RUSH: Michelle in Union City, Tennessee. Thanks for calling. You’re on Open Line Friday. Hi.
CALLER: Hi. Well, since Obama has taken office, I’ve had to take a pay cut in order to keep my job, and my employer — who is a small business owner — has already told us that they are going to have to dissolve the business. So I’m going to be unemployed, the unemployment rate is gonna go higher, and another small business is gone.
RUSH: And, do you know what else I saw today that kind of buttresses what’s happening to you? The number of… Snerdley, what was the period of time was this stat from, the number of start-ups? Was it the first quarter, this month? When was it? This reporting period? (interruption) Oh, from 2010 to the present, the smallest number of start-ups in, gosh, I don’t know how long. (interruption) Oh, in history! We had the smallest number of business start-ups in our history in the period 2010 to the present.
That means that the 88.5 million people who aren’t working but who are eating are choosing to take whatever food they can get from the government rather than starting a business. The reasons are twofold. Don’t go away, Michelle. The climate — what’s happening out there besides your passion, if you have a passion — to make you think, “Can you get a loan? Do you want a loan? Do you think you’re gonna have enough business to pay the loan back if you take one out? Are there enough people working in order for you to have customers? What are the taxes gonna be if Obama is reelected and health care is fully implemented?”
I guarantee you, Michelle, this is what your guy, your small business owner, has already decided. He can’t see a way. What kind of business is it, or what line of work is his business in?
CALLER: It’s private home care for the elderly. He does not take Medicare insurance. It’s private insurance only. So the wealthy employ me.
RUSH: The wealthy employ you.
CALLER: The ones that Obama wants to tax.
RUSH: So what is happening to make him want to shutter the business?
CALLER: Ugh. Taxes are going up; the regulations are coming down. They’ve had to dip into their personal savings. Business has slowed so much that they’re having to dip into their personal savings to cover the overhead of the business. They had to do that in 2010.
RUSH: And they don’t want to have to do that anymore, right?
CALLER: Right, and I cannot blame them. I have a wonderful employer. I couldn’t ask for better, and now they’re going away.
RUSH: So your understanding is he’s decided, “Okay, look, I want to keep a little bit of what I’ve earned here for myself and my family and for the rest of my life”?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Rather than spend it all on the business that’s going nowhere. That’s basically what he’s decided, right?
CALLER: Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I can’t blame them at all. I totally understand. I do. And, you know, I just beg Florida and Ohio and Pennsylvania and Michigan: “Please, we need your help. Let’s get him out of office before he completely destroys us totally.”
RUSH: Speaking of that, you remind me of what’s going on in Indiana, when you’re asking people in these various states to come through. By the way, there is a website that has a domain name Startup.com. They just announced they’re shutting down. Startup.com has just announced they’re shutting down. If that’s not a headline for Obamanomics, what is?
Anyway, there’s a Tea Party candidate opposing Dick Lugar in the Republican primary for the Senate seat in Indiana. The election is Tuesday. The Tea Party candidate is named Richard Mourdock, and he’s ten points up, and he has been outspent by Lugar ten to one, by millions. He has been outspent by millions.