RUSH: I have been asked if we got sound bites of McCain this morning on the Today Show. Let me quickly look here at it sound bite roster. I don’t believe so. Let’s see. We don’t have any McCain. What did McCain say on the Today Show? What did he say? Hmm? Hmm? Hm-hm. Hm-hm. He threw Palin under the bus? Well, that’s because Obama gave him a big compliment last night. McCain was out there giving a thumbs up.
Marty in Virginia Beach, you’re next on the EIB Network. Hi.
CALLER: Hi. One of the things that I thought was the most important thing that Obama said last night that we should pay attention to, is he said, ‘We’ll make sure you have the health care you need.’ He did not say you want. And who’s determining what we need? The government?
RUSH: Well, of course. That’s a good catch on your part, but what he wants people to take from that is, ‘Well, we all need health care, we all need it, I’m going to make sure you get it. It’s a need, it’s a right, and I’m going to make sure you get it. And, by the way, I’m going to make sure you get more health care than you got now. I’m going to make sure you got better insurance that you’ve got now. We’re going to make sure that you got greater coverage and you have more coverage, more treatment, anything you want and it’s going to cost you less. It’s going to cost you less.’ (interruption) McCain said that Obama wasn’t lying? This was on the Today Show today? And they asked McCain if he thought Obama was lying? Remember we had audio sound bites of the McCain town hall where the audience was — (doing McCain impression) ‘He’s a great president, he’s a fine man.’ ‘No, boo!’ ‘My friends, my friends, now, calm down.’ That’s just inside-the-Beltway decorum. That’s why McCain lost. Really no surprise there.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So Cookie went back. We got the audio sound bite from Senator McCain today on the Today Show. He was with Matt Lauer, and the first question from Matt Lauer: ‘The outburst came as part of the speech where President Obama talking about illegal immigrants, and he said, ‘The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who were here illegally.’ That’s when Joe Wilson said, ‘You lie.’ So do the reforms that President Obama is proposing cover illegal immigrants or do they not?’
MCCAIN: They do not. Everything that I’ve seen they do not, and it changes the number of uninsured in America down to about 30 million instead of the 47 or so that they talked about before. They do not as far as I can see, nor should they.
RUSH: This is just… (laughs) Senator McCain, we are in a fight to save this country, and all you can say about the change in the number from 47 million to 30 million is, ‘Okay, they’ve taken out the illegals’? (doing McCain impression) ‘That’s what that means, Limbaugh! That means they’re not gonna be insuring legals, (grumbling). You see? You hear me? So 47 is gonna become 30!’ On a dime! On a dime, 47 million uninsured becomes 30 million uninsured last night. If somebody wants to trust the running of one-sixth of the economy to these people who just make it up? Are we now to assume that the government’s official tally of illegal aliens is 17 million? Is that what this means? If this keeps up, in two months, there won’t be anybody insured! If in one speech you can lop off 17 million…
Now, the census bureau says 43 in their latest numbers. But Levin in his book Liberty and Tyranny broke all this down. The numbers are so totally distorted. But Senator McCain, the bill in the House legalizes health care for illegal aliens! Boehner went on TV today and read the amendments and pointed out that Republicans offered two amendments to the House bill expressly prohibiting illegal aliens from being covered, and they were defeated. (McCain impression) ‘No, it does not. Everything I see, the — the — it changes the numbers! As far as I can see, nor should they.’ He thinks all illegal aliens should be given Mideast anyway so what’s the big deal? Next question from Matt Lauer: ‘Fact or fiction: Does the president’s plan create anything resembling what is a so-called ‘death panel’?
MCCAIN: No, but there is a $500 billion, quote, ‘savings’ in Medicare that is called for, which has seniors concerned, and in other countries when they cut back on spending on health care and health care is rationed, then similar things have happened. Americans are concerned about that.
RUSH: So he partially throws Sarah Palin under the bus there which was… You know, he’s just a useful idiot. They bring him in to do exactly what he did, and that has undercut everything that the Republican opponents, conservative opponents of Obama and health care are saying. He just falls right in line with it. But this is why Senator McCain lost. Here is, by the way, the number, the part of the speech last night where the president just out of the blue, said this…
OBAMA: There are now more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two-year period, one-in-every-three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point — and every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage.
RUSH: Fourteen thousand? That must be because of the people losing their jobs because of you. Fourteen thousand a day? Another number just picked out of the thin air. Who? How do we know this? The only way we can know whether this number is accurate is to count the number of losing their jobs ’cause they are losing their health care unless they go the COBRA route. You know, 47 million became 30 million last night — and from this we’re supposed to conclude that the illegals are not going to be covered. This is sleight of hand. Let’s go back, July 22nd of this year.
OBAMA JULY 22, 2009: This is not just about the 47 million Americans who don’t have any health insurance at all. Reform is about every American who has ever feared that they may lose their coverage if they become too sick or lose their job or change their job.
RUSH: It’s ‘not just about the 47 million Americans who don’t have any health insurance.’ That was in July.
OBAMA SEPTEMBER 9, 2009: There are no more than 30 million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two-year period one-in-every-three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point — and every day 14,000 Americans lose their coverage.
RUSH: Now, it seems to me this is a huge improvement, we haven’t done anything. If on July 22nd there were 47 million uninsured — and last night, September the 9th, we’re down to 30 million uninsured — we don’t need to do anything! We’re going in the right detection here. All of a sudden 17 million got health insurance and we haven’t done one aspect of Obama’s plan yet.