RUSH: Here’s Candy in Lakeland, Michigan. Candy, welcome to the Rush Limbaugh program. Nice to have you here.
CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush. I’m a conservative Republican tea party US citizen surviving in the Democratic economy of the land of unemployment, Michigan. I have a real simple question for you, because I learn so much when I listen to your program and my husband and I are on vacation and of course we’re spending our afternoon with you. And my question is just that you mentioned that GM let go 65,000 people and that they jettisoned their pensions as well. And I don’t understand how they could have possibly done that. Aren’t they still responsible for the pensions?
RUSH: Well, let me share with you the way TIME Magazine deals with that in their April 15th issue: ‘Could taxpayers really be on the hook for UAW pensions? — Yes. GM could face a funding crisis in 2013 or 2014 when, under the current projections, the automaker will be required to make more than $12 billion in contributions to its pension funds to keep them solvent, according to the GAO analysis. Chrysler’s estimated future pension obligation is $3 billion. If the companies cannot meet their funding obligations they may have to terminate their plans, and the financial responsibilities (up to government limits) would be assumed by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation.’ meaning us, Candy.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: ‘The funding could easily become a serious challenge for the PBGC, which says it is now facing $168 billion in possible plan terminations across a range of companies.’ So, yeah, they got rid of them because they just slough ’em off to the government. Now, the government does not make them all whole.
CALLER: Of course not. They pay 25 to 50 cents on the dollar.
RUSH: That’s exactly right.
CALLER: Yeah. But they haven’t done that yet, and if the American people stop buying foreign junk and start buying American products, even if it is government-owned GM products, hopefully GM won’t be in that position.
RUSH: It’s interesting out there, Candy, that just today there is news, there’s some survey that says the American people much prefer American-made automobiles to foreign-made automobiles. I find this very curious since Toyota’s sales have not plummeted any at all. But why should we buy government cars to keep union pensions healthy? That’s not why people buy cars. That’s as distorted a way of thinking as a company exists to provide health care and jobs for the community. That’s not why a company is in existence. We don’t buy cars to make sure union workers have their pensions paid in full. I’m sorry, that’s not the definition of patriotism. We’re going to be paying for their pensions anyway up to a point, whether they have their cars purchased by us or not.
Bill up next in Pittsburgh, welcome, sir. Great to have you here.
CALLER: Great to be here, Rush. You’re an inspiration.
RUSH: Thank you very much, sir. I appreciate that.
CALLER: Thank you. I was just wondering if we were missing the big picture with the passage of the health care debacle and if it’s able to go through to fruition, the government’s going to have so much control over the people, much more control than any SEC fine of Goldman Sachs. When we start talking about this SEC and the Goldman Sachs and mortgages and all that, people’s eyes glaze over and they forget about things, then they also forget about the health care debacle. I wonder if we should maybe keep the health care on top of the list to talk about and to keep everybody energized —
RUSH: I don’t think we have to. The latest poll from Rasmussen, 56% of the American people still oppose it and the number is rising. There are all kinds of stories out today that Obama and the Democrats said he would get a big bump once the thing is signed into law. He hasn’t. They haven’t got a smidgen of a bump. They’re continuing to lose ground. But it’s all part and parcel of the same thing. Nobody’s forgetting health care here just because they’re now focused on the SEC lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. It’s the same technique being played out. The objective is the same; the end result is the same; a total takeover of the US private sector, or a tear-down of the US private sector. I don’t think anybody is losing any enthusiasm at all. In fact, I think this financial regulatory reform bill is just adding more to the anger, more fuel to the fire over this. I don’t think anybody’s getting lazy or sidetracked or distracted in any way, shape, manner, or form about this. But I appreciate the call.
This is Rockland County, New York. Alan, great to have you on the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: A pleasure to be here, Rush.
RUSH: Thank you.
CALLER: I think it’s official, Rush. I think we can actually take down the signs. They’ve changed Washington into Chicago. And the reason why I’m calling, I have a little moral dilemma. I’ve only owned GM cars, and I want to know from you, if I buy a GM or Chevy now, is that the same as making a campaign contribution to Barack Obama?
RUSH: Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.
CALLER: The money is directly going to the unions who only support Democrats.
RUSH: I’d have to say that you’re right. I have to say that buying a General Motors or Chrysler car is a campaign donation in kind.
CALLER: Can we go one step further? Because Bill Maher has ripped the shred out of tea partiers and conservatives. If I watch HBO and give them money, am I doing the same thing?
RUSH: Yes, essentially. Essentially you are because HBO is a subscriber supported channel, not ad supported.
CALLER: What about Oprah and her advertisers?
RUSH: Same thing, probably, yes.
CALLER: So, okay, I have a lot of work to do and I appreciate it, Rush. You know, people keep saying we can’t do anything, we can. We can stop buying their products.
RUSH: Excellent point. Glad you called. Thanks very much out there, Alan.
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RUSH: Tim in Dover… You did it again! Everybody knows that Dover’s in Delaware but you found a Dover, Ohio. Hello, Tim. Welcome to the program.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Thanks for taking my call. It’s great to talk to you.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: Rush, I had to chuckle earlier. I hadn’t heard about it over the news, but I heard about it when you were talking about it earlier today, the ‘Buy GM’ push and the ‘Buy Union’ push. Rush, a couple of weeks ago I had an epiphany here. I got tired of hearing people tell me that elections have consequences, you know, very smugly down their nose these Obama supporters. So knowing how the unions supported Obama and the amount of money they gave him, I decided that I am not going to buy union products when I have a choice or American-made products from any company —
RUSH: Right.
CALLER: — who supported Obama monetarily during the elections and —
RUSH: I think that’s an excellent —
CALLER: — wrote a letter about —
RUSH: I think —
CALLER: Go ahead.
RUSH: I think there’s a lot of that going on. I think a lot of people figured out here if you go buy a car — even a Ford! Ford’s UAW. Even though Obama doesn’t own them, Ford’s UAW. If you want to go buy something that’s not union, you’re still going to have to buy Toyota.
CALLER: Correct. You know, Rush, I just decided, ‘Elections do have consequences,’ and this is what I can do from my end to make sure elections have consequences.
RUSH: Well, I understand. There’s a lot of people doing what you’re doing — and let me just clarify here, this is not a move that’s oriented against rank-and-file union employees. It’s your money that’s being absconded in the form of dues that’s being spent to advance the regime’s agenda. So people who are saying, ‘I’m not buying union,’ it’s not that they don’t want to support you. It’s that what’s being done with your dues money that they’re trying to counter.