{"id":37587,"date":"2011-02-17T01:01:01","date_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:05:03","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2011-05-19T00:05:03","modified_gmt":"2011-05-19T00:05:03","slug":"union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Folks, I don\u2019t think the people in Wisconsin, the unions, the teachers, and some of the protesters, I don\u2019t think they got the memo on civility. Have you seen what\u2019s going on? I mean this is Greece! It\u2019s Greece. All of these people who live off the largesse of taxpayers are just marching in the streets, calling in sick. Schools have been closed in parts of Wisconsin today for fog. There isn\u2019t any. Well, there\u2019s certainly not enough in these areas where it\u2019s been canceled. We have some photos I want to show you from the protests in Wisconsin. Let me turn the Dittocam off while I zoom in here and get this. I don\u2019t want you to see the zoom-in happen. <\/p>\n

All right, now this first one is self-explanatory for those of you watching on the Dittocam. ‘Hosni + Hitler = Dictator Scott Walker.\u2019 Scott Walker, the dictator governor of Wisconsin. Okay, that\u2019s one of them. Here\u2019s another one. ‘Down with dictators, one to go.\u2019 That\u2019s a picture of Hosni Mubarak on top there. Let me zoom in even tighter on this one if we can. Down with dictators, one down and one to go. Mubarak in the upper right, Scott Walker, the mayor of Wisconsin in the lower left. I don\u2019t know if Biden has weighed in on whether he\u2019s a dictator or not. <\/p>\n

Now, this next picture for those of you watching on the Dittocam, this is people carrying the sign, ‘Hosni + Hitler = Dictator Scott Walker.\u2019 I got a picture here, these are the union thugs, as you can see right there. These are the union thugs that are carrying the picture. This is just a sample of three pictures that we have seen out there of the protesters. We know people are being bussed in, by the way. It\u2019s not just people from Wisconsin. It\u2019s like during the Hawkeye Cauci in early 2008, Obama had a bunch of people bussed in from outside Iowa to go to the Hawkeye Cauci, and we have some sound bites on this. Obama last night in Milwaukee, correspondent Charles Benson interviewed Obama. He said, ‘Thousands are marching on Madison as we speak. Unions and state employees are angry at Governor Walker. Walker\u2019s talking about potentially bringing out the National Guard. They\u2019re worried that they\u2019re gonna lose their right to bargain, forced to pay more for their benefits.\u2019<\/p>\n

OBAMA: I haven\u2019t followed exactly what\u2019s happening with the Wisconsin budget. I\u2019ve got some budget problems here in Washington.<\/p>\n

RUSH: BS.<\/p>\n

OBAMA: I would say as a general proposition that everybody\u2019s gotta make some adjustments to new fiscal realities. I think those kinds of adjustments are the right thing to do.<\/p>\n

RUSH: ‘I haven\u2019t followed exactly what\u2019s happening with the Wisconsin budget.\u2019 BS. His buddies at the SEIU and the teachers unions are right in on it. But there\u2019s an interesting story. It\u2019s all about how the Democrats, a lot of them now understand here that what\u2019s going on with the unions cannot be sustained, even Democrats do, some teachers unions particularly because there\u2019s no performance here. Everybody knows the schools are not performing. The students are not performing. It was kind of an interesting story, frankly. I\u2019ll see if I can find it somewhere in the stack. Obama sounds somewhat sympathetic to Governor Walker. ‘I would say as a general proposition that everybody\u2019s gotta make some adjustments to new fiscal realities.\u2019 He could be talking to the teachers, union guys. But realizing what he had done, Obama then continued with this.<\/p>\n

OBAMA: Some of what I\u2019ve heard coming out of Wisconsin where you\u2019re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain generally seems like more of an assault on unions. Public employees, they\u2019re our neighbors. They\u2019re our friends. These are folks who are teachers and they\u2019re firefighters and they\u2019re social workers and they\u2019re police officers. You know, they make a lot of sacrifices and make a big contribution, and I think it\u2019s important not to vilify them or to suggest that somehow all these budget problems are due to public employees.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Who\u2019s vilifying \u2019em? We just don\u2019t have the money to pay them. Nobody\u2019s vilifying them. It\u2019s just the money isn\u2019t there to pay them. Now, Walker is threatening to call out the National Guard to do the jobs of the people who are calling in sick. The media makes it sound like he\u2019s calling out the guard to crack down on the protesters. Mr. Vilify himself, what does he call it, tea baggers? Big Oil. Big Bank. This guy vilifies everybody he considers to be one of his enemies. But it\u2019s important not to vilify these people, his friends, they\u2019re our neighbors and we don\u2019t have the money. The money simply isn\u2019t there. Scott Walker ran on this premise and he is implementing this premise, and despite the protests, you don\u2019t see the average citizens in Wisconsin joining them and saying throw the guy out. Lena Taylor is a state senator, Democrat in Wisconsin. She spoke to a reporter in Madison yesterday, said this.<\/p>\n

TAYLOR: The history of Hitler in 1933, he abolished unions, and that\u2019s what our governor is doing today.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, so here comes the official comparison to Adolf Hitler. Apparently Lena Taylor did not get the memo on civility. The history of Hitler in 1933, he abolished unions, and that\u2019s what our governor is doing today. We\u2019ll skip number six and we\u2019ll skip number seven. Let\u2019s go back to Paul Ryan here. This is this morning on Morning Joe on MSNBC. Mika Brzezinski, the cohost, said, ‘Governor Scott Walker, what he\u2019s asking of state workers there, what do you make of the stand he\u2019s taking and have you been in contact with him at all?\u2019<\/p>\n

RYAN: It\u2019s not asking a lot. It\u2019s still about half of what private sector pensions do and health care packages do, so he\u2019s basically saying, ‘I want you public workers to pay half of what our private sector counterparts are,\u2019 and he\u2019s getting riots. It\u2019s like Cairo has moved to Madison these days. People should be able to express themselves but we\u2019ve gotta get this deficit and debt under control in Madison.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Right. And Walker is listening to the people, the people who elected him. He\u2019s doing what the people of Wisconsin want. He can\u2019t print money like Obama can. This is the thing these union people don\u2019t seem to understand. This guy is a Republican in Wisconsin, in Madison, he got elected on this agenda. He\u2019s doing what the people want. The opposite of what Mubarak did. They try to compare him to Hosni Mubarak. By the way, V. I. Lenin, Vladimir Lenin did away with unions, too. Well known communist did away with unions when he was ascending to power. The teachers got together, too, government union rally in opposition to Scott Walker. Here\u2019s a little bit of an exchange between an unidentified reporter and several unidentified students from Madison East High School.<\/p>\n

REPORTER: No class today?<\/p>\n

STUDENT: Nope. Our teachers brought us here today.<\/p>\n

REPORTER: You guys protesting or are you testifying?<\/p>\n

STUDENT: You know, I don\u2019t even really know. I guess we\u2019re protesting today.<\/p>\n

STUDENT: Trying to stop whatever this dude is doing. (laughing)<\/p>\n

RUSH: They don\u2019t even know! The Wisconsin teachers bringing the kids to the union protests and the kids are clueless! They don\u2019t even know what they\u2019re doing there. (imitating student) ‘I guess stop whatever the dude\u2019s doing.\u2019 They can\u2019t even teach \u2019em how to protest properly, can\u2019t even inform them what they\u2019re going to protest when they take \u2019em. Last night on television, we had Russ Feingold, and he was asked the following question. This is all about Wisconsin. ‘The governor\u2019s line here is that this is about balancing the budget. What explains the distance between what he wants to do and what he\u2019s actually proposing?\u2019<\/p>\n

FEINGOLD: Well, the argument this is really about the budget process is phonier than a three-dollar bill. What he did last week was say basically on Thursday or Friday, ‘I want to take away all these rights of collective bargaining from people, and I want it done within the next five or six days.\u2019 This is just a direct attack driven by corporate interests and the state in this country that they have been fantasizing about forever, which is to bust the unions, and that\u2019s what the agenda is. It is really not about the state budget. That\u2019s just simply phony.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Russ Feingold, who wasn\u2019t reelected, was he? He wasn\u2019t reelected by the people of Wisconsin to return to Washington as their senator. They elected a corporate guy. The Wisconsin people elected a corporate guy. May be trying to bust the union; I don\u2019t know. But it is about the budget. It is most definitely about the budget. I wonder if the parents of these students gave permission for their children to attend these protests. These are ugly. You see some video, the protests are pretty ugly. I wonder if most parents want their children exposed to this. One more here from Feingold. Question: ‘Republican politics have become very homogenous on this issue in the way they weren\u2019t a generation ago. They\u2019re all very anti-employee, very pro-business, very, very anti-union. Are Democrats taking the other side of that fight?\u2019<\/p>\n

FEINGOLD: In our state we are. The Democratic Party here and the unions, both public and private, are unified. They\u2019re trying to somehow divide and conquer not only between private and public employees, they\u2019re trying to divide people within public employees. We\u2019re not gonna let Governor Walker acting as a shill, basically, for these corporations to destroy the rights of working people.<\/p>\n

RUSH: So it\u2019s the same old traditional argument, the rights of working people are being trampled on. It\u2019s working people that are losing their jobs, real working, nonunionized people who are losing their jobs. Their unemployment benefits and tax dollars are being paid, being used to provide never ending pensions, health care benefits and so forth and so on. It is socialism on the march, it can\u2019t be sustained. We\u2019ve reached the point it simply can\u2019t be sustained. This is the breaking point. And just like in Greece, you tell the freeloaders the free ride is over and they just raise hell, they just can\u2019t handle it. ‘What do you mean freeloaders and a free ride?\u2019 Look, when somebody else is paying for most of what you get in life, you\u2019re a freeloader. There\u2019s no other way to describe it. It may sound a little harsh, but that\u2019s why passions here are what they are. The people paying for this are losing their jobs. The people paying for all this don\u2019t make nearly the money the people they\u2019re paying make. It cannot be sustained. Anybody responsible for running a state has got to step in and reverse the trend. It\u2019s that simple.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: It\u2019s kinda comical to watch here the media and the protesters really trying to make it sound like Governor Walker is gonna sick the National Guard on the protesters and beat the protesters upside the head. But that\u2019s not why the National Guard is there. The media and the protesters are engaged in a lie even too big for the so-called fact check site, PolitiFact, to swallow. The claim was rated a ‘pants on fire untruth\u2019 by this bunch, which clarified that the governor referenced calling up the National Guard if workers didn\u2019t show up to work, not to quash the protesters and beat \u2019em upside the head. The point, ladies and gentlemen, is, they\u2019re there to do work necessary if people do not do their jobs. It\u2019s to keep the state operating. <\/p>\n

Now, you\u2019ll notice in these Feingold sound bites that we played, he didn\u2019t say a single word about the children or the taxpayers. We have schools for what purpose? What\u2019s the purpose, really? To educate children, right? No other reason. That\u2019s why we have schools. We don\u2019t have schools to exist for the unions. The taxpayers are the boss. The taxpayers decide how their employees are to be organized and paid. The schools do not exist for the union to have jobs, just like corporations don\u2019t exist for members of a community to have health care benefits. That\u2019s not the purpose. It\u2019s the same thing with schools. They are in existence to teach kids, not to provide unions jobs. So when people speak out and vote, the likes of Russ Feingold talk about ‘the little people.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Well, it\u2019s the little people paying the price. The kids and the taxpayers, they\u2019re the ones paying for all of this failure. They\u2019re the ones who are unemployed. They\u2019re the ones, when they are working, paying people salaries larger than they make. The liberals are defending their power base. That\u2019s why they speak as they do and act as they do, the power base being the unions. Feingold wants the taxpayers to continue to support his campaign supporters at the NEA. That\u2019s what he\u2019s worried about. Why should everyone else give up some of what they have but not those who work for the government at whatever level? They kept tell us all through Iraq war and all through this recession, ‘We need to sacrifice. The American people need to sacrifice. Damn right!\u2019 Okay, why are public employees exempted from all of this sacrifice? It\u2019s times like this, folks, when the disconnect between liberals and the people become very, very clear. <\/p>\n

The issue, Mr. Feingold, is what people can afford, not what the unions want. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s really simple.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Folks, one of the things that you\u2019re not hearing about what\u2019s going on in Wisconsin is that Governor Walker is trying to make a deal. If the unions will accept the concessions (which, in the big scheme of things, are pretty minor) he\u2019s promising not to lay any of them off. He ought to be looking at it as a hero. We\u2019ve got an economic recession, we\u2019ve got unemployment rising, and be he\u2019s offering them a deal where they won\u2019t be laid off. The AP has a 24-paragraph story and in paragraph 23 we find this: ‘In exchange for bearing more costs and losing bargaining leverage, public employees were promised no furloughs and no layoffs.\u2019 He\u2019s trying to save their jobs. He ought to be treated like a hero instead of a dictator. <\/p>\n

But this is a microcosm, folks, of what\u2019s going on all over this country in communities large and small. It is times like this where the disconnect between the liberals and the people who make this country work becomes very clear. Senator Feingold, the issue in Wisconsin is very simple. It\u2019s about what people can afford, not what the unions want. It is about what the kids need as students. It\u2019s not what the unions want. What\u2019s going on here, folks, is a realignment back to constitutional, representative government where the people have a say in their future. The people are sick and tired of playing second fiddle. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re sick and tired of paying the salaries and benefits of people who end up undermining their own values and ideals, oftentimes undermining those of their kids as students. This cabal of politicians and public sector unions and bureaucrats is being challenged. For once, we got some people with some guts! Who are not acting like a bunch of little sissies running around afraid to offend people by standing up for what they believe. This is not just going on in New Jersey and Wisconsin, either. This is happening in many towns and states, and it has been going on for quite a while. This is getting news in Wisconsin because it\u2019s a large state. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a very long New York Times story on Wisconsin today — and remember, now, we\u2019re operating under a presidential directive: We need to have more civility in our society. By the way, has anybody claimed that talk radio is responsible for what\u2019s going on in Wisconsin? Nope. Not yet, but let\u2019s wait and see what happens there before they do. But the New York Times has a very long story, and this is the last paragraph. The last paragraph of a long story in the New York Times: ‘Scott Fitzgerald, the Republican leader in the Wisconsin state Senate, slipped out of the capitol Wednesday morning with his sunglasses on and his head down. Protesters had gone to his home earlier in the week, forcing his family — including his wife, a school guidance counselor — to go elsewhere for a bit.\u2019 <\/p>\n

So the Republican leader in the Senate was forced from his home by this mob. I don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve called him a Nazi yet. They may not know that he\u2019s gotten people out at his home, but they\u2019re out there protesting at his home in this new era of civility. So you clearly now see that all that after the so-called memorial for the people who died in Arizona was just a crock, all this civility stuff. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is fighting for every American now. By the way, are we not being told it is Obama trying to be like Reagan? Well, if Obama wants to be like Reagan, why doesn\u2019t he call up Walker and encourage them to fire all these union thugs like Reagan fired the air traffic controllers at the FAA? <\/p>\n

From The Politico today: ‘The Politics of Education Upended.\u2019 It\u2019s a story by Jennifer Epstein. Even Democrats sound a little like Republicans when it comes to the teachers unions. The gig is up, obviously, and teachers know it. You want to hear a little bit of this? ‘In Wisconsin, about 1,000 teachers called in sick Wednesday to protest Gov. Scott Walker\u2019s attempt to strip their union bargaining rights. In Washington, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recounted his battle with his state\u2019s teachers unions Wednesday, calling their leaders ‘greedy\u2019 and ‘selfish.\u2019 And in Nevada, Indiana and Florida, Republican governors are targeting teachers contracts and work rules to fix a system they say is broken. <\/p>\n

”The status quo has put us at the bottom of the heap,\u2019 Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval told Politico. The events point to a convergence that is remaking the politics of education. Teachers unions, historically one of the most powerful interest groups in American politics, are being besieged like never before — under attack from conservative GOP governors with a zeal for budget-cutting even while taking fire from some Democrats, including President Barack Obama, who has suggested he agrees that unions can be an impediment to better schools.\u2019 (snorts) I wonder if the Politico gang will be invited back to the White House after that paragraph. <\/p>\n

‘Obama\u2019s education secretary Arne Duncan sounded surprisingly like the Republican governors when he told teachers unions and administrators at a conference Tuesday in Denver, ‘Clearly, the status quo isn\u2019t working for children.\u2019 The backlash threatens to undercut one of the Democratic Party\u2019s most stalwart backers — and upset a mutually beneficial relationship where the unions provided financial support and foot soldiers for Democratic campaigns, in return for political cover to protect their prerogatives in the U.S. Congress and state capitols across the nation. The National Education Association, the largest teachers union, spent $40 million on the 2010 elections alone, making the union one of the largest outside funders of Democratic campaigns. <\/p>\n

‘But things are changing. On both sides of the aisle, politicians are unhappy with how teachers are compensated, hired and fired, and are eager to introduce reforms. … Obama and Duncan have made clear that their vision for the country\u2019s teachers includes getting tougher on them. ‘It is time to start rewarding good teachers and stop making excuses for bad ones,\u2019 the president said shortly after taking office.\u2019 I don\u2019t know if he even remembers that. ”The state\u2019s unions ‘think I\u2019m attacking them,\u2019 [Chris] Christie said. … ‘I\u2019m attacking the leadership of the unions because they\u2019re greedy, they\u2019re selfish. It\u2019s time to honestly say that we can separate the teachers from the union,” which has long been a point on this program. <\/p>\n

By the way, Scott Walker\u2019s home and his car have been attacked as well in this new era of civility ushered in by Obama after the shooting spree in Arizona. So as I say, the disconnect between liberals and the people who make this country work is becoming stark. This disconnect is patently obviously now. It\u2019s very, very clear. In Wisconsin it\u2019s about what people can afford, and it\u2019s about what kids need. It\u2019s not about what unions want. The money isn\u2019t there. They simply don\u2019t have the money. Of course that doesn\u2019t matter. That\u2019s not a concern of the union leadership.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Kristin in Madison, Wisconsin. I\u2019m glad you waited. You\u2019re up first today on the EIB Network. Hi.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. I\u2019m glad to talk to you.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you.<\/p>\n

CALLER: It\u2019s getting ridiculous out here. There\u2019s High Schoolers parading down the streets, schools are being closed and, you know, the classes are being canceled.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Right.<\/p>\n

CALLER: And the entitlement here is making me sick.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Are they having any impact? What\u2019s the impact of these protests on the average citizen in Madison, the people of Wisconsin? You\u2019re there; I\u2019m not. What\u2019s the impact?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Well, personally I\u2019m just infuriated, but it\u2019s hard to drive around here, there\u2019s just people yelling and —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Good. So they\u2019re not currying any favor with people they need to be —<\/p>\n

CALLER: No.<\/p>\n

RUSH: This is good. This is all good. So the schools have emptied, the students are being used as pawns.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yep. Yeah, I have a Scott Walker sign on my porch and I got stuff thrown at it yesterday.<\/p>\n

RUSH: What kind of stuff are they throwing?<\/p>\n

CALLER: I think it was just ice and whatever else they had.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Let me ask you a question out there, Kristin. We know the media is getting beat up everywhere around the world it goes. Some ABC guy just got roughed up in Bahrain. Are the students beating up the media yet in Wisconsin covering this protest?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, well, I\u2019m getting e-mails from teachers and professors and TAs all the time about going to this and just everything is being covered. This is the only thing being covered, all the newspapers and —<\/p>\n

RUSH: I know. They live for this stuff. I mean this is how they consider earning a living, joining the protest march. Well, we\u2019ll keep a sharp eye. No reports yet of any media being beat up. (interruption) Do I feel responsible for any of this? No, why would I feel responsible for any of this? Well, I know, I led the discussion. We had a Morning Update on Monday or Tuesday about this, exactly right. So you could say, as usual, we\u2019re on the cutting edge talking about this. According to the Obama, folks, this is how real democracy works. That\u2019s what he said about what went on in Egypt, it\u2019s what real democracy looks like. And as I say, no media has been beaten up yet, but the media is probably on their side. <\/p>\n

Valencia, California, hi, Jill. I\u2019m glad you called. You\u2019re next on the EIB Network.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thank you so much. I have a little cold so I apologize but I love you. I just wanted to call, I\u2019m so angry. This is the second year in a row that my husband and I are not contributing to our personal retirement account. And I am so resentful of the fact that we are not contributing to our own, but we are forced to pay for the retirement and benefits of these federal and state employees. Not only do we have to pay for that —<\/p>\n

RUSH: See?<\/p>\n

CALLER: — my husband and I have chosen to just have major medical insurance —<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah.<\/p>\n

CALLER: — because we are typically a well family, that\u2019s our choice, but we are forced to pay for their all-encompassing insurance.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I understand totally. You have to fund your own retirement and here are people trying to shut down a state on a strike because they don\u2019t expect to have to pay anything toward their own retirement, but you should. This is why, folks, I say that this huge disconnect between the left and the people of this country is becoming very, very clear, and the sympathy is not with the people on the protest march.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: I\u2019ve said for decades somebody just stand up, some elected official stand up, have some guts and not be a sissy against the left. People would love \u2019em and follow \u2019em. People have been craving leadership on our side. They perceive leadership in Christie, they\u2019re seeing it here in this guy, and that\u2019s why there is overwhelming support for them right now. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: The Associated Press is outraged. ‘Wisconsin lawmakers are prepared to pass a momentous bill that would strip government workers of nearly all collective bargaining rights over the loud objections of thousands of teachers, students and prison guards who packed the Capitol for two days of protests.\u2019 Students are unionized? No, clearly not. So the students are protesting because their teachers have told them to. ‘The nation\u2019s most aggressive anti-union proposal has been speeding through the Legislature since Republican Gov. Scott Walker introduced it a week ago. After clearing a major legislative hurdle Wednesday night, it was headed to votes in the Senate and Assembly.\u2019 And Scott Walker said, ‘I\u2019m just trying to balance my budget. I\u2019m just trying to balance my budget here.\u2019 <\/p>\n

Now, AP has buried the info that this deal means they won\u2019t be laid off. It\u2019s the second-to-the-last paragraph in a long story, they won\u2019t be laid off. They won\u2019t be furloughed. Just to remind you again, he is attempting to save their jobs. Now, if what\u2019s going on in Wisconsin is a strike, it\u2019s an illegal strike. So if Obama really wanted to be like Reagan he would call for Walker to fire all these unionistas just as Reagan did during the illegal air traffic controller strike when he fired all of the union members, the union then was PATCO. Opponents of Governor Walker are calling him mini-Mubarak. Earlier in this program we showed you the pictures of some of the protest signs, and they are littering the grounds of the State Capitol. Ann Althouse is there. She lives in Madison, is a blogger. She\u2019s chronicled the littering and the mess that this bunch is leaving around and comparing it to the pristine condition Tea Partiers left when they protested at the same place back in April of last year. <\/p>\n

From KSTP.com: ”Obama Says he\u2019s Monitoring Tensions in Madison\u2019 — President Barack Obama says he\u2019s monitoring the tensions in Madison. That\u2019s where protesters are criticizing efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for state employees. Republican Gov. Scott Walker is pushing the measure, which would also increase how much public workers pay for their pensions and health care. Thousands are protesting at the Capitol in Madison.\u2019 So Obama\u2019s most desperate voters were in a tight spot here. There isn\u2019t any money to pay their triple gold-plated pensions and benefits. They work for the state of Wisconsin, not the federal government. The taxpayers are sick of being stuck with bills that they don\u2019t want. Politicians have been trading tax dollars for votes. It\u2019s finally caught up with them. So you know damn well that old Barry is monitoring tensions. But he\u2019s not solving problems. Obama\u2019s busy worrying about 2012 because all that matters to him is his most dependable voters, public sector union members, that they get serviced. He feels their pain because their pain is his pain.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Another picture from Wisconsin. I don\u2019t know if you can see it. For those of you on the Dittocam, this is a ‘Repeal Walker\u2019 sign in Wisconsin. Those are crosshairs on the face and head of Governor Scott Walker, and they are right there between his eyes. That\u2019s as tight as I can get the focus on the Dittocam, folks. Crosshairs. Yeah, this bunch protesting in Wisconsin obviously did not get the memo on civility. Can you see the crosshairs in there? They\u2019re there. I just wanted you to see this, folks. I just wanted to tell you about it. If you don\u2019t have the Dittocam and you can\u2019t see this, I wanted you to hear about it; because, of course, those of us who had nothing to do with whatever happened in Arizona — Sarah Palin, a campaign ad, crosshairs all over it — we had a week of so-called debate in this country over whether she was responsible, I was responsible, talk radio responsible for what happened. Now you\u2019ve got the president of the Wisconsin senate who\u2019s been forced out of his house. You have crosshairs on photos of the governor in Wisconsin. You have pictures comparing Scott Walker to Hosni Mubarak and Hitler. And I don\u2019t hear anybody from Obama on down worried about any of this and what this might lead you. Nobody is talking about it at all.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Hey, look at this, folks. The news just keeps rolling in from Madison, Wisconsin. Two stories here. ‘Senate Democrats were leaving Madison to avoid participating in the vote on Gov. Scott Walker\u2019s controversial budget repair bill, which has sparked four days of protests at the Capitol, an aide confirmed Thursday morning. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity, because she was not authorized to speak on behalf of her boss. Legislative assistants answering the phones at the offices\u2019 said they knew nothing about the walkout, I don\u2019t know where these guys are.<\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: This is Dean, a trucker in Cleveland. Great to have you on the program third. Hello.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Mega Teamster dittos, Rush. Hey, I was wondering about the outrage from the media concerning the Obama administration\u2019s wanting the new House to fail. I just kind of wonder about that. It seems to have spilled over to Wisconsin also.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, that\u2019s —<\/p>\n

CALLER: I\u2019ll listen to your response off — off the phone.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Thank you, Dean. Dean is driving around Cleveland in a truck, I don\u2019t know whether he\u2019s going into Cleveland or coming out of Cleveland but he\u2019s up there, and he\u2019s got a pretty good observation. Everybody\u2019s hoping the governor of Wisconsin fails. In fact, folks, the picture I just showed you? The picture I just showed you with the crosshairs? What the picture doesn\u2019t show but what it does say is, ‘Don\u2019t retreat, reload,\u2019 with crosshairs on the governor\u2019s face. ‘Don\u2019t retreat, reload.\u2019 Now, these are our good friends from the left, these loving, compassionate, tolerant people who dictate civility to us. <\/p>\n

‘Don\u2019t retreat, reload,\u2019 is the sign. That\u2019s what it says on the sign with pictures of the governor in the crosshairs. I wonder if CNN will run that picture. I wonder if we sent that picture to John King USA if they would run that picture and be condemnatory. (interruption) Well, even if they did apologize for it, would they condemn this kind of action on the protest march in Wisconsin? Would they say, ‘This is not the civility that the president asked for\u2019? Would they do this? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Folks, I don\u2019t think the people in Wisconsin, the unions, the teachers, and some of the protesters, I don\u2019t think they got the memo on civility. Have you seen what\u2019s going on? I mean this is Greece! It\u2019s Greece. All of these people who live off the largesse of taxpayers are just marching in the […]<\/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":"\nUnion Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest - 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:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Folks, I don\u2019t think the people in Wisconsin, the unions, the teachers, and some of the protesters, I don\u2019t think they got the memo on civility. Have you seen what\u2019s going on? I mean this is Greece! It\u2019s Greece. All of these people who live off the largesse of taxpayers are just marching in the […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125106.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=\"26 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:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125106.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/01125106.Par.89380.ImageFile.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/\",\"name\":\"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-19T00:05:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-05-19T00:05:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/911066e449df26406b107ca78cbbde0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest\"}]},{\"@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":"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest - 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:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2011\/02\/17\/union_thugs_turn_wisconsin_into_greece_as_the_freeloaders_protest\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Union Thugs Turn Wisconsin into Greece as the Freeloaders Protest - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"Folks, I don\u2019t think the people in Wisconsin, the unions, the teachers, and some of the protesters, I don\u2019t think they got the memo on civility. 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