NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/alt/fan/rushlim/13794

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From: [e-mail] (John Switzer)
Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh,alt.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Summary Fri 1/22/93
Summary: Unofficial Summary for Friday, Jan. 22, 1993
Keywords: Unofficial Summary Rush Limbaugh
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 25 Jan 93 17:22:51 GMT
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Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest)
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Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show

for Friday, January 22, 1993

by John Switzer

NOTE: This is being posted to both alt.fan.rush-limbaugh and
alt.rush-limbaugh and thus you may see it twice if your sysadm
aliases the two newsgroups together. Since most sites don't
support both groups, this double-posting appears to be
unavoidable, however, if anyone has any ideas on how to avoid it,
please let me know. Thanks - [e-mail].

This unofficial summary is copyright (c) 1993 by John Switzer.
All Rights Reserved. These summaries are distributed on
CompuServe, GEnie, and the Internet, and archived on GEnie (NPC
Roundtable) and Internet (cathouse.aiss.uiuc.edu).  Distribution
to other electronic forums and bulletin boards is highly
encouraged. Spelling and other corrections gratefully received.

Please read the standard disclaimer which was included with the
first summary for this month. In particular, please note that
this summary is not approved or sanctioned by Rush Limbaugh or
the EIB network, nor do I have any connection with them other
than as a daily listener.

******************************************************************

January 22, 1993

LIMBAUGH WATCH

January 22, 1993 - It's now day 3 of "America Held Hostage" and
81 days after Bill Clinton's election, but Rush is still on the
air with 546 radio affiliates (with over 14 million listeners
weekly) and 206 TV affiliates (with a 3.6 rating). His book has
been on the NY Times hardback non-fiction best-seller list for 18
consecutive weeks and is currently number one on the list, with
almost 2 million copies sold.

MORNING UPDATE

A school district in East Palo Alto, CA is considering buying
burial insurance for its students. This unique "benefit" is
deemed necessary because the area has the highest student murder
rate; five of its students died last year, two of them from
drive-by shootings.

Typically, teachers and school officials have taken up
collections to help out the parents of kids who die, but
according to the superintendent of the district, "It's coming to
the point where it's becoming a burden to the staff. They want to
cooperate, but it's just too much."

A funeral costs about $1500, and teachers usually contribute
$500. The life insurance would cost $5 or so per student per
year, and would result in several thousand dollars of survival
benefits. A spokesman for the Association of California School
Administrators stated that he wasn't aware of any similar
programs, but he did give the district credit for "responding to
social situations that affect learning."

Rush has to admit that death can indeed affect learning.

FIRST HOUR

Items

o       Rush plays a new bump - with nifty Nightline-type music
playing, Johnny Donovan says:

"This is a special edition of the Rush Limbaugh program - America
Held Hostage, Day insert number here (Rush shouts `three!'). And
now from our studios in New York, Rush Limbaugh!"

o       Tony Lo Bianco is broadcast engineer today because Mike
Maimone is at the doctor, and Rush is surprised that Maimone's
medical situation is that serious. The listeners, however, have
no clue as to what is going on since the one-sided conversation
Rush has with Lo Bianco goes something like "Mike's at the
doctor? Is there something serious going on? I didn't know he
couldn't . . . I didn't know . . . he can't? No kidding? It's
that serious? Really? I had no, I had . . . nobody told me that."

o       Rush received a fax of a story in yesterday's San
Francisco Chronicle about a Washington store that has already
started selling campaign buttons for 1996 Presidential
candidates. The store, Political Americana, gained some notoriety
because its campaign button sales in 1992 accurately predicted
the course of the election.

According to the Chronicle, early Republican button sales "put
Rush Limbaugh in the lead, followed by Jack Kemp, Dan Quayle, and
Pat Buchanan. California Governor Pete Wilson was in the second
tier, joined by James Baker III, William Bennett, Robert Dole,
Phil Gramm, and Pat Robertson. Massachusetts Governor William
Weld brought up the rear."

Rush notes that he is not even a politician, but he calls that
the "Limbaugh '96" button was the hottest one at the Republican
convention. Rush, however, is a bit irritated that someone else
is trying to trade in on his name and not cut him in on the deal.
"As I've always told you, folks," he laments. "Follow the money."

o       "With all of the hubbub of this week" nobody noticed that
Reginald Lewis died Tuesday. Lo Bianco gives Rush a quizzical
look, and "H.R." tells him that Lewis was founder of and chairman
of the board of Beatrice Foods. Interestingly, Lewis was black
and he still managed to live the American dream and die with a
fortune of $400 million.

Rush is not surprised that nobody has heard of Lewis since the
NAACP undoubtedly considers him to be their "dirty little
secret." It is thus not surprising that black school kids aren't
taught about Lewis instead of being told they have no chance in
America.

o       Rush comments that his newsletter editor Diana Schneider
ends up getting the best faxes and mail at EIB's offices; Rush
ends up with the rejects while she gets the stuff that others
think might be good for including in the Limbaugh Letter. One of
the pieces of mail she received was some photocopied pages of a
textbook on broadcasting.

This book includes a small blurb on Rush, but it talks about him
in the past tense, as if he has already failed. The textbook
writer admits that Rush "gained a large audience in the early
90s," but he claims Rush's listeners were interested only in
being shocked and outraged.

Rush promises to "take off" on this book during his TV show
tonight, but he wonders why a broadcasting class would ignore the
example of his success; if someone wants to learn how to make it
in network radio, they would have no better example than Rush.

Rush and his show have revolutionized talk radio, AM radio, and
advertising sales. However, the textbook writer doesn't talk
about this, but instead attacks Rush for "not furthering
democracy" and not including all viewpoints. So, just because
this guy has political disagreements with Rush, he has discarded
all that Rush can teach young broadcasting students. Furthermore,
this writer is holding Rush to a standard that he is not using
for any other radio hosts or shows; why doesn't he mention how
other commentators are biased and how they focus on only a
particular point of view?

Evidently the writer thinks talk radio should "further
democracy," but this is not what Rush is all about, nor is it why
he is a success. Rush has never been shy about saying that his
show is not a democracy, but rather a "benevolent dictatorship."
Rush's show is about what he thinks, not about what America
thinks.

Rush doesn't care if someone criticizes him, but he has to wonder
what kids who are using this textbook are being taught and if it
is worth the thousands of dollars they are spending for their
education. This particular book, by the way, is being used at
Westminster college in Pennsylvania.

o       Rush has been answering phone call after phone call from
members of the press today because of Zoe Baird's withdrawal from
consideration as Attorney General. Rush is somewhat amazed at the
fascination that people seem to have for her and her situation.
He promises to talk more about this after the break.

*BREAK*

Another Clinton promise can now be recorded as official broken.
As of 12:01 a.m. on January 21, 1993, promise #18 was broken. In
St. Louis, MO on October 11, 1992 Clinton said, "My first
priority will be to pass a jobs program, to introduce it on the
first day that I'm inaugurated." This clearly didn't happen, and
even now there isn't any jobs program.

This is the essence of Carville's "It's the economy, stupid," and
will hit hard those people who have high expectations for
Clinton, especially as to what he will do with the economy.
Recent polls show that these people are in the vast majority, so
there's going to be some profound disappointment.

Clinton didn't even make it into the Oval Office yesterday until
1 p.m., making him the latest arriving President in history. In
1989 George Bush arrived at 7:21 a.m. Rush knows that Clinton
held an open house yesterday at the White House, and this
explains why he came to work so late. However, this little event
offers some more fodder for thought.

Rush knows some people will think he's stretching things, but he
points out that the White House put out about 2600 tickets for
the open house, but 1000 people without tickets also showed up.
Rush is "amazed" - you give something away and more people than
expected show up. This resulted in people without tickets getting
in while those with tickets remained outside.

Hillary Clinton had to step in and tell her husband that this had
to stop because "the people out there are getting screwed." She
then ordered "I want the people with the tickets brought in."
Rush points out that Hillary was far closer to the truth than she
thought when she talked about how the people are getting screwed;
in fact, her comment applies to more people than those who showed
up yesterday. Rush tells his staff to find this sound bite for
use on his show, and he promises more about this after the break.

*BREAK*

Items

o       Rush comments that he has been asked by President Ronald
Reagan to introduce him at a ceremony in March at which Reagan
will receive a humanitarian honor. Rush has humbly accepted this
honor, and will talk more about it as the date approaches.

o       The efficient EIB staff has found the sound bite of
Hillary Clinton at the White House yesterday, and Rush plays it:

Hillary: Here's the problem - for reasons unknown to us, they've
opened the gates and let people without tickets in, and these
guys - we have screwed all these people.

Unidentified man: You're setting up the sound system outside . . .

Hillary: Well, here's what I just told Wendy - I want the people
with the tickets brought in. That's what they're paying all this
money to us . . .

Bill (to unidentified man): Go back through that line and get the
people with the tickets.

Man: We're doing that right this minute.

Bill: Here's another thing I got to do - I need to take a
bathroom break now.

Rush has to admit that the Clinton administration is practicing
the politics of inclusion. "We're being included with bathroom
breaks with this administration," he comments.

Rush also has to marvel at how surprised the Clintons were that a
lot of people without tickets showed up to accept an open house
freebie. Because of this President Clinton had to go outside to
speak to the people without tickets so as to avert a near PR-
disaster. Hillary Clinton also blew her stack because some people
without tickets are getting in.

Rush replays the bit because he thinks it's noteworthy that 1)
Hillary Clinton sets new vocabulary standards for First Ladies,
and 2) she is obviously running the show. Bill Clinton's
performance is noteworthy because he echoes what Hillary is
saying and then begs for a bathroom break. The EIB staff notes
that Bill was obviously feeling his own pain.

Bill Clinton did get to go to the bathroom, and then he went
outside to speak to the people on a makeshift PA system. Clinton,
of course, couldn't really tell the people without tickets to
leave, and so he said things like "I guess this is what happens
in a democracy."

"Let this be an example," Rush states. More and more people think
the government's only purpose is to put something into their
outstretched hand. When freebies are offered, it's not just the
needy who show up for them, but also all sorts of people who
suddenly discover that they are "needy" themselves.

o       Rush asked President George Bush to do a favor for him
before he left the White House. Before explaining what this favor
was, Rush gives some background - on June 3rd, he was invited to
the White House and stayed overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Since then, Dana Carvey, Johnny Carson, and other notables have
slept in the Lincoln Bedroom, which was Lincoln's office while he
was President.

Rush was suitably impressed at being in the same room that
Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg address in and that he ran the Civil
War from. Interestingly enough, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and her
husband were due to stay in the Lincoln Bedroom Wednesday and
Thursday night.

Rush thus asked President Bush to leave a note from him for
Bloodworth-Thomason when she arrived. Bush couldn't promise that
she would receive it, but he did promise to leave the note for
her. The note was addressed to "Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, c/o
White House, Washington, DC 20500"; it said:

"Dear Linda, Remember, I was here first, and I WILL be back.
Sleep tight - you deserve it. Sincerely, Rush Limbaugh

P.S. Congratulations on a great show."

Rush doesn't know if this note was waiting for Bloodworth-
Thomason on the bed, but if so he would have loved to see the
reaction she had when she opened the door to the Lincoln Bedroom
and found his note.

*BREAK*

Phone   Hazel from Brooklyn, NY

Rush is excited to hear from his old friend Hazel again, and he
thanks her for her nice CompuServe notes. Unfortunately, his
CompuServe mailbox is getting full now every two or three hours
and so it is impossible for him to reply to every message. Hazel
is glad to hear that because she was starting to get discouraged
because she hadn't heard back from him; she even sent him a note
full of tears. Rush comments that electronic tears are dangerous
things.

Rush, though, did get a copy of Hazel's own Inaugural poem. Hazel
is glad, but admits that she thinks that Bo's poem was the
greatest. She enjoyed hearing him read it on the radio, and
really liked how he appeared on TV last night - "GQ all the way."

Rush comments that the tie Bo was wearing was a gift from him,
and Rush is pleased Bo choose to wear that tie during his big
show-biz TV break. Rush holds Hazel over the break.

*BREAK*

Phone   Hazel from Brooklyn, NY (continued)

Hazel thinks that the reason the college textbook referred to
Rush in the past tense is because that the writer must have known
that Rush's success is assured in broadcasting, which means that
soon he'll become rich enough to follow in Perot's footsteps.
It's thus inevitable that Rush will soon enter politics and
become President.

"Wishful thinking on your part," Rush states, "and a frightening
thought for most of America." Hazel offers to become Rush's first
volunteer, but is fearful that H.R. would fire her for sexual
harassment. Rush doesn't think that would ever be a problem.

Hazel also thinks that Clinton puts George Bush to shame for
being out of touch. After all, didn't Clinton know all about Zoe
Baird's hiring of illegal aliens? Rush says that last week Dee
Dee Myers stated that Clinton did know about Baird's activities,
but George Stephanopoulos then claimed that Clinton didn't know
all the details of Baird's transgression. Rush comments that
Stephanopoulos had a rough day yesterday, and he still seems to
be in a transition mode.

Hazel adds that she thinks the reason that Myers isn't giving the
press briefings is because she doesn't lie as well as
Stephanopoulos. Rush asks if this is because Myers is a woman,
but Hazel says that has nothing to do with it; there are some
women who are really good liars - Hillary, for example.

Rush issues a low whistle and says "Hazel, you are on - you are
wired today. It's great to hear from you!"

*BREAK*

SECOND HOUR

Rush was called by a lot of media types this morning about the
Zoe Baird situation. He repeated much of what he has already said
on the show, but he did add that there's a lot of paperwork that
one has to go through when hiring someone. Thus, Baird may have
just been trying to avoid all of these paperwork hassles.

However, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that in Baird's
very upscale Connecticut neighborhood, a woman tried to buy a
home and convert it for use as a halfway house for disadvantaged
black and hispanic kids. The neighborhood, including Baird and
her husband, rose up to knock this idea down, and it is
interesting that it is when this story broke that a number of
blacks rose to speak up against Baird.

One thing that the media is curious about is why the Baird case
generated so much public anger and interest. Rush told the
reporters that this had nothing to do with politics, but is more
like the public anger that was seen at the House Bank scandal.

The American people are tired of seeing a bunch of elitist
politicians skirt around and evade the very same laws that they
themselves have to follow. In the House Bank scandal, members of
the House were writing checks for money they didn't have, and
when they were discovered, they tried to claim that this was only
standard operating procedure.

Just like money is a major concern of Americans, so is child
care. Child care is a major issue today, and there are many
competing systems. The Bush administration put forth a voucher
system which would have allowed parents to choose who would raise
their kids, but liberals want government agencies to be involved.

Then comes along Baird with her $504,000 a year salary, and she
hires illegal aliens at below-market prices. This is bad enough,
but then when she gets nominated for Attorney General, she states
that she knew she was wrong but this shouldn't matter as to her
ability to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.

Baird is the quintessential "woman in a man's world," and was
living the life of a successful corporate attorney. She has
complained about how hard it is to be a working woman and mother,
but this is the life she wanted and voluntarily chose. With her
salary of $504,000, she could have easily afforded to hire all
sorts of domestic help, especially when her husband also makes
about $156,000 a year. This rubs people the wrong way, especially
when most people can't even afford to hire some basic domestic
help a couple of times a week.

Thus, people are angry that Baird did something they can't, but
what makes this even worse is that she expects the nation not to
be bothered by it. Rush points out that this is not a case of
class envy, which is simply the lower and middle classes hating
the rich for being rich. Instead, this is an issue of simple
hypocrisy and is similar to how an elite group of politicians
write laws for the nation that they exempt themselves from. It's
a matter of the people, who play by the rules, seeing the elite
exempt themselves from the rules. Clinton was supposed to change
all this.

People in Washington really lose touch with what's important to
the American public, and this is why the media is so mystified by
the public anger over Zoe Baird. However, it's really not that
difficult to understand, especially when most people consider
government not to be their friend but an obstacle to be overcome.

*BREAK*

Phone   Margaret from Peoria, IL

Margaret really enjoyed Rush when she first started listening to
him, but she is getting tired of hearing the same old election
stuff over and over again. In particular, she doesn't think Rush
is being fair to Clinton; Margaret voted for Bush in 1988 but for
Clinton in 1992.

Rush points out that Margaret's vote for Clinton is going to
taint the way she listens to his show. She thinks, though, that
Rush should get off the topic of Clinton and what he is doing.
She is tired of listening to this stuff, and has already stopped
watching Rush's TV show. She threatens that if he doesn't stop
talking about the election, she's going to stop listening to the
radio show, too.

Rush says that his shows are event-driven, not topic-driven, and
he asks how he can possibly stop talking about Clinton; after
all, a new President is the biggest news story around. Rush has
gotten a lot of letters from people who make the same complaint
Margaret is making, and he suspects the reason people are really
angry at him for this is because he's criticizing their guy.

Margaret says that she's angry because Rush has been talking
about election stuff for months and months. Rush asks what
Margaret thinks he should be talking about, if not Clinton, the
Inauguration, etc. Margaret thinks that a better approach would
be to bring up topics - "anything but the blasted election and
aftermath."

Rush again points out that he does not do topics, and he notes
that it is not he and his show which have changed. If anything,
Rush and his show are getting better, and he only talks about
things which are in the news and which are on the cutting edge.
Rush doesn't sit down and decide to talk about gun control,
abortion, or whatever unless it is on the front page.

Rush suspects that the real motivation behind these complaints is
that he is now on the outside attacking those who are now in
power. He points out that for the past 12 years he has been
irritated by how almost the entire media has been criticizing his
guys. Now, though, he is the one lone voice criticizing Clinton,
and people are attacking him, his patriotism, his judgment, etc.

Margaret, though, doesn't think Rush is fair - "you are not
fair," she firmly states. She is not a feminist, but she is for
women having all their rights. Rush says that he supports rights
for women, too, but Margaret disagrees because she thinks Rush
considers women to be less than men. "You don't know yourself,
Rush. You like them after a fashion but you don't respect them.
You think they are inferior to men. What you do to Hillary . . ."

Rush has to cut off Margaret because of the break, but he holds
her over the break.

*BREAK*

Phone   Margaret from Peoria, IL (continued)

Rush asks Margaret how he is being unfair to Hillary Clinton.
Margaret doesn't know if she likes Hillary, but she is going to
give her a chance. Rush, though, has not said one good thing
about her. but instead has done nothing but attack and ridicule
her.

Rush comments "what about Dan Quayle?" He is getting weary about
how it is now illegal and immoral to make any constructive
criticism of Bill and Hillary Clinton. He still thinks the only
problem here is that the shoe is finally on the other foot.

Margaret says that she constantly defended Quayle, although she
isn't sure if he was up to the job. Quayle wasn't stupid, but he
might have been naive. However, she thinks Rush should give Bill
and Hillary a chance.

Rush asks how he is not giving them a chance; he is just one guy
on the radio, so how can he interfere with what Clinton is doing?
All he can do is point out what Clinton is doing. For example,
President Clinton has broken four promises and has lied about
what he knew bout the prior activities of his Attorney General
nominee. Margaret says that she never heard Rush talk about
Bush's broken promises.

Rush calls that a case of selective hearing; he points out that
President Bush did not invite him to the White House because Rush
was a "Bush Limbaugh" flunky. In fact, Rush criticized him
heavily for the 1990 Budget Deal, not to mention supporting
Buchanan during the primaries.

Rush comments that he has gotten several letters from people
threatening to leave his radio show and move to some other show
that's undoubtedly boring. "You used to be a funny guy, but now
you're not having as much fun," they write, but Rush says he is
having more fun than ever. He points out that people can leave
his show if they want to, but they'll be back in a half hour. And
once again, Rush has not changed the way he does things; if
anything has happened, he has simply gotten better.

Phone   Vanessa from Kettering, OH

Vanessa thinks Rush is the greatest man in America, but she
doesn't want people to know about him. If she simply repeats what
Rush says in her own political discussions, people praise her for
her "brilliance"; however, if everyone knows about Rush, then she
won't get the credit anymore.

She adds that Rush's show has encouraged her to become far more
involved in politics - she now reads the newspaper, watches
CSPAN, and such. Her husband has commented that she sometimes
seem to be a woman possessed. She is glad, though, that Rush is
making her think.

Rush bets that this is happening a lot around the country -
people listen to him, take his thoughts, fold in a few of their
own, and come up with a "bastardized" opinion. However, Rush
doesn't mind at all and he tells people not to worry about taking
credit for his thoughts. He is big enough and his ego secure
enough for this.

Rush starts the trumpet call that announces an update, but Lo
Bianco panics and asks "which one, which one?!" Rush sighs and
says that EIB will now take a break during which he'll tell Lo
Bianco which update they are going to do.

*BREAK*

Rush once again tells people that he's not changed. Some people,
though, have been captured by the illusion Clinton has put forth
about how America is somehow better now than it was six months
ago. This is not true - America has not seen any substantive
changes since Clinton's election; all that has been seen is more
symbolism over substance.

Then these people tune into Rush's show and he shatters their
illusion, and so they get angry and claim that he has changed.
Rush hopes these people wake up and realize what's really going
on - "this is not the land of wish," as Fran Lebowitz said. Rush
will continue to talk about what's really going on, and if people
are smart they'll pay attention to what he is telling them.

Update  Feminist         (The Forester Sisters, "Men" with "in
your face" slogan)

Rush just thought of something - the guy who shines his shoes is
Peruvian, and so Rush might now be guilty of hiring an illegal
alien. This could mean trouble should Rush ever become President.

Continuing on with the update, Rush recalls how he predicted that
the feminists would be upset that although Dee Dee Myers is
Clinton's Press Secretary, Stephanopoulos will be doing the daily
briefings. In short, Myers would get the title but not the
responsibilities of this prestigious position; why would Clinton
do something like this? Rush thinks the answer is (once again)
symbolism over substance.

"Press Secretary Gets Less," is the headline of a news story
about how Dee Dee Myers may have the title of White House Press
Secretary but not the privileges or responsibilities. The story
lists the duties and perks that the Presidential Press Secretary
typically has had up until now:

o       The traditional rank of Assistant to the President; Myers
is only a "Deputy Assistant."

o       A level 2 pay grade, which is one level below cabinet
members; level 2 employees can earn up to $129,500 a year. Myers
is a level 3 employee and can earn a maximum $119,300 a year.

o       Myers doesn't get the traditional, spacious office that
previous secretaries have used.

o       Myers does not get to do the daily briefings and is not
considered to be the "President's mouthpiece."

"This situation follows an old pattern," said Patricia Ireland of
NOW. "It sounds like what we see [sic] in private industry - what
we call the shift and the shaft. You give somebody a title and
shift the responsibilities away."

Sheila Tate, press secretary to First Lady Nancy Reagan, said
"the first time a woman is given that job, she shouldn't be put
at such a disadvantage. What good does it do to name her Press
Secretary and have the press ignore her?"

Jody Powell said that although these questions are legitimate,
"the Clinton administration should be given a chance." Rush notes
that it is a white male who is jumping to the Clintons' defense.

Rush suggests that this should be the policy for the rest of the
world - give every woman a great title, but no corresponding
office, no corresponding responsibilities, and no corresponding
pay. Why not simply call a woman "President of General Motors,"
refuse to give her the pay and responsibilities, and then let a
man do the job?

This is more symbolism over substance, and he apologizes to
Margaret and those who feel like her for bringing this to the
attention of the nation. However, this is called "being a good
reporter" and "being honest."

Rush points out that had President Bush done something like this,
a special prosecutor would have been appointed, and the media
would be full of front-page interviews with every feminist in the
world. This story, though, was buried on the back pages of USA
Today. Even Barbra Streisand would have been interviewed had Bush
done something like this, but where are her comments now?

Dennis Miller talked about how America finally has a President
who "gets it," but Rush wonders if Dee Dee Myers feels this way.
She can't say anything about this, of course, since she has to
just sit there and take it; after all, even though her position
has been downgraded, it's still a prestigious White House post.
Rush comments that he hasn't even gotten to the Hillary part of
this update, so he'll have to continue it after the break.

*BREAK*

Update  Feminist         (The Forester Sisters, "Men" with "in
your face" slogan)

Continuing on with the update, Hillary Clinton will be the Health
Care Reform Czar in the Clinton administration. However, the
Anti-Nepotism Act was enacted after Bobby Kennedy became JFK's
Attorney General, and the Act states quite clearly that a member
of the President's family cannot be given a position making
public policy.

Rush wonders if the Anti-Nepotism Act will be enforced by
Clinton's new Attorney General, whoever that might be. Senator
John Chaffee (R-RI) has said that he would be willing to accept
Hillary Clinton in this policy-making role if she recognizes that
the person in charge of health care has to be available to
Congress. "Is she going to be brought up here to testify?" he
asked. "Are we going to be able to get testimony from her? We're
entitled to that."

Rush is glad that some people are taking notice of this.

*BREAK*

THIRD HOUR

Update  Condoms         (Fifth Dimension, "Up, Up, and Away")

The January 17th edition of the Winston-Salem Journal reports
that young entrepreneurs are selling condoms at area schools.
Instead of having the school give the condoms away, as is being
done in New York City, students from 10 to 13 years old stuff
their pockets full of condoms and then discretely sell them to
other students in the hallways, bathrooms, busses, etc. Rush says
that it certainly makes more sense to sell condoms than give them
away since buying something always puts more of a value on it
than if it is given away.

The students are selling a variety of Vibra-Rib brand condoms,
and even sell them at a popular skating rink on Friday nights.
The students make 50 cents to $1 profit on each condom sold,
netting $15 dollars a week or so.

The money, though, isn't the only reason the students sell
condoms; they also do it "for their friends." A seventh-grader
said he doesn't want his friends "to die or get AIDS or anything,
or get some girl I know pregnant." Rush wonders if this young lad
cares about whether girls he doesn't know get pregnant.

What's funny about this is that with this many condoms being
sold, parents are now starting to wonder if they are really
getting used. However, the best part of this story is that the
newspaper has another article about condoms; the story is titled
"Country Officials Wonder Why Sex Education Courses Seem Not to
Be Working in Forsythe County."

Rush bets that these poor school officials are probably as
confused about what's going on as the guys in East Palo Alto who
want to buy life insurance for their students because "death
affects the learning process." Rush hates laughing at this sort
of stuff, but these are the people who don't think that he's
funny anymore, yet they are writing his material for him.

Update  Timber         (Jackyl, "Lumberjack" with a musical
chainsaw and the sounds of falling trees)

Rush has a fax of the trade publication of "ZigZag" which
contains news and views of the furniture industry. A story in the
January 18th issue has the headline "Furniture Manufacturer
Helped by Democrats." The story reports that the table used at
Clinton's economic summit in Little Rock was made by Steelcase of
Grand Rapids, MI.

The 50 x 30 foot table was built from 17 five-and-a-half foot-
long sections of Macor, a cherrywood imported from Ghana. 275
employees worked four days to make the table, which cost $60,000
after discounts.

This means, Rush states, "we raped a Third World nation's
rainforest to make that table, and Al Gore was at that table!"
After a moment, Rush realizes that Ghana is in Africa, and thus
"we raped a black Third World nation's rainforest!"

*BREAK*

Phone   George from Park Forest, IL

George confesses that he is more afraid of what Congress is going
to do than he is of Clinton, even though he is scared to death of
Clinton. He is therefore concerned about what is going on with
HR4848, which would increase the estate tax. Rush says that
HR4848 has been tabled in the House, but a version of it is still
being considered by the Senate.

George says that he lives in a marginal district which right now
has a Democratic representative, and it would be good if the
people in his area learned about this so that they could start
writing their congressman about it.

Rush says that people will learn all they need to know about
stuff like this by listening to his show. George, though, is
right in thinking that Congress is the big enemy. Their latest
idea is to lower the threshold for estate taxes from $600,000 to
$200,000, as well as to raise the tax rate itself.

This means that when someone dies, their assets are added up and
everything over $200,000 is taxed at a rate of 35 to 55%. Many
people don't think that this could affect them, but Rush points
out that it's pretty easy for someone working their whole life to
end up with more than $200,000 in assets, especially if they own
a home.

In particular, if someone is in the 20s or 30s and has just
bought a home, they can bet on having more than $200,000 by the
time they die in 30, 40, or 50 years. What's heinous about this
is that the estate tax is nothing more than wealth distribution -
this tax confiscates a lifetime of hard work and distributes it
to other people who have done nothing to earn it.

In other Congress-related news, a front page story on the Wall
Street Journal reports that tax increases are inevitable, even on
the middle class. The story bets that taxes will be increased on
Social Security benefits, corporations, liquor and cigarettes, as
well as higher taxes on the rich.

However, all of these things would still not raise the "big bucks
Mr. Clinton needs," and so his economic team has to consider
"taxes everyone would have to pay, including the middle class
whose taxes Clinton pledged to cut."

"If we're going to do something about the deficit, the middle
class is going to have to pay more taxes," according to Glenn
Hubbard, economist at Columbia University. Perhaps the most
visible tax on the middle class will be increased energy taxes,
including a hike in gasoline taxes.

Rush points out that this is what sacrifice means, according to
Clinton. Sacrifice doesn't mean that the rich will give up more
of their wealth to you, but that you have to give up more of your
money to the government so that it can spend it in the ways it
thinks is best. "Sacrifice means `grab your wallet,' folks," Rush
states.

*BREAK*

Phone   Gus from Folsom, CA

Gus is a Clinton supporter, and he gets the "vague" impression
that Rush thinks Clinton will be bad for business in general.
Rush says that he thinks the worst enemy business will face is
Congress, and it's up to Clinton to stop them. However, Rush is
glad that Clinton appointed Bentsen to the Treasury, and the
telling point will be how much influence Bentsen will have on
making policy.

Rush does think, though, that the potential future for small
businesses is horrible under Clinton, although big companies may
do much better. Gus says that he works for a big company whose
CEO endorsed Clinton, which means he must think Clinton will be
good for his business. Gus thus asks Rush if he thinks Clinton
will be good for EIB.

Rush says yes, but it's up in the air as to whether Clinton will
be good for all of broadcasting. During the last two years
network radio has fallen 20% in ad sales and is practically
defunct; EIB, though, is setting record sales of ad revenues and
Paul Harvey is also doing very well.

Gus says that he figures Rush will do well because a large part
of Rush's stock-and-trade is in taking potshots at liberals, and
now Rush has two targets - Congress and the President. Rush says
that Gus has a "good bead" on things, and he points out that EIB
is continuing to skyrocket, even though it's now after the
election.

Gus says that his business manufactures electronics, but although
its first quarter profits have already matched last year's, the
business still just forcibly reassigned 50 workers; if these
workers don't want to move to other plants, they'll be laid off.
Rush asks what business this is, and Gus says Hewlett-Packard;
HP, though, is moving all of its manufacturing to Singapore
because the country has promised them a zero tax rate.

Rush points out that many businesses are laying off workers
because they are realizing that they don't need as many people as
they have. If they can get the job done with fewer people, that's
what they'll do, and they turn into leaner businesses. Gus says,
though, that the reason HP needs 50 fewer workers in his area is
because manufacturing is being exported to Singapore.

Rush asks if Gus is upset about this, and he replies that he is.
Another thing that disturbs him is that the money that HP is
saving by manufacturing overseas has to remain overseas in order
to avoid US taxes.

Rush thus asks why HP's CEO is supporting Clinton, and Gus
guesses that he likes Clinton's statements on investing in the US
infrastructure. Plus, Gore is really big on establishing a high-
speed computer network, and HP would get a big piece of that.

Rush asks if this means that HP supported Clinton because it
wants a piece of his government spending, and Gus thinks this is
part of it. Also, though, Gus thinks that Clinton is working more
closely with American business than previous administrations.

Rush notes that John Sculley is running around claiming that
although he is a Republican he was "blown away" by Clinton's
performance at the Little Rock economic conference. Sculley says
that he has never seen a politician who had the hands-on
knowledge of business that Clinton has.

Rush, though, thinks that one reason big businesses like Clinton
is because his programs will put a lot of pressure on small
companies; this could run many small businesses out of business,
reducing the competition for the big companies.

Gus finds that an interesting theory because HP's problem
competitors tend to be smaller businesses, not the big monolithic
corporations. HP is very diverse and thus is vulnerable to small,
niche companies that specialize in small product areas.

Rush asks if HP makes everything in Singapore now, and Gus says
that he is talking only about his own division, which
concentrates on network products. However, HP's LaserJet printers
use engines made by Canon in Japan. Rush comments that Apple also
uses Canon engines for their printers.

Rush wonders why HP isn't moving every bit of manufacturing
overseas, if moving to Singapore provides such great tax
advantages. Gus doesn't know, but says that his division
negotiated a special deal with Singapore so as to avoid taxes.

Rush says that some people would think this is unpatriotic, but
he points out how New York residents buy stuff out of state to
avoid sales taxes. This is also why businesses are moving out of
state. There's nothing wrong with trying to find the lowest
possible legal taxes.

Gus adds that his division buys parts from the Singapore plants
at an inflated price, and the resulting profits in making the
parts stay overseas in a bank in the Netherlands. Thus, this
money can't be used in the US to help out American divisions; the
money is instead used to help HP's other international divisions.
Gus just doesn't like how this means that jobs will continue
leaving the US.

Rush points out that the US is a member of a global economy. Gus
thinks that the real competition, though, is going on between
countries; he points to how Singapore is competing with the US
for manufacturing and other jobs.

Rush says that this is the basic argument about national
competitiveness - whether Clinton will be good for business
depends on whether his plans are based on government contracts to
American businesses, or on creating a more competitive
environment for US companies. Clinton could do a lot to reduce
the obstacles the government puts in the way of business, but
whether he will do so remains to be seen. Rush holds Gus over the
break.

*BREAK*

Phone   Gus from Folsom, CA (continued)

Rush remarks that Gus's call has probably been a great education
for many members of his audience, who previously had not realized
what the real purpose of business is. As Gus has said, Singapore
is a competitor to the United States, but there is a great
difference between encouraging business by reducing taxes and
regulations and by doling out government contracts. Singapore is
not telling HP what it can build, while the government-managed
approach favored by Clinton does exactly this.

Gus says that this is not exactly true - Singapore is targeting
specific businesses and technologies. They thus don't give
special tax breaks to everyone. Rush understands this, but says
that this just identifies the basic technology, not what is being
made or how.

Rush's point is that in Singapore, the business's officials are
still in charge of what is done and how. Clinton and Gore,
though, they think can decide what should be built and what
technologies should be encouraged, and then dole out government
contracts accordingly. Rush doesn't think this approach can
possibly get the same results as encouraging businesses by
opening up the market place and getting government out of the
way.

Gus says that Clinton is not looking at creating jobs by just
building a bunch of roads and bridges that aren't needed.
Instead, Clinton and Gore are talking about investing in an
infrastructure which will make the nation more productive. Rush
says that this may be, but if this is what Clinton and Gore
really intend, they haven't done a good job communicating it.

In particular, the whole idea of building a new high-speed data
network will probably strike most people as a totally new idea.
Rush, though, thanks Gus for calling and bringing all these
points up.

*BREAK*

Phone   Bobbie from Ohio

Bobbie says that Rush is "doin' it the way it ought to be done."
She suggests that Al Gore's theme song could be "Tree, Tree,
Tree" from Mr. Roger's "Be My Neighbor" album. Rush admits he
doesn't have that album but will check it out. Bobbie also thinks
that Rush should expand into video games - one game could be
"Rushman in Limbaughland."

Rushman could visit all sorts of worlds - Feminaziville,
Enviroworld, and Congressland - and "have real substance over
symbolism." Rush likes the idea especially since EIB "targets new
industries for development." He thanks Bobbie for her suggestion
and promises to look into the possibilities.

--
John Switzer             | 1/21/93 - Clinton fails to follow through on promise
                         | to have economic legislation ready the day after the
Compuserve: 74076,1250   | Inauguration. Programmers rejoice because he gives
Internet: [e-mail] | them an excuse to further slip their schedules.