\u2019 Sharpton said. ‘It depends on how the negotiations go, but it will disappear.” (laughing) It depends how the negotiations go. (laughing) How many of you who are in debt are gonna retire it based on negotiations? (interruption) I\u2019m told that the Reverend Sharpton was not in Selma. I thought he was, but apparently no. ‘Sharpton, who gives about 70 speeches a year, said the problem was that while he would give his group the speaking fees, the checks were recorded in his name as taxable income. Now the checks are issued directly to the group, and because he doesn\u2019t get paid for the speeches and had no salary for the past two years, the board last year awarded him $250,000 in salary, he explained.\u2019<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see. Let\u2019s review this. <\/p>\n

‘Sharpton, who gives about 70 speeches a year, said the problem was that while he would give his group the speaking fees, the checks were\u2019 made out to him personally, thus, he owed tax on them. He didn\u2019t pay it because he gave the money to the group. ‘Now the checks are issued directly to the group,\u2019 the National Action Network, ‘and because he doesn\u2019t get paid for the speeches and had no salary for the past two years, the board last year awarded him $250,000 in salary, he explained.\u2019 How do you…? How do you do that? How do you go two years without a salary? ‘Celebrities like Mariah Carey and Bill Cosby have headlined National Action Network fund-raisers, and sponsors at a Lincoln Center bash earlier this month included NBC, Macy\u2019s, NASCAR and Walmart.\u2019 So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Now, Sharpton\u2019s speeches were mostly campaign speeches for Obama. Again… Look, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m not saying he did anything wrong. I\u2019m just saying that the IRS has apparently looked into this and they found $1.1 million in unpaid state, city and federal taxes — and they\u2019re all gonna be paid off here depending on the negotiations, depending on how the negotiations go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, I have just today been made aware of something that happened last Friday on an obscure radio program on a barely breathing radio network. 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