{"id":37359,"date":"2011-01-18T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:07:45","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T00:07:45","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:07:45","slug":"caller_willing_to_give_up_pension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/","title":{"rendered":"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RUSH: John in Nashville, you\u2019re next on the EIB be right back. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You bet, sir. Thank you.<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019ve been a longtime listener. It\u2019s the first time I got an opportunity to talk to you, and I appreciate that. I\u2019ll get right to my point. I worked for the State of Ohio (unintelligible) Services for several years, and when I retired, of course, our pension is set up to where… I know I\u2019m a little off subject for you today, but our pension is set up where we donate — or don\u2019t donate, we put in — so much of our own money through our paycheck to out —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, I know where you\u2019re going. Your pension isn\u2019t there, basically, is what you\u2019re gonna say.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, no. Basically what I\u2019m gonna say is if the state is gonna have to take our pensions because of this shortfall — you know, it\u2019s not working out too well — I think at least we ought to be able to receive our money that we personally put in along with some interest.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wait a second. You have a pension. You are willing for the state to take it except for your personal contribution with interest?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah. I mean, if that\u2019s what it takes. <\/p>\n

RUSH: That\u2019s your civility? That is your compromise?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well (chuckles), you know, our country is going broke.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Let me give you the facts of this. Let me tell you how this is going. I have a story here from the Financial Times. The headline: ‘States Warned of $2 Trillion Pensions Shortfall — US public pensions face a shortfall of $2,500 billion that will force state and local governments to sell assets and make deep cuts to services, according to the former chairman of New Jersey\u2019s pension fund. The severe US economic recession has cast a spotlight on years of fiscal mismanagement, including chronic underfunding of retirement promises.\u2019 Your money isn\u2019t there. They didn\u2019t save it for you. It has been spent!<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Nothing is real! <\/p>\n

CALLER: One thing about Ohio\u2019s pension —<\/p>\n

RUSH: All of these people like you who think you have a pension out there, they\u2019re $2.5 trillion unfunded nationwide. California, Illinois, and New York are leading the way. I don\u2019t know what the situation is in Ohio, but it\u2019s gotta be pretty similar.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, no. Actually Ohio is pretty solvent. Our pension plan is set up to where the money that was… They have to have ten years, by law, worth of funds to fund the pension. For ten years, by PRS and Ohio State law.<\/line><\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, the same laws exist in California. (whispers) The money\u2019s not there. <\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah.<\/p>\n

RUSH: The same laws exist in Vallejo, California. They got nothing. It\u2019s nothing. Zilch.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah. Ours is pretty solvent. If you take a look at the pension in Ohio, actually it\u2019s in pretty good shape. You know, it\u2019s not perfect, but it\u2019s in a whole lot better shape than other states.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Then why are you willing to let them keep most of it?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well… (sigh) (sigh) We make agreements with folks, and I do business mostly on a handshake, and if they can\u2019t live up to their obligations, that\u2019s not my fault.<\/p>\n

RUSH: No, no, but you\u2019ve said they\u2019ve lived up on \u2019em. Your pension fund is solvent.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, it is. It\u2019s pretty solvent.<\/p>\n

RUSH: All right. So if it is, why are you willing to make compromise with them and only take out what you\u2019ve put in?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well… Well, Rush, because that\u2019s all I earned.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, I understand that, but you said you made a deal, that your pension is X. They\u2019re gonna be matched or what have you, or certain percentage of what you contribute is —<\/p>\n

CALLER: Right.<\/p>\n

RUSH: — matched and you\u2019re willing to forgo that in a solvent fund.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah. If things are as bad for our country as they say, we have to come out of this bind that our country is in. Our individual comfort is —<\/p>\n

RUSH: You are willing to accept the penalty and the blame for something that\u2019s not your fault.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, we do our damnedest to do what we have to do. The men and women that serve in our military —<\/p>\n

RUSH: How about this? Would you support this? Would you support what they\u2019re doing in Illinois: Raise income taxes 66% to deal with the pension shortfall?<\/p>\n

CALLER: No.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Why? I mean, that\u2019s everybody contributing. That\u2019s, ‘We gotta all pay a price.\u2019 <\/p>\n

CALLER: (chuckles)<\/p>\n

RUSH: Do you want the states to be bailed out by the federal government?<\/p>\n

CALLER: No, I don\u2019t. I want the states to be able to go on their own.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. So you want to feel the pain.<\/p>\n

CALLER: It\u2019s not that I want to feel the pain, Rush. Okay?<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, I\u2019m… (sigh) Look, I live in Realville.<\/p>\n

CALLER: And I understand that.<\/p>\n

RUSH: It will be painful if you do what you want to do here.<\/p>\n

CALLER: You improvise, you adapt, and you overcome.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, I understand the valor. I understand. This sounds like it\u2019s a patriotic thing to you because what you think what you\u2019re doing is saving the country. You\u2019re working with other people on all these unfunded pensions. You\u2019ll forgo a portion of what you\u2019re owed if that money will go to help somebody else get a portion of theirs, where they not be getting anything. Is that…? Am I basically reading that right?<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s… I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s right or not, Rush. (sigh) You know, I\u2019m gonna go back on a little something and kinda go around the bush a little bit if you\u2019re bear with me.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Sure, sure, go right ahead.<\/p>\n

CALLER: In 2008, I was working for the state. The big shots from the union came around.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah?<\/p>\n

CALLER: They\u2019re pushing Obama for president. Well, I\u2019m up front in the communications center, and we politely tell \u2019em, ‘Hey, I\u2019m sorry, you union bosses, but you\u2019re wrong. He\u2019s not the right guy for our country. So just go on out, union leadership.\u2019<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay. You\u2019re gonna tell me now you\u2019ve lost your kneecaps, right, and you can\u2019t walk anymore?<\/p>\n

CALLER: I know I\u2019m on a different point. Forgive me. That\u2019s for another time. I\u2019ll stick with the pension funds. I think what our country needs is for men and women to stand up and do what we have to do to keep our country from falling into the hands of the Chinese.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Ah. Okay. I want to try to comfort you a little bit. You know, the ChiCom premier Hu Jintao is in town, and a bunch of people have done some stories today on the real situation we have with China, that they\u2019re not outperforming us economically, that they don\u2019t own our debt (they own 11% of it), that we actually manufacture more stuff now than we did in the 1950s. There are a lot of myths about us losing to China, when in fact the ChiComs are only where they are because they have adopted, in part, a capitalist economic system. At any rate, I gotta run now. I appreciate the phone call, and I understand what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: I was not lying, ladies and gentlemen. The story is: ‘US public pensions face a shortfall of $2,500 billion that will force state and local governments to sell assets and make deep cuts to services,\u2019 like the cops and the school teachers, which they won\u2019t cut. You\u2019ll just do with less to avoid all that. I can see it all happening now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: John in Nashville, you\u2019re next on the EIB be right back. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. RUSH: You bet, sir. Thank you. CALLER: I\u2019ve been a longtime listener. It\u2019s the first time I got an opportunity to talk to you, and I appreciate that. I\u2019ll get right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCaller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: John in Nashville, you\u2019re next on the EIB be right back. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. RUSH: You bet, sir. Thank you. CALLER: I\u2019ve been a longtime listener. It\u2019s the first time I got an opportunity to talk to you, and I appreciate that. I\u2019ll get right […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/\",\"name\":\"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T00:07:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T00:07:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: John in Nashville, you\u2019re next on the EIB be right back. Hello. CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. I appreciate it. RUSH: You bet, sir. Thank you. CALLER: I\u2019ve been a longtime listener. It\u2019s the first time I got an opportunity to talk to you, and I appreciate that. I\u2019ll get right […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125113.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/","name":"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2011-05-19T00:07:45+00:00","dateModified":"2011-05-19T00:07:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/01\/18\/caller_willing_to_give_up_pension\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Caller Willing to Give Up Pension"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f18195e0073013fa0e16b040686c2924?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37359"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}