RUSH: Giselle in Houston. Hi, Giselle, nice to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. How are you?
RUSH: Fine and dandy. Thanks much.
CALLER: I am a longtime listener, although I disagree with you 99% of the time. But I like listening to you anyways.
RUSH: Thank you. Appreciate that.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: We’ll get you eventually.
CALLER: Yeah, I’m one of those liberals; I’m diseased; I’m crazy.
RUSH: I didn’t say you’re diseased. You’re just sick.
CALLER: Oh, yeah, okay. I want to talk to you about foreign aid.
RUSH: Foreign aid, yes, yes, ma’am, I know everything you need to know.
CALLER: Okay. Well, you guys, Republicans and conservatives, you’re always claiming that Americans should be self-sufficient and successful on their own, not dependent on the government, that welfare just rewards laziness and dependence, right?
RUSH: That’s been proven.
CALLER: Okay. Then why is it okay for the US to come and save the day whenever some country gets hit been a earthquake, a flood, some military political disaster?
RUSH: Giselle, are you serious about that?
CALLER: Yes, I am.
RUSH: All right. Stand by. I’m going to answer the question.
CALLER: Okay.
RUSH: It’s a far different thing to sit around and help some people who, through no fault of their own, have had their lives destroyed by a natural disaster than to throw money at perfectly good, able-bodied people who sit around and do nothing. There is no comparison whatsoever in the two scenarios that you have presented to me.
CALLER: How do you know they’re perfectly good people who are sitting around doing nothing?
RUSH: It’s been proven. Welfare reform has forced many of those into work in order to get a reduced amount of benefits. You have to understand, welfare reform is humanitarian. It’s the genuine compassion. Welfare reform and getting able-bodied people into the workforce is the best way to encourage them in their self-esteem, to show them their true potential, to create a country with as many productive people as possible. Now, we have a lot of people in this country who for whatever reason can’t work, and we take care of them. We are the most compassionate country on the face of the earth. When our mortal enemies, the Iranians, had a devastating earthquake in the city of Qum, we sent aid. We’re good people. We are the good guys, and we want people around the world to be the best they can be, but we don’t want to pay ’em to be slothful when it’s not necessary.