RUSH: Now, what was the biggest lie since he mentioned the joint session speech? What was the biggest lie Obama told during his speech to the joint session? It’s kind of tough to pick one out, isn’t it? (laughing) Yeah, there is one, though. (interruption) No, no. No, no, no. No, none of that, not the abortion, not the illegal immigration. Those are all lies, but the biggest lie told by our president was that he had a health care plan.
If he had a health care plan, then what is this Baucus bill? This Baucus bill comes out of nowhere yesterday. Obama gave his speech talking about ‘his’ plan a week ago. Why are we even discussing the Baucus bill? What the hell is this? Obama said he had a plan. We were told by the president of the United States during a speech to a joint session of Congress, that he had a health care plan, and he had a bill — a magical health care bill, by the way! A bill that would guarantee health coverage for everybody except illegals (ahem) and it would reduce costs, that it would improve coverage, and it wouldn’t add a cent to the deficit and nobody would have to pay any more than they’re paying now. So what is this Baucus plan?
What the hell is that? Where in the hell did that come from if Obama has a plan? Now, was the president lying? If not, where’s the plan? I want to see it! I want to see it today or the president should apologize to the American people for lying to us and the Congress. Because, folks, the joke’s over. The president had a plan, and yet this idiot Baucus comes out and announces his yesterday. Now, if President Obama’s got a plan, what’s Baucus doing? Shouldn’t Baucus have shut up because there already is a plan? Look, here’s what Obama said in his speech: ‘The plan I’m announcing tonight would meet basic goals.’ He goes on and on detailing ‘his’ plan. Yet we haven’t seen it. All we’ve got is this Baucus debacle! So forget the Baucus plan. We’re told the president has a plan. We just want to see it. Until we do, that’s the biggest lie he told before a joint session.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So it’s the top-of-the-hour break, and I’m in there in Snerdley’s office, and he’s got all three TV monitors on. He watches C-SPAN, Fox, and PMSNBC. And over on PMSNBC, somebody is sitting in today for Andrea Mitchell (NBC News, Washington), who’s not there. I think it was Savannah Guthrie. And she’s talking to The Hack, a White House health care hack, Linda Douglass, formerly of state-controlled ABC. And they put up a quote from Howard Dean about the Baucus bill. Do you know what Howard Dean said about the Baucus bill? He said this is the worst piece of legislation he has seen in Washington in 30 years, and I busted a gut laughing! The worst piece of legislation? He said this was written by insurance lobbyists, that the Baucus bill is nothing but a giveaway to the insurance companies. I’m thinking, ‘Circular firing squad,’ and then I stumble across this story by Ceci Connolly in the Washington Post today.
‘On the surface, it appears that no one is happy with Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) — and that may be the best news President Obama has had in months.’ Now, follow… (laughing) Follow the logic here from State-Controlled Washington Post. ‘Within minutes of the release of [Baucus]’s long-awaited health-care reform bill Wednesday, the attacks started flying. Liberal Democrats and allies, particularly labor unions, fumed. Republicans, after being courted for months, denounced the work as pure partisanship. But behind the rhetorical fireworks was a sense that the fragile coalition of major industry leaders and interest groups central to refashioning the nation’s $2.5 trillion health-care system remains intact. As they scoured the 223-page document, many of the most influential players found elements to dislike, but not necessarily reasons to kill the effort. Most enticing was the prospect of 30 million new customers.
‘At the White House, after the delays and drama of summer, strategists spoke finally of movement and a possible path toward success … Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), who is upset that Baucus did not include a public health insurance option, tempered his criticism after a private meeting with Obama, signaling that he hopes to work out a compromise. … At the heart of the administration’s strategy — and Wednesday’s guarded optimism — is a collection of deals intended to neutralize the interest groups that helped defeat President Bill Clinton’s health-care overhaul 15 years ago.’ So the Washington Post has a story: This is exactly what Obama needed: Something that everybody hates! Something that everybody hates, but the coalitions Obama needs in the private sector to go along with it are happy. Now, did Howard Dean kill it when he comes out and says, ‘This is the worst piece of legislation I’ve seen in 30 years’ or did Howard Dean give it a boost? According to the Washington Post, the more you say you hate the Baucus bill, the better it is for Obama.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: I mentioned what I watched on MSNBC at the top of the hour here. Here’s the question that Savannah Guthrie asked the health care info hack at the White House, Linda Douglass. Question: ‘We just heard the president talking about the Baucus bill. Howard Dean, a Democrat, says about this bill, ‘The Baucus bill is the worst piece of health care legislation I’ve seen in 30 years. In fact, it’s a $60 billion giveaway to the health insurance industry every year. It was written by health care lobbyists, so that’s not a surprise. It is an outrage,” and so the infobabe, the anchorette asks the hack, Linda Douglass: ‘Is this a good bill?’
DOUGLASS: Look, there are many things in this bill that share common features with what the president has laid out and what is in the — four of the five other bills that have passed through committees. As you just heard the president say, there’s 80% agreement. Obviously many, many common features. Now the five bills will have to all come together. We’ll be pulling together features of each of these bills, and, uhh, they are very, very, you know, uhhh, similar in many ways, and the legislation will be built upon these principles that they share.
RUSH: Again, I ask: Why is this even necessary? The question to Linda Douglass ought to be: Why the Baucus bill? What’s the Baucus bill? The president just went before a joint. He just did a joint last Wednesday night, and he told us what’s in his plan. He spelled it out what’s in his plan, so what’s this Baucus bill stuff? That’s the real question.