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RUSH: ‘Rocky Road Seen Ahead for Obama.’ This is in The Politico today. Jim VandeHei and Charles Mahtesian. The basic thrust of this is only 38% think Obama deserves a second term. Health care law loses in a poll by 13%, and the number of people who want it repealed continues to skyrocket. As I say, my friends, the choice in the upcoming elections boils down to this: It’s either Obama and the Democrats or America. You can’t have both.

Rush Limbaugh, the Excellence in Broadcasting Network. Great to have you with us. Telephone number is 800-282-2882. The e-mail address, ElRushbo@eibnet.com.

All right, so the Democrats are talking about coming back after the election, the lame duck session, and they’re going to go ahead and extend the Bush tax cuts for the middle class and the middle-lower class and they’re gonna call ’em Obama tax cuts. There aren’t any tax cuts coming! Nobody’s taxes are going to be cut. In fact, don’t forget that in December Obama’s deficit reduction blue-ribbon panel featuring Alan Simpson Babe and Irksome Bowles are going to release their findings. And you know that they’re going to have all kinds of tax increases in there, and whatever ‘spending freezes’ will be ignored. The tax increases will be part of the deal. VAT tax, who knows what’s coming. Nobody’s talking about tax cuts. If you hear Obama talking about ‘tax cuts’ with the Democrats, there aren’t going to be any tax cuts.

Now, there aren’t going to be the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the so-called wealthy, the people who earn $250,000 or more. Their taxes are going to go up. The tax rates are gonna change. It’s going to go up from 35 to 39.6. It might not sound like a lot but a lot of state income tax rates are going up as well. Let me ask you a question. It’s a question that every worker, every employee, every associate in the private sector needs ask yourself: How does the government confiscating more money from your employer help you? You work at the ABC widget company. Worse, you could work at ABC News, where Christiane Amanpour has taken the ratings for This Week to a seven-year low in the 25 to 54 demographic. In just how many short weeks? She took over in the middle of August after she got her French south of France vacation out of the way, traditional Christiane Amanpour-Jamie Rubin vacation.

She got that out of the way, came back, and now the ratings for This Week on ABC are lower than they’ve been in seven years! Now, the guy who hired her is gone. David Westin. Why did she get hired in the first place? Where has she ever hosted a show like this to demonstrate any prowess? She hasn’t. She got hired because it’s an internal network, big name, CNN. These people in the so-called mainstream media, whatI call the partisan political operatives, are so out of touch. Okay, so Christiane Amanpour was a big deal at CNN. That’s not a big deal. They just got rid of Jon Klein over there. In his own words, ‘I got shot,’ means he got fired, after six years of taking them down to depths that they have not seen even since they were founded.

But she was a big deal there, and, you know, within the tight-knit circle that is broadcast news, it’s big to them. But it’s never translated into money, it’s never translated into ratings, so why put her in there in the first place? Makes no sense. It’s just another illustration they have no clue about the people of this country and what they as consumers are interested in or want. In fact, when they do find out, they impugn it. ‘They like Fox? Well, that’s not news!’ So let’s say you’re working at ABC, or the ABC Widget Company. You don’t make $250,000 a year. You maybe on the verge of being let go yourself, the proverbial ‘one paycheck away.’ How does the government confiscating more of your employer’s revenue help you? How does it happen?

Barack Imam Hoover Obama and his accomplices in the Democrat Party have this bizarre impression that millions of America’s small businesses can absorb a tax hit, a tax increase just like the country can ‘absorb’ another 9/11 terrorist attack. No big deal. Life goes on. Obama said it: ‘We can absorb it.’ Yeah, I might be able to physically be able to absorb a head-on collision, but it’s not a gamble I want to take, especially if I just recovered from one a few months ago. Higher taxes, terrorist attacks are to be avoided at all costs last time I checked. Especially now. The people are going to have to start asking themselves — and you wonder. I go back to Victor Davis Hanson’s piece last week in National Review, the peasant culture, peasant society, where we now seem obsessed with sameness and equality.

Happiness is reached when other people are punished. But people are going to have to start asking themselves, ‘What good does it do you if the person who employs you has money taken away from the business by the government?’ How’s that gonna help you? How is it gonna help you get a raise? How is money being taken away from your company gonna help you? The money being taken away is not being invested in the growth of the company. It’s shrinking the company! You start raising taxes on people over $250,000 a year and you are raising taxes on a slew of small businesses. Some of you should also ask yourselves — I know you people understand it. But they ought to ask themselves if they’ve ever worked for an employer who himself made less than $200,000 a year in his business.

What is the upside? What is upside to having the government confiscate money from the place you work? It’s no different than if it was held up and robbed. They still don’t have the money. If they don’t have the money, they can’t invest, they can’t hire anybody else and they certainly can’t pay anybody any more. The issue is jobs, and that’s what everybody is focusing on. The issue is jobs. How does the government confiscating more revenue from your employer help you? How does the government taking money out of your company, your employer’s pocket, your business, how does that help that company hire anybody else or give anybody that works there a raise? How does it happen? Where is the goodness in this? Where is the decency?

Where’s the stimulus? Where is the stimulus? Oh, it’s so important that $700 billion — and that’s a made up number because it’s a static number. It’s so important that $700 billion be given to the government to help with the deficit. Yes, paying for the deficit ought to fall on the backs of the people who hire others in this country. And it isn’t gonna make the deficit go down. That $700 billion is throwing a penny in Lake Michigan and hoping it ripples all the way up to Canada. It isn’t going to happen. But what does it all play off? It plays off of class envy. It plays off of resentment. You know, I say I might be able to physically absorb a head-on collision but I wouldn’t want to take the gamble. It’s going to be interesting to see how Democrats feel after they absorb a head-on collision with voters in about 40 days. ‘Cause I’m hoping in that head-on collision the Democrats are totaled and that they don’t walk away from it. I mean in a political sense, of course.

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RUSH: ‘President Obama will sign a $42 billion bill to aid small businesses Monday. The bill seeks to create thousands of jobs and will offer about $12 billion in tax breaks. Last week, the House of Representatives approved the Small Business Jobs Act by a 237-187 vote. The measure is also expected to create 500,000 jobs, according to a summary of the bill from the Senate. Among other things, it would authorize the creation of a $30 billion fund run by the Treasury Department that would deliver ultra-cheap capital to banks with less than $10 billion in assets.’ The only problem is most banks, small businesses do not want this. And they told Obama they didn’t want this, and they told the Democrats they didn’t want this before they passed it.

‘But interviews with seven community bankers, as well as small business owners, show a reluctance to participate. ‘People in my constituency can’t get credit, and this will get money out to small businesses, who are the engine of job creation for this country,’ said Republican Sen. George LeMieux of Florida, who co-authored the amendment that created the lending program. Bank executives say their customers don’t want loans, even at low interest rates, because the sluggish economy has chilled expansion plans. Some say the federal money isn’t worth it because they fear it will come with too much regulatory oversight.’

You know, the problem is not access to capital. You know, we’ve had all these stories. You’ve seen them. All of these companies are sitting on this ton, pile of cash. Not investing it, not spending it. It’s not that they don’t have access to capital. Small businesses are not sitting on stacks and stacks of money, but a lot of corporate money is just piling up. They don’t want to invest it because they don’t know what they’re going to be facing. Access to capital is not the problem. What everybody wants is for the job picture to increase. That’s what spurs economic growth is people working, and this isn’t gonna create 500,000 jobs. This is just more Obama ‘stimulus,’ and we know where that’s gotten us. It’s all, by the way, done on purpose here to continue to keep a monkey wrench in the works.

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RUSH: Sylvia in Clinton Township, New Jersey. It’s great to have you on the EIB Network. Hello.

CALLER: Hello?

RUSH: Yeah, hi!

CALLER: I’m sorry, Rush. You know, Rush, I was just wondering. What are you talking about? I mean, the president… People talking about — your listeners especially talking about — the president has, you know… the socialist. He’s this that the other thing and he’s just, you know, putting taxes on us. Since he’s been in office the president cut taxes on like 98% of the population because, as you know, the stimulus package that he had was 42% tax cuts. It was 32% aid to the states who can’t print money like the federal government does.

RUSH: Sylvia, Sylvia, where did you go to school?

CALLER: Actually I’m here at Rutgers (snickers). But anyway —

RUSH: That explains it.

CALLER: No, no, Rush. Tell me what’s wrong with that.

RUSH: Do you really think that he’s cut taxes for 98% of the American people? Sylvia, do you really believe that?

CALLER: Yes, he has. There are phenomenal things that took place when I filled out my taxes this year.

RUSH: Where are you reading these talking points? There’s no such reality! 98% of the American people have received a tax cut?

CALLER: Rush — and America and corporate businesses. Rush, I will take you any day. (screeching)

RUSH: Well, if that’s true they happen the American people are to blame for the deficit.

CALLER: (sputtering) Of course not.

RUSH: Well, of course, because that’s what Democrats say. We can’t give tax cuts.

CALLER: No, Rush! No!

RUSH: Wait a minute. You cannot… I am not going to sit here and put up with this and pretend that it’s logical. Your own party says that we’re in this mess because of the Bush tax cuts. Right? That’s unfunded tax cuts, unfunded wars. And you call here and say 98% of the American people have been given tax cuts by Obama. Now it’s a good thing? Well, yeah, the recession’s gotten worse; the budget deficit’s gotten higher. No wonder! Okay. You must believe that those tax cuts are responsible for the deficit. This is… Good grief!

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RUSH: All right. Ninety-eight percent of the American people get a tax cut. That’s right out of the stimulus talking points. You know what it was? That was like 95% of the American people got a check for 250 bucks, and it was called stimulus. That it’s not a tax cut. There haven’t been any tax cuts. CNNMoney.com, July 27, 2010: ‘The Tax Hike Nobody’s Talking About — Get ready for a smaller paycheck. At least that’s what could happen if Congress doesn’t approve President Obama’s proposal to extend the Making Work Pay tax credit soon.’ This is a $7-a-week tax credit, $7 a week. That’s the wonderful middle-class tax cut Obama’s been bragging about over the last year and a half. Seven bucks! It’s a tax ‘credit.’ There haven’t been any income tax rate reductions. It’s all a smoke screen.

You know, I’ve been thinking about something else, and this last call from the woman that went to Rutgers — I’m gonna put it out there for you to think about. Now, we’ve been hearing that the recession ended in June last year, which is what, 15 months ago. Now, you and I believe that it hasn’t ended. We have a bunch of guys from Harvard who tell us that it ended, all right? For the fun of it, there might be some advantage to going along with this idea that the recession ended 15 months ago. Because if we admit that the recession ended 15 months ago, then there goes out the window Obama’s ‘I inherited a mess’ argument, does it not? Okay, if the recession ended 15 months ago, then that’s it. We’ve come back. Whatever garbage Bush put us in, that’s over. ‘Cause the recession’s over. We’ve stopped this.

So you can’t any longer say, ‘I inherited this mess’ ’cause the mess is his. Anything since the recession is his mess. And we know that unemployment’s gone up since last June. We know that more people have lost their jobs, there’s no increased economic activity. Ah, it’s just little semantic play on words. But it does, as does most of what I do here, brilliantly illustrate the point.

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RUSH: John, Orlando, Florida, it’s great to have you on the Rush Limbaugh program. Hi.

CALLER: Hey, Rush, mega dittos.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: Yeah, I was calling because I think you might be wrong. That crazy lady who just called before the top of the hour break —

RUSH: Ah, ah, ah! She’s misguided. She’s simply a parrot. You know, she’s reading the talking points that the regime has put out with the stimulus nonsense.

CALLER: Now, hold on, Rush. She has a point because if 98% of us Americans have had income reduced by 50 to 30%, our taxes have gone down.

RUSH: Uhhhhh. Well, yeah, if your income goes into the toilet, yeah, you’re not paying as much taxes. Is that what you’re saying?

CALLER: Exactly.

RUSH: If your income goes to the toilet…

CALLER: Uh huh.

RUSH: So your taxes have gone down, yeah, because you’re paying taxes on less income.

CALLER: Exactly.

RUSH: Right. Well, I mean, yeah, that’s inarguable. You could say we’ve had a tax cut but we’ve had to get poorer in the process. We’ve lost cash flow. We’ve lost the value of our house, we can’t find a job, but yeah, damn, we had a tax cut. Whoop-de-doo.

CALLER: Yeah, exactly. Thanks a lot, Mr. Obama.

RUSH: (laughing) I like the way you think out there.

CALLER: Well, thank you. Have a good day and I’ll let you get back to the show.

RUSH: No, no. You are part of the show.

CALLER: Yeah, I appreciate the opportunity to be on the show.

RUSH: Yeah, thanks very much. I’m glad that you called. Yeah, here it is, from Bloomberg. ‘Democrats, Axelrod Say Obama Tax Plan to Pass After the Election.’ There is no Obama tax plan! What they’re talking about here is extending the Bush tax cuts for the middle class and the lower class and all that. The lower class doesn’t pay taxes. That’s the whole point. But they’re gonna extend the Bush taxes and try to call it the Obama tax cuts and there aren’t any tax cuts. Pelosi a couple months ago was out there claiming what the woman from Rutgers said. Pelosi was bragging that Americans are paying the least amount of taxes in years. And the only way that could be said to be true is they’re paying taxes on less income, which means less taxes in real dollar terms, which she’s right about but it’s a hell of a way to get there.

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RUSH: Steve in Bentonville, Arkansas. I’m glad you called. I’m glad you waited. Welcome to the program, sir.

CALLER: Thank you, Rush. Longtime-first time, and it’s an honor, sir.

RUSH: Thank you.

CALLER: Mega dittos, but I think you’re kinda off the mark on one thing. I don’t think the Democrats ever intended or intend to let the Bush tax cuts come to a vote.

RUSH: Well, you could be right. I don’t know what they’re going to do. If I’ve given you the impression by saying that’s what they say they’re going to do, I agree with them, they just put it off. They’ve punted ’til after the midterms. I think what they’re going to do is scour the countryside and see what the lay of the land is after the elections to see what is best for them to do politically in that regard.

CALLER: Yeah, because if you remember, four to six months ago before all the primaries, they weren’t giving any lip-service at all to it. I think they’ve kind of seen the writing on the wall with the Tea Party and have started talking about it just to maybe win a couple votes in November. But I don’t think they’ll ever do it.

RUSH: Not only that. I think there’s no question they were trying to win a couple of votes by talking about tax cuts, but they were also trying to suck Boehner in, sucker Boehner into opposing tax cuts for the rich with them. In truth what they were trying to do was get Boehner to come out against tax cuts for the middle class. That’s what the feint was. The trick was they wanted Boehner to oppose everything they were doing on this, and — what they were doing is they were talking about extending the Bush tax cuts to the middle class. They wanted Boehner to oppose it publicly because it didn’t include extending the tax cuts for the rich. Then they wanted to be able to go out and say, ‘See? See? Republicans don’t care about you in the middle class!’ Now, Boehner, even though a lot of people got mad at him for this, shafted ’em big time. They had the commercials ready to run. They already had them produced. ‘Republican oppose tax cuts for the middle class!’ and they were gonna run Boehner saying so. But he crossed ’em up. So you could be right. There may not be a vote on this. They are Democrats, after all, and they don’t believe in people keeping more of what they earn. Just the exact opposite.

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RUSH: Go to the White House website right now, there’s an article there entitled, ‘Middle-class Tax Cuts Held Hostage.’ Now, you will notice Obama has no problem with terrorist language when talking about Republicans. He won’t talk about terrorists that way, but he will talk about Republicans that way.

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