Unofficial Summary of the Rush Limbaugh Show

for Thursday, September 29, 1994

by John Switzer

This unofficial summary is copyright (c) 1994 by John Switzer.
All Rights Reserved. These summaries are distributed on
CompuServe and the Internet, and archived on CompuServe (DL9 of
the ISSUES forum) and Internet (cathouse.org and
grind.isca.uiowa.edu). The /pub/jrs directory at ftp.netcom.com
contains the summaries for the past 30 days. 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.

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

September 29, 1994

BRIEF SUMMARY OF TOPICS: Robert B. Reich claims minimum wage
could be increased by $1.50 an hour without it harming the
economy; conventional wisdom says Republicans are
obstructionists, but Rush lists three issues which prove this is
not true; Bill Clinton is first President in 90 years without a
World Series; new poll ranks members of Congress near the bottom
of 26 professions, above only car salesmen; 90s are turning into
the decade of sports greed; Rush suggests a new slogan for Oliver
North: "Oliver North, he lied to Ted Kennedy"; Weekly World News
reports that Hillary Clinton is pregnant; Rush discusses S.349,
the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act of 1994, which would require
ordinary Americans who write their congressmen to register with
the government as lobbyists; "Hush Rush 2" bill is also being
called "Hillary's Revenge" for those who dared to protest her
health care plan; Disney decides to cancel Virginia historical
theme park; Rush barely got in on the Snapple IPO; Rush's joke
that Ken Burns documentary about baseball on PBS was boring was
really referring to the incongruity of how the "home" for
baseball right now is PBS of all places; Rep. James Istook (R-OK)
notes that Lobby Reform Act could force journalists who cover
Washington to register with the federal government; those in
Washington are angry that Americans are no longer as apathetic as
they were in 1988, but instead are having an effect on the
legislative process; Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act cosponsored
by Senators Bryant and Levin; lobby reform act would basically
establish a federal enemy's list; lobby reform act undoubtedly
has some good reforms in it, but congressmen tried to hide
provisions to force politically active Americans to register as
lobbyists; number to find out your nearest Uggs distributor is
800-SAY-UGGS; lobby reform act illustrates how Washington works,
with stuff being slipped into bills in conference; those in
Washington discount the opinions from listeners of talk radio in
general and of Rush in particular; vagueness of lobby reform act,
plus the power of a new federal office that would report directly
to the President, would give Congress and those in the
administration great power over Americans; immigrant from East
Germany makes comparison between power of federal government and
that seen in former East Germany; many congressmen don't appear
to know about the lobbying provisions that are in the lobby
reform act; Rush talks with Rep. Tom DeLay about the Lobby Reform
and Disclosure Act; lobby reform act would disenfranchises
millions of Americans; Senator Hollings' opposition to the GATT
agreement shows how it's Democrats who are standing in the way of
President; Hollings' opposition to GATT is "potentially
devastating" to Bill Clinton because it shows Clinton's problem
is not Republicans; NHL players warn against a lockout; if
Democrats claim there was a party in the 80s and it must be paid
for now, Rush would say "the liberals have picked your pockets
for 40 years, and now it's time to decide if you got your money's
worth"; surfer loves Uggs; National Committee of Catholic Layman
opposes provisions in lobby reform act; Rush lists groups that
are opposed to the lobby reform act; Rush asks callers what kind
of book he should next write; bum was reading Rush's book on the
John Laroquette Show; Florida orange juice sales reached new
records in August; words to the Bill Clinton version of the "Club
Med" tune; Jimmy Carter praises Cedras's wife as slim and
attractive; former lobbyist wonders if members of Congress put
anti-American provisions in the bill precisely so that they could
vote against genuine lobby reform; lobby reform act passes
procedural vote in the House and goes to a full floor vote;
former federal prison inmate thanks Rush for encouraging him to
take responsibility for his own life; Michael Fay claims that his
caning in Singapore is responsible for his sniffing butane;
caller thinks Rush should write a book that compares America to
the rest of the world.

LIMBAUGH WATCH

September 29, 1994 - It's now day 618 (day 637 for the rich and
the dead, and 40 days until the November elections) of "America
Held Hostage" (aka the "Raw Deal" which has 844 days left) and
695 days after Bill Clinton's election, but Rush is still on the
air with 659 radio affiliates (with more than 20 million
listeners weekly world-wide), 250 TV affiliates (with a national
rating of 3.7), and a newsletter with over 475,000 subscribers.

His first book was on the NY Times hardback non-fiction
best-seller list for 54 consecutive weeks, with 2.6 million
copies sold, but fell off the list after Simon and Schuster
stopped printing it. The paperback version of "The Way Things
Ought To Be" was on the NY Times paperback non-fiction
best-seller list for 28 weeks. Rush's second book, "See, I Told
You So," was on the NY Times best-seller list for 16 weeks and
has sold over 2.45 million copies.

NEWS

o	On Tuesday Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich told the Dallas
Morning News that the minimum wage could be increased as much as
$1.50 an hour without it having any negative impact on the
economy. Reich said there was no question that the Clinton
administration would be proposing a hike in the minimum wage at
some point, but his comments this week contradict what he said
last year about how the highest hike in the minimum wage the
economy could tolerate was fifty cents an hour.

LEST WE FORGET

The following are from the Rush Limbaugh show on Thursday,
October 1, 1992:

o	In a classic example of being on both sides, Clinton was trying
to straddle the fence on the abortion issue. Deborah Oren of the
Washington Post wrote that Clinton "faces new credibility
questions on abortion rights after being quoted in the new
Reader's Digest as saying `I have no problem with a 24 hour
waiting period as long as it is not an undue burden on low-income
people who travel long distances in states where abortions are
performed only in one or two places.' "

The NY Post reported in July that Clinton was not fully truthful
when in one of the New York debates he claimed he opposed a
right-to-life amendment to the Arkansas constitution. Clinton did
not publicly oppose the amendment, and in fact in 1986 Clinton
wrote a letter to pro-life constituents in which he endorsed the
amendment.

Rush pointed out that Al Gore had done the exact same thing, and
this begged the question of how America knew what Clinton really
stood for. What would happen when it came time for Clinton to
negotiate with a foreign power or with Congress? What were his
principles?

o	On Nightline Al Gore claimed that AID, a program set up by Bush
to help Latin America countries, had been established solely for
moving jobs to South American countries, to take advantage of
their cheap labor. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin refuted Gore
brilliantly by pointing out that Gore had voted for these sorts
of plans, which had strong bipartisan support for decades.

Martin also noted that the US had a positive balance of trade
with those countries, which meant it was shipping more exports to
them than it was importing. She also pointed out that if
America's trading partners were economically strong, then more
jobs would be created in America due to increased exports. Even
Ted Koppel said it was ridiculous for Gore to claim that Bush
supported the program just to move jobs out of the country.

Pat from Columbus, GA, however, felt that Gore won the debate
with Lynn Martin, and she thought Gore should be praised for his
attempts to stop American companies from moving factories to
Mexico, with the subsequent loss of American jobs. She didn't
think it was morally right for American companies to move their
plants to places with cheaper labor costs.

Pat also believed that "the whole structure in the United States
has crumbled in the past 25 years," and she blamed this on CEOs
who make "huge, outlandish salaries." Rush thought CEO salaries
were irrelevant as to whether a company could stay in business.
The U.S. was in a world market and it could not control market
forces, but rather change with the changing world economy. Pat
agreed that change had to occur, but believed the people in the
middle were being crushed.

o	Congress was unable to override President Bush's veto of the
family leave bill, which would have required every business with
50 or more employees to allow those employees to take up to 12
unpaid weeks off should a family member get sick or pregnant.
Democrats attacked Bush for opposing "family values."

o	Dan from Bowling Green, KY thought Bill Clinton was already
having a negative affect on the US economy. Dan owned five video
stores, and he had been planning on expanding into four different
cities in 1993. However, Dan's partner scrapped the expansion
plan because he wanted to pay off the company's debt as soon as
possible, feeling this was necessary because if Clinton got
elected, the increased tax burden could otherwise put them out of
business.

John from Orlando, FL was also worried about Clinton being
elected. He had just graduated from college and was looking for a
job as a social worker with kids in the inner cities. Orlando,
though, already had a high unemployment rate, and he was
concerned that if Clinton got elected, his career plans would be
severely set back.

Finally, Joe from Blacksburg, VA was concerned about the "rush
towards socialism" that he was seeing in this country. During the
80s he and a partner built up a pizza company that had about 120
employees. His company was able to provide health and dental
benefits to its workers, at least up until Congress increased the
minimum wage 26% within a year.

This devastated the company because they were in a very
competitive market which prevented them from raising prices.
Thus, the company went out of business, the workers lost their
jobs, and with them their benefits, all because of government's
attempt to control business.

o	The NY Times and Washington Post reported that Ross Perot hired
private investigators to investigate business competitors.
Furthermore, Clayton Moferd, general counsel for the Perot
campaign, acknowledged that Perot paid $76,000 in August and
September to a San Francisco-based investigative agency to check
out his own campaign volunteers. Moferd said that most of the
money was paid to provide guards for Perot's California
headquarters, but some of it also went to check out volunteers,
to see if they had misappropriated funds or had criminal records.

Malcolm from Concord, NH, however, thought Perot spoke for the
"dispossessed of America who do not have a voice." He said the
average American made this country what it was, but "it's gone
now. We deserve to be heard, we deserve to have a voice. We have
Ross Perot. If you want to dump on us, you're wasting your time,
Rush."

o	By getting four hits during the previous night's baseball game,
George Brett became the 18th baseball player in history to get
3000 hits. Rush spent the first segment of the show talking about
his friendship with Brett which started when Rush began working
for the Kansas City Royals in the early 80s; at first the two men
were only associates, but they became friends when Brett - even
then a superstar - very kindly took the time out to help Rush
with his duties.

Vince from Salisbury noted that Rush's comments on George Brett
got him thinking about how the most successful people he had met
were all among the nicest people he ever had known. These people
were self-confident yet still possessed a genuine humility, they
genuinely liked people and treated them fairly, they believed in
a higher power, as well as in hard work and sacrifice, and they
were upfront and honest. Vince thought this was a good set of
characteristics to look for in a President, and there was only
one candidate he saw who fit this profile.

o	Rush's book, "The Way Things Ought to Be," was number one for
the third week in a row on the October 11th New York Times best
seller list, and Rush pointed out how this indicated a true
hunger among the people for conservative books.

o	The media was all beside itself about Dan Quayle's joke that he
would be at a "disadvantage" in a debate with Gore because Gore
went to a private school while Quayle went to public schools.
Thus, the headlines were saying in one way or another "Quayle
puts down public schools." Rush was disgusted with a media that
slanted stories in this way, knowingly distorting and taking out
of context everything Quayle said.

Quayle had been ridiculed for years as a child of the rich and as
someone who had all the advantages. Gore, meanwhile, was
portrayed as a second Abraham Lincoln who grew up on a dirt farm
with the soil of Mother Earth lodged beneath his nails. However,
it was Quayle who went to public schools while Gore grew up in a
life of privileges and advantages, and this was all that Quayle
was pointing out. "I understand it," Rush demanded, "why can't
you in the media understand it?"

********

MORNING UPDATE

The conventional wisdom is whatever liberals believe, and the way
most people find out the conventional wisdom is when the public
relations arm of the Democratic party, the mainstream press,
tells them about it. Conventional wisdom right now is that
Republicans are obstructionists, standing in the way of
everything and anything good. The conventional wisdom insists
that it's Republicans who are preventing the nation from
realizing all sorts of good things.

Rush has three examples that refute such conventional wisdom.
First, the Washington Post is reporting that the GATT agreement
is facing strong opposition in Congress, and in particular the
fate of GATT may rest on one man, a Democrat. This man happens to
be the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Senator Ernest
Hollings (D-SC), who is refusing to allow the Senate to vote on
GATT this year.

Similarly, it is Democrats who are telling Congress that it has
to cut future Social Security benefits, although conventional
wisdom insists only Republicans want to cut Social Security.
These Democrats are Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL), Rep. J.J.
Pickle (D-TX), Rep. Tim Penny (D-MN), and Rep. Marjorie
Margolis-Mezvinsky (D-PA).

Finally, on the issue of campaign finance reform, the
conventional wisdom states that it's Republicans who are stopping
this legislation via a Senate filibuster. However, in truth there
are six Republicans voting for this bill, while five Democrats
have defected from their party to oppose it. Thus, it can't be
said that it's Republicans who are being the bad guys, given that
it's the Democratic defections which are preventing this bill's
passage.

Rush thus hopes people don't buy into the conventional wisdom put
out by the mainstream media.

FIRST HOUR

Items

o	Rush notes that Bill Clinton is the first President in 90 years
without a World Series, unless you like watching baseball on PBS
which Rush describes in one word: "borrrring!"

o	A new USA Today/Gallup/CNN poll ranks 26 professions in terms
of prestige, and it's not good news for Congress. Only 9% of
those polled ranked members of the House of Representatives high
or very high in public esteem, down from 14% last year; House
members fall behind stockbrokers, union leaders, advertising
executives, insurance salesmen, and state officers; Senators do
little better at 12%.

There's only one profession which ranks lower than members of
Congress, and EIB broadcast engineer Mike Maimone guesses it's
insurance salesmen. Rush notes that he already mentioned this
category as ranking higher than Congress, so he suggests that Mr.
Maimone pay a little more attention to the show. The staff also
guesses drug pushers or sewer workers, but Rush says even these
professions rank higher; in fact, only car salesmen rank lower
than members of Congress.

Rush chides the American people for putting car salesmen below
Congress, given that cars salesmen at least put people behind the
wheel, while members of Congress put you in far worse places.

o	The 80s were supposed to be the decade of greed and
selfishness, while Rush has named the 90s the decade of fraud and
deceit. It seems, though, that the 90s are turning into the
decade of sports greed - the baseball season has already been
called on account of the strike, hockey is being threatened with
a lockout, and basketball players and owners are making similarly
ugly threats.

o	Rush suggests a new campaign slogan that could really help
Oliver North with his Senate campaign: "Oliver North, he lied to
Ted Kennedy!"

o	The latest issue of the Weekly World News has some incredible
news. Rush stresses that the EIB Network reads the Weekly World
News only because last summer they reported that he met with
aliens near New Orleans; the aliens told Rush that only he could
save not just the Earth but the entire galaxy, which was why they
asked him to run for President.

The Weekly World News thus did a poll of its readers, and found
that more than 1 million wanted Rush to be President, while only
five were opposed to the idea. This "obviously objective and very
scientific" poll inspired columnist Ed Anger to start a "Draft
Rush" movement.

This week's Weekly World News is reporting that insiders have
told a British biographer that Hillary Clinton is expecting her
second child in April, even though she turns 47 next month. Rush
notes that this really doesn't explain why Hillary has been
staying out of the public's eyesight, although it does shed new
light on the recent installation of Astroturf in the Oval Office.

********

With the lighthearted news out of the way, Rush has to get
serious because he's just been notified about an attempt in
Congress to seriously limit the ability of Americans to protest
their government. Rush had intended to start off today's show
talking about the GATT agreement and how it's being handled in
Congress, but the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act of 1994 is
scheduled to be considered on the House floor today.

This bill has been dubbed "Hush Rush 2" by Amy Moritz of the
National Center for Public Policy Research; Moritz has noticed
several frightening parallels between this bill and the original
"Hush Rush" bill, which was the Fairness Doctrine considered by
Congress last year. The attempt to reinstate the FCC's Fairness
Doctrine would basically have had a very chilling effect on free
speech in the broadcasting industry by creating disincentives
(i.e. the loss of a station's broadcast license) for airing
controversial material.

The Fairness Doctrine is still out there lurking somewhere, but
for the moment it's not a threat. The "Hush Rush 2" bill, though,
is more hideous than the Fairness Doctrine because it would, in
the opinion of many members of Congress, be "Hillary's Revenge"
for the opposition she encountered during the Health Security
Express bus tour earlier this year.

The Clinton administration thought it would be able to regenerate
all the support Clinton got with his 1992 campaign bus tours, but
when Hillary Clinton arrived in Seattle, she was stunned to see
the magnitude of the opposition she encountered. Far more
opponents to her plan showed up than supporters, and they shouted
her down, even after the volume of the sound system was set to
maximum.

This opposition was generated relatively spontaneously, after a
local radio station mentioned the time and place of the rally and
suggested that people show up to make their voices heard. The
protestors were just normal working Americans who weren't
political veterans, and they were just the first of many
protestors the Clintons encountered on their health care bus
tour.

Those in the administration think these protestors sabotaged
their plan, and Rush has no doubts that many in the
administration also feel in their hearts that these protestors
were acting illegally. If this wasn't true before, then the Lobby
Reform and Disclosure Act could make it true in the future.

This bill is especially chilling, given how HUD has been
threatening those who oppose its plans with lawsuits, jail terms,
and fines. Under this act, protestors such as those who greeted
Hillary Clinton could be accused of acting illegally.

As with the HUD threats, though, the real effect of the Hush Rush
2 bill would not be in the people that are arrested, but in the
chilling effect it has on those who would have otherwise
protested. These people, under threats levied by the federal
government, would instead tend to keep quiet and shut up about
anything they don't like about their government.

Rush will go through this act during today's show because the
bottom line is that anyone who decides to become an "activist" by
showing up to protest something could be accused of being a
lobbyist, with the federal government requiring them to register
and supply lists of their associates.

*BREAK*

Phone	Mike from Roanoke, VA

Mike gives "Cojiba dittos" and sadly notes that Virginia has been
about 90% successful in kicking out Disney, which really
embarrasses him. Rush says that last week Disney was confident it
would still be building its historical theme park, but today they
announced they're pulling out and will look for another site.

Mike says he's surprised that Virginia is rejecting this park,
given how much it would benefit the state. He suspects other
states will line up for the business the company would bring
them.

Rush asks if Mike heard anything about why Disney decided to pull
out, and Mike says he heard that Disney doesn't think it can open
the park by 1998 and still stay within budget, all because so
many people and groups have opposed the park from the very
beginning.

Mike adds that he's a stockbroker, so he's also ashamed to be on
the same list as Congress. Rush consoles Mike by noting that
stockbrokers are a lot higher on the list than members of
Congress. Besides, most people look down on stockbrokers because
they think those who have such jobs are just making money hand
over fist without having to do any real work for it.

Mike is curious to know how Rush did on the initial public stock
offering of Snapple, and Rush confesses that he barely got into
it. "I'm no Tom Foley!" Rush notes, referring to Foley's history
of making great profits by getting in on IPOs.

In fact, though, Rush was so out of it that he first learned
about the Snapple IPO only when he was called by all sorts of
stockbrokers like Mike who were hoping he could get some shares
for them, but Rush barely got a handful of shares for himself.
Those who did get into Snapple at the beginning, though, did
pretty well, tripling or quadrupling their money if they stayed
in.

Phone	David from Atlanta, GA

David is politically oriented, but wants to talk about Rush's
apparent dislike of Ken Burns' documentary on baseball. He thinks
baseball reinforces many conservative ideals and this should be
supported. Rush says he was just making a joke about how ironic
it is that the "home" for baseball right now is PBS, the home of
high-brow intellectuals.

David admits this is funny, but it is also telling that these
intellectuals are intellectualizing about this game. Rush
jokingly says baseball is a boring game, which is why
intellectuals like it.

David notes that he particularly likes the cat and mouse game
played between pitcher and batter, and Rush admits he was just
making another joke. He actually likes baseball a lot, but still
finds it fascinating that baseball is in such sad shape now; at
this time in any normal year, the playoffs and World Series would
be going, but instead the only place you can see any baseball is
on a documentary on PBS.

Rush admits that he knows nothing about Ken Burns, so his
comments really had more to do about the state of baseball
himself than with what Burns is doing.

*BREAK*

The Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act is known as S.349 in the
Senate. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) has studied the bill and has found
that the bill includes fines of up to $200,000 that would be
administered with little if any due process on anyone, including
ordinary citizens making their opinion known to their members of
Congress, who violates its provisions. The bill's provisions,
though, are so vaguely written that the government's regulators
and bureaucrats could apply them howsoever they see fit.

For example, the bill requires the registration of any group or
individual that spends 10% of its time communicating with
Congress; such people and groups would have to register with a
new government office of lobbying and public disclosure. The bill
also requires that all people participating in grassroots
lobbying efforts, "after being retained by the registrant," must
submit their name, address, and principle place of doing business
to the new government agency, as well as providing a list of the
specific issues in which they have engaged in "grassroots
lobbying communications."

This means that any average American who spent more than 10% of
their time protesting things such as the Clinton health care plan
would have to register with the federal government. Furthermore,
if you are "retained," which is most vaguely defined, by such a
person, you similarly have to register with the government.

The whole point of all this is to stifle public opinion. For
example, under this bill, Rush and all talk show hosts might be
accused of being lobbyists, so if any of his listeners decided to
contact Congress about an issue they heard Rush talk about, they
might also have to register with the government. If this isn't
done, people could be fined.

The conference report on this bill is scheduled to be considered
in the House today, even though an analysis of the report
suggests that the bill could cast a chilling effect on grassroots
organizations in several ways. First, those people lobbying on
behalf of religious organizations would have to register and
report on their expenditures, subject to a vague "freedom of
religion" exception which might, but only might, exempt
activities pertaining to matters such as abortion or pornography.

For example, if someone who's a member of a religious
organization writes their representative in Congress about
abortion, they might be exempted from this act; however, this
exemption is so vaguely written that this cannot be guaranteed.
If this exemption wasn't forthcoming, the member would have to
register as a lobbyist.

The bill could also requires that the representative of a
grassroots organization who was sent to Washington to talk to a
member of Congress would have to register as a lobbyist,
requiring them to also submit detailed reports on all their
expenditures. Whether this happens all depends on whether this
person spent more than the "threshold" amount of money, but that
threshold is not listed anywhere in the bill. At the very least,
though, this would punish those living on the west coast who
would have to spend more money to fly to Washington than those
living on the east coast.

In addition, the bill would demand that any organization
attempting to influence federal decisions with the help of a
grassroots organization would have to reveal the specific names,
addresses, and principle places of business of its members,
including volunteers, who are participating in this. This is so
vaguely defined that it could apply to Rush and his listeners,
and if so, then EIB would have to supply lists of all its
listeners who call into Congress or write them letters.

The bill might require organizations that sponsor "legislative
weekends" to do all of this registration, including supply a list
of expenditures, if there is any "lobbying activity," which could
be defined as simply talking to a congressman. Thus, anyone who
arranges a trip to Washington that includes a visit with a
congressman could now be called a lobbyist, and would have to
register with the federal government.

The bill would also create onerous burdens on all citizens who
become "lobbyists" because they would have to routinely report
their expenditures to the Director of Lobbying, and be prepared
to supply proof of those expenditures. This bill could also
require the registration of any sort of activist, which would be
unconstitutional.

Rep. James Istook (R-OK) has noted that journalists should be
wary of the registration requirement, given that it affects
anyone who spends 10% or more of their day communicating with
Congress. The next step after registration, of course, would be
having to get permission from the federal government to engage in
political activities such as communicating with members of
Congress.

And once you require people to register with the government to do
something, how many will bother to do so? If the Department of
Housing and Urban Development is threatening people with fines
and jail terms just for criticizing its plans, can the rest of
the federal government be trusted not to do so?

Rush has often spoke of the arrogance and condescension that
permeates Washington, DC and Congress, especially as how it's
been born of the power that those in Washington have. Now,
because the public is actually affecting the national and
legislative agenda, some members of Congress undoubtedly are
outraged at this "interference" with them.

In 1988 everyone was as upset as they could be about the public's
apathy towards politics, but now that the public is getting
involved, those in Washington are getting angry that the people
are bothering them, preventing them from doing what they want.
Members of Congress are actually saying the people are "getting
in the way," and Tom Pease, former Democrat member of the House
from Oklahoma, actually called Rush a "bomb thrower" for daring
to do things such as expose the fraud of baseline budgeting.

Rush and others in talk radio have exposed a lot of Washington's
dirty secrets, and because the American people are learning too
much, those in Washington want to shut the people up, by forcing
them to register as lobbyists. Rush has no doubts that those
behind this bill undoubtedly are looking into the future, hoping
to eventually be able to grant and deny permission for Americans
to take an active part in their government.

*BREAK*

Phone	Dan from Green Bay, WI

Dan says the "Hush Rush 2" law is just another attempt by
government to infringe upon people's rights and to control the
people. Rush adds that the real intent is to shut people up, so
that the constituents no longer are as able to express their will
to their congressional representatives.

Those pushing this bill think that the people have too much
power, although in reality it's the people who are supposed to
have the power. But as is typical with liberals, the people are
being viewed as idiots who aren't smart enough to know what
should be done in the country, and thus are doing too many "bad
things." The administration simply can't deal with any
opposition.

Dan notes that lobbying has been the hallmark of liberals, so why
are the Democrats against it now? Rush says the reason for this
is that this lobbying on the part of the people is too effective
- it's working. Dan doubts that the enforcement of this bill
would be on both the right and the left, and Rush agrees - the
first targets of this bill will be the enemies of the Democratic
House of Representatives.

Many in Washington are saying this bill is Hillary's revenge,
born out of an anger about what happened to the Democrats on the
Health Security Express bus tour. These people don't live in the
real world - they think they can talk and charm the people into
anything, and they are surprised when they encounter genuine
opposition.

Bill Clinton loves to say that he doesn't like controversy and
just wants to be allowed to "do my work." Rush thinks these
people have a certain mindset and set of values that are the
result of their being told in the 60s that they were
intellectually and morally superior. They grew up believing this,
and because of it they thought they would be hailed as conquering
heroes once Clinton was inaugurated. They are therefore outraged
that the American people instead of kissing their feet in
veneration are opposing them.

This administration is more intent on governing against the will
of the people than Rush has ever seen before, so they are running
into a lot of opposition. It should be no surprise that they are
now trying to stifle the opposition they are encountering. They
aren't going to target just pro-lifers or those who are against
pornography restrictions, but everyone who opposes them in any
way.

*BREAK*

Rush wonders if the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act will be
retroactive to the Vietnam War? What if it applies to those who
protested the Haitian War? Will this bill cover Hillary Clinton's
secret health care task force and all the special interest
lobbyists who were part of that? After all, those people
certainly tried to influence Congress.

And what about the Renaissance Weekend in Hilton-Head at the end
of the year, where the President and other elected officials with
the press - will journalists now have to register as lobbyists?
Will Congress add a special clause to the bill: "applicable only
when Democrats control the White House and Congress"?

Phone	Grant from Evansville, IN

Grant asks who the sponsor of this bill is, and Rush says he
doesn't know yet but will work to find out. Grant thanks Rush for
revamping talk radio, which is informing the country about what
is going on in America; without talk radio, the people wouldn't
know a lot of things, such as what health care or this bill are
really about.

Grant notes that he called Congress about health care, so will he
know have to "register" as a lobbyist? Rush thinks this is a good
question - how many people will have to register, should this
bill become law?

*BREAK*

SECOND HOUR

Items

o	Rush has found out that the Lobby Disclosure and Reform Act is
being sponsored by Senators John Bryant (D-TX) and Carl Levin
(D-MI). This bill has been passed in both houses, so it was sent
to conference; it's the conference version of the bill which is
now being debated in the House.

This bill sets up a new government office for lobbying and public
disclosure, which is responsible for collecting all the
information that will be required of "lobbyists": names,
addresses, their expenditures, the issues on which they've
contacted members of Congress, etc. Gary Bauer of the Family
Research Council has faxed Rush to note that this office would be
accountable directly to the President of the United States.

It could thus be concluded that this office would work against
those groups who are opposing the President and his policies.
This used to be called an "enemy's list" - in effect, Congress is
considering a law that would require the American people to help
them compile a federal enemy's list.

o	Rush notes that the first commercial for Uggs boots will be
aired this hour, but EIB's Vice President of Sales, Stu Crane,
has already been deluged with calls from people who want to be
Uggs distributors and/or want to buy Uggs stock. Obviously,
people remember what happened with Snapple, so Rush encourages
everyone to stay tuned.

Phone	Don from Hackettstown, NJ

Don reports that the House debate on the Lobby Disclosure and
Reform Act is going on even now. CSPAN, though, is having audio
problems, so he can't hear anything; also, CSPAN's caption that
explains the bill doesn't mention anything about what Rush is
saying; instead, all it describes are matters pertaining to the
meals and other freebies offered by lobbyists to members of
Congress.

Rush has no doubts that there are some genuine lobbying reforms
in this bill, as this is how the legislative process works.
Undoubtedly there are some attempts by this bill to correct the
problems caused by special interests and lobbyists, but hidden
through this bill are the provisions that Rush previously
described.

Rush again describes this bill and how it would have a chilling
effect on anyone who might be thinking of protesting their
government, President, or Congress. Most people think of
lobbyists being as highly paid professionals who go to Washington
to lobby specific members of Congress and their staffs. This
bill, though, would define as a lobbyist nearly anyone who
communicates with Congress, including grass roots organizations.

Rush remembers how the Democrats gave Republicans less than 24
hours to read the conference report on the Crime Bill. Then,
after the conference report was negotiated, Rep. Jack Brooks
(D-TX) managed to get a $10 million appropriations for his alma
mater sneaked into the bill. Republicans thus decided they
couldn't vote for a bill whose contents were still a mystery.

Rush thus suspects that a similar thing has happened now with
this Lobby Reform Act - undoubtedly, most members of Congress
knew about the genuine reforms, but somewhere in conference
someone tried to hide these attempts to force average Americans
to register as lobbyists. Fortunately, these provisions were
discovered. Rush adds that this "Hush Rush 2" bill was so named
by Amy Moritz because it's reminiscent of how the first Hush Rush
bill (the Fairness Doctrine) would have helped to quell public
discussion about political issues.

<<As a public service, I present the 800 number you can call to
find out your nearest Uggs distributor: 800-SAY-UGGS. Since the
Summary Writer's Code of Ethics prevents me from accepting any
gratuity for this, I sadly can't accept any shoes Uggs might
decide to send me, even if they are size nine and a half, A
width, in blue>>

*BREAK*

Phone	Chuck from Clarkston, MI

Chuck can't believe that one of the sponsors of this bill, Carl
Levin, is from Michigan. Rush notes that this bill illustrates
how Washington works - the bill undoubtedly has a lot of good
things in it, which is how the sponsors hope to get it passed;
they hope that nobody notices the few paragraphs which would
define any grassroots organization as a lobbyist.

Chuck thinks this has to be unconstitutional, and he notes that
Michigan voters are working hard to defeat the Democrats. Spence
Abraham, for example, is trying to get rid of Bob Riegle, and
Chuck bets that issues such as this will only spur people on to
action.

Chuck notes that Rush didn't tell him to call his congressman,
but this bill is so patently outrageous that he did so on his
own. Rush agrees - his listeners don't need any instructions,
only the information about what is going on in America.

Rush adds that he hasn't called this bill "Hush Rush 2"; it was
Amy Moritz, who noted how both "Hush Rush" bills would have a
chilling effect on free speech. It should be revealing to observe
that basically what Congress is trying to tell the public "shut
up, we don't want to hear from you."

Rush wonders how many of his listeners have called Congress, only
to be told "are you listening to Rush Limbaugh?" This means that
those people's views are automatically being discounted, and that
therefore they count less than a "full citizen." In the minds of
some in Washington, anyone who gets informed by talk radio is
less than a real citizen; their views don't count and aren't
relevant.

All Rush is doing, though, is reading excerpts from those who
have read and analyzed this bill. Nobody is making anything up,
but just pointing out what's in the bill. Perhaps the most
important part of this bill is how vague it is, and how its
powers would be invested in the Office of Lobbying Registration.
The vagueness of this bill will allow this new office, whose
bureaucrats report directly to the President, to basically do the
will of the President.

The whole point of the vagueness is that it will give the
government large leeway to intimidate and frighten away all those
who might criticize the government. That those in Washington
actually want to inspire fear in Americans, so that citizens will
shy away from making their voice heard, so as to avoid the wrath
of their government, should give people an idea about just how
those in Washington view government and the people.

Phone	Ann from Daytona Beach, FL

Ann thinks this bill is absolutely frightening, especially since
she has some horrible memories from the past which should serve
as a warning of what might happen here. She was born in East
Germany but was able to leave several decades ago and became a
naturalized American citizen.

When Ann and her husband returned to East Germany for a visit in
the mid-70s, they were hassled quite a bit by the Communists.
They had to identify themselves to the local police department
within 24 hours of their arrival, and had to get permission from
the police to do anything.

The stayed there for 11 days, meeting with many relatives at
their hotel. However, they couldn't go visit their relatives at
their homes, though, because the police refused to grant
permission. In short, Ann and her husband had to get permission
to do anything and everything. They were also watched constantly,
and their relatives were constantly on the alert to see who was
watching.

Rush bets many listening in the audience would think this could
never happen in America, but he would just remind them how a
member of Congress - House Speaker Tom Foley - is actually suing
his own constituents.

*BREAK*

Phone	Andrea from Del Rey Beach, FL

Andrea says she called her congressman immediately after Rush
revealed what the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act would do. Her
congressman's office, though, told her she was misinformed
because this act would affect only those who received $2500 a
year or more in payment for their lobbying efforts.

Rush says he hasn't heard this, but his information on this has
come from three different sources, plus he's already heard from
others who had similar experiences to Ann's. EIB thus called back
its primary sources to get clarifications, and one tentative
explanation is that the language in the bill has been changed in
conference, so perhaps some members of Congress aren't yet aware
of these things.

Andrea says she heard similar things earlier this year about the
education bill that would have registered homeschoolers, with
members of Congress claiming that people's fears weren't
justified. However, when people looked closely at the bill, they
saw that the bill would indeed affect homeschoolers this way.
Rush notes that this sort of thing is common.

Andrea adds that she has a friend who started a grassroots group
to fight for immigration control, and her friend would have to
register under the provisions of this bill, simply because she
spends more than 10% of her time on this endeavor. Rush notes
that the bill being discussed right now is the conference report,
which is not the same as the original House and Senate versions
of the bill. It is therefore very likely that many members of
Congress don't know about everything that's been put into the
final version.

This sort of thing happened in the Crime Bill, so EIB is working
hard to get some hard information about the conference version of
the bill. In fact, Rush is told that Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is on
the phone now to talk about this, so he puts Andrea on hold to
speak to him.

Phone	Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) from Washington, DC

Rep. DeLay notes that the House vote on the bill is being taken
right now, so Rush points out that he's read Newt Gingrich's
letter on this, but some people are reporting that when they call
their congressman's office, they're told their fears are
groundless.

Rep. DeLay laughs at this, and notes that page 20 of the
conference report requires that the following information be
collected:

"The name, address, and principal place of business of any person
or entity retained by the registrant to conduct grassroots
lobbying communications on behalf of the registrant or the
client."

This means that anyone who belongs to a grassroots organization
will have to send their name, address, and principal place of
business in to the government. As to religious organizations, the
bill's "religious exemption" is so vague that it allows the
director of the new government lobby registration office, who's
appointed by the President, to decide what defines "religious
freedom." Thus, this director could decide that abortion has
nothing to do with religion, so pro-life activists would have to
register as lobbyists.

Rush asks about the $2500 threshold mentioned by an earlier
caller, and Rep. DeLay says this is not accurate. If someone who
travels from California to Washington, DC, they will have to pay
at least this month for the plane ticket and a room; if such
people talk to an elected official, they would then have to
register as a lobbyist.

Rush notes that Rep. Newt Gingrich mentioned to him on the phone
before the show that this bill could define talk show hosts as
"lobbyists" should any of their listeners decide to contact
Congress. Rep. DeLay says that this could very well be the case.

For example, if the Concerned Women of America contacted someone
to ask them to contact their representative, this could make them
a "lobbyist" who would have to register. Rush asks if this means
that if he takes a call like this on the air, he'll also be
considered a lobbyist.

Rep. DeLay says a lawyer would have to determine this, depending
on whether Rush himself contacts his congressman or urges his
listeners to do so. Rush asks if it's possible the reason some
members of Congress are denying that these provisions are in the
bill is because its language has changed overnight.

Rep. DeLay says this is exactly the problem; however, there are a
large number of groups, ranging from Concerned Women of America
to the ACLU, who know exactly what this bill has in it. Part of
the problem is that this bill does have some genuine reform
measures: full disclosure on the part of both lobbyists and
elected officials, but these other provisions go way beyond this.
He notes that this bill reminds him of the Fairness Doctrine bill
Congress had considered earlier.

Rush remarks that Amy Moritz has called the bill "Hush Rush 2,"
and Rep. DeLay says he prefers to refer to it as "Hillary's
Revenge." This bill is a direct response to the grassroots
attempts to defeat the Clinton health care plan and Crime Bill;
the grassroots efforts by the people are having an effect, and
those in Washington don't like it.

Rush notes that there is irony in this, given that four years ago
the politicians were complaining about voter apathy. He asks Rep.
DeLay if this bill would affect people such as those who
protested the Health Security Express bus tour.

Rep. DeLay says that their names, addresses, and places of
principal business would indeed have to be sent in to Washington
if they were called together by some sort of grassroots
organization. People couldn't even get a group together to talk
with an elected official unless they registered, reported on
their expenditures, and listed the issues they were discussing.

Rush asks if there is any fear that over time the requirements to
register would allow the government to determine who will be
allowed to become a lobbyist. Rep. DeLay notes that the Office of
Lobbying and Registration can fine people $200,000 per violation,
without having to go to court. It doesn't take much imagination
to realize what could happen if this office was run by someone
like HUD Assistant Secretary Roberta Achtenburg, who clearly has
targeted conservatives and anyone else who opposes her plans.

Rush notes that he's heard an interesting story about why Rep.
Tom DeLay decided to run for elected office. Rep. DeLay says he
is in the pest control business and just got mad at all the
regulations the government was putting on him, and it led him to
run for office. He adds "I've got the experience to ferret out
the varmints and get rid of them!"

Rush finds it interesting that oppressive government regulation
forced this small businessman to run for office, and thanks him
for talking about this issue.

*BREAK*

Phone	Andrea from Del Ray Beach, FL (continued)

Rush asks Andrea whom she's going to believe, her congressman or
Rep. DeLay. Andrea says her congressman is very liberal, so
she'll believe Rush and Rep. DeLay first.

Rush is glad to hear this and wants to set the record straight
that his program doesn't deal with misinformation. Andrea thanks
Rush for being on the air and giving out information like this.

Phone	Will from Dover, DE

Will thanks Rush for opening a new realm in politics and
government, and he notes that up until now lobbyists have been
paid by professionals and special interest groups; however, those
in Washington have now expanded the definition of this term to
anyone who wants to practice democracy, which means that this
bill is really about disenfranchising millions of Americans.

Rush thinks that this is a great point - everyone who cares about
what happens in Washington would be defined as a lobbyist by this
bill. This is "defining lobbyists down" to include the average
American who just wants to exercise their First Amendment right
to protest their government.

The real problem with this legislation, though, is not that it's
aimed at conservatives, given that a Republican President could
use this bill just as easily as any Democrat. Rather, it gives
power to unelected bureaucrats, just as the Clinton health care
plan would have given broad powers to a National Health Board.

The lobbying bill is so vague that its powers really can't be
determined, which means that it will just become a license and
excuse for members of Congress to take even more power from the
people. Certainly the first targets of this bill would be
conservatives, given that the country has a Democratic President
and Congress, but it would be just as bad should Republicans have
this kind of broad, unrestricted power to use against their
enemies.

*BREAK*

Phone	Brad from Decatur, IL

Brad asks what effect this bill would have on all the unions who
get out their members to root for a local politician. Rush thinks
this is a good question, but the basic answer is that the effect
of this bill won't be good.

For example, the NAACP and National Right to Work Committee have
both won a battle in the courts to keep their membership lists
private. However, the new bill would imperil this decision, by
making it possible some day that the groups would have to send
lists of their members to the government organization. For this
and other reasons, Rush suspects that Rep. DeLay was right in
suspecting that the ACLU will be opposing this bill.

*BREAK*

THIRD HOUR

Rush wonders if the Democrats have a death wish - once word about
the Lobby Reform act gets out, and the Democrats are linked with
an attempt to form a new organization reportable only to the
President that would require ordinary Americans to register just
to invoke their constitutional right to redress of grievance, the
Democrats could face even worse results in the November
elections.

Plus, Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) yesterday drew a line in the
sand about GATT, which many think would destroy the U.S.'s
sovereignty. Rush doesn't believe this, though, especially since
Robert Bork's analysis of the World Trade Organization shows that
these fears are groundless.

However, right now Rush is more concerned about the politics of
the battle about GATT. Republicans have been accused by the
President and his allies in the press of being obstructionists
and instigators of gridlock. In reality, though, the President's
problems - with the exception of the 1993 Budget - have all been
with the Democrats.

It was Democrats who defected on NAFTA, health care, the Crime
Bill, etc. It was Democrats who are unable to unify themselves;
the only thing Republicans could do to stop a unified Democratic
party is hold a filibuster in the Senate, but even this wouldn't
be that big a deal, given the six "moderate" Republicans have
shown they are very willing to vote with the Democrats. If the
Democrats would just join forces, then they could get whatever
they want.

The President and Democratic leaders are desperate to get the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) passed and signed
before the November elections because they believe this will help
them lower their losses at the polls. One man, though, has
stalled this bill, preventing any vote on it in the Senate:
Senator Ernest Hollings, chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee.

Hollings declared yesterday that he would keep the Senate from
voting at GATT this session, explaining "because we have to stop
passing Republican trade policies." Yet it is Bill Clinton, a
Democratic President, who wants this bill; however, Senator
Hollings is refusing to allow it for a vote because he thinks
it's a Republican bill.

Thus, who is obstructing this bill? Who is being partisan with
this bill? It's not Republicans, but rather a Democrat who has
decided that because he, just one man, doesn't like this bill, it
won't be allowed for vote. One man has prevented the U.S.
Congress from voting on this bill because he thinks it's bad for
the country.

It's interesting to note, by the way, that Hollings hails from
South Carolina, home of a large textile industry that is fighting
GATT as hard as they fought NAFTA. Hollings admitted his state
would lose a million textile jobs if this bill passed, but he
insisted he wasn't shilling for the textile industry but for the
United States of America.

Today's Baltimore Sun reports that Hollings hasn't completely
killed the bill, but it's "potentially devastating" to Bill
Clinton because this time he can't blame Republicans. Rush notes
that Clinton can't honestly blame Republicans for his problems in
most cases, given that it's been Democratic defections who are
causing the majority of his problems.

Phone	Marilyn from I-95, SC

Marilyn says that the new Hush Rush bill is extremely scary,
especially as it could make anyone really paranoid. Rush notes
that the House is debating this bill now, after which there will
be a vote on a rule to bring the bill to the floor of a vote.
This debate will last for an hour, and should there be any
changes in the bill, it would have to be sent back to conference.
If the vote to send the bill back to conference fails, there
would be a final vote, perhaps tonight.

Marilyn says that it's scary what the government could do with
the lists that are being discussed. For example, Marilyn belongs
to the National Surety Bond Producers, which met in Washington
recently for its annual meeting; every member of this group would
have to be listed in the government's office, if this bill
passes. And should the government not like what the group is
doing, it could pass the names on to various groups which would
harass them.

Rush notes that the intent of this bill is to shut people up - as
long as you don't say anything and keep your mouth shut, you
won't be hassled. If you try to get involved, though, you'll
become a target.

*BREAK*

Items

o	Rush remarks that the NHL players association has pledged it
won't strike if managers cancel their lockout plans. Rush wonders
what Bill Clinton - the first President in 90 years not to have a
World Series - will do about this.

o	Former congressman Tony Coelho has been brought back into the
Democratic party to help them stem their losses, and he, along
with Sam Donaldson, loves to say that Americans held a party in
the 80s and now it's time to pay up. Rush thinks the best slogan
Republicans can use to counter this claim would be "the liberals
have picked your pockets for 40 years, and now it's time to
decide if you got your money's worth."

Phone	Roger from Laguna Nigel, CA

Roger gives "mega-surf dittos" and notes that not only does he
wear Uggs coming out of the water, but he also knows the owner of
Uggs. He thinks the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act is the
liberals' last gasp, and bets this bill will be the spark that
will lighten a fire under a sleeping American populace.

Rush says he just got a copy of a letter sent to Rep. Newt
Gingrich by the National Committee of Catholic Layman which
states that it opposes the Lobby Reform and Disclosure Act
conference report, specifically because of section 4(b)5. The
group declares that it's not a PAC and is all in favor of genuine
reforms.

However, "any provisions in this bill which would require that we
submit names and addresses of our membership to a federal
bureaucracy any time we act on behalf of our membership on a
particular issue is an incredible imposition that is clearly
designed to harass organizations like ours and effectively stifle
our ability to petition the government on behalf of our members."

Rush notes that this is exactly right - this bill is designed to
stifle the ability of Americans to protest their government,
designed so that the people would shut up. Rush adds that he just
got a list of groups opposed to this bill: the ACLU, Independent
Insurance Agents of California, Americans for Tax Reform, Small
Business Survival Committee, the Association of Concerned
Taxpayers, the Environmental Policy Task Force, the American Land
Rights Organization, the Defenders of Property Rights, the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, Alliances for America, Project 21, plus
many, many more.

Rush hopes Roger is right in that this bill is the death knell of
liberalism, and Roger notes that he couldn't even get through to
Congress because the phone lines are jammed. "Gramm/Gingrich in
96," Roger adds, and Rush notes this slogan does have a nice ring
to it.

Phone	Barbara from Provo, UT

Barbara asks Rush when his next book is going to come out, and
Rush admits he doesn't know. He asks what she would like to read
in her next book, and she thinks "more of the same" would be
good. She would like to see the nation get back to the basics in
raising their kids correctly.

Phone	John from Arden, NC

John says that a bum in the John Laroquette Show was reading "The
Way Things Ought to Be," with the implication being that only a
bum would read such a work. John belongs to a large marketing
organization that has a voice messaging service that services
some 300,000 people. Often, the heads of companies and groups
will use the service to make their political ideas known to
everyone else, so John has to wonder what this means under the
lobbying bill. He notes that nobody is telling anyone else what
to do, but they are using the service to spread information
around.

Rush says that if John's group contacts members of Congress or
goes to Washington, they'd have to register as a lobbyist and
supply the names of these people. John thinks this bill is an
example of the adage that "all evil needs to prevail is for good
men to do nothing." John hopes this bill will get good people to
get up and do something now.

Rush hopes so, too, given that more and more people are deciding
to take an active interest in politics now, for the first time in
their lives. Rush has found that most conservatives think they
are in the minority, so they are content to live their lives
without making much public force.

When conservatives finally can't take it anymore, though, they
get out and discover just how many of them they are. They are
getting confidence from this and it's invigorating them to do
even more in politics.

*BREAK*

Rush just heard that Florida orange juice sales reached a new
record in August, and since they were still advertising on the
EIB network then, Rush can only say sarcastically "boycotts of
the Rush Limbaugh program work, don't they?" He doubts the
Florida newspapers will print this news in the proper context,
though.

********

EIB has a new hit tune to play, this one based on the "Club Med"
tune:

<<Chorus introduction>> "Aruba, Jamaica, hey, we're going to shake you!"

<<Verse, with Bill Clinton singing>>
"In the Caribbean Sea, on the island of Haiti,
In the name of democracy, I had to take a stand.
They wanted Aristide, had to maintain my viability,
And some folks say it's insanity
Who needs a strategy . . . if it helps you in the polls."

<<Chorus>>
"Aruba, Jamaica, hey, we're going to take ya,
From Nassua, Bahamas . . . better run for momma,
Look out, Bermuda, we'll be coming for ya,
Watch it, cause you'll know who I might go after if the ratings get low.
Could be Fidel Castro . . . to help me in the polls!"

<<Bill speaking in rhythm>> That's right . . . I see . . . a macho man mystique!

<<Verse>>
"Now I'm more at ease when I make foreign policy,
Cause I now if I screw up I've got Jimmy there.
And everybody knows showing strength helps the numbers grow
Banana republics beware . . .
It might be you next time . . . to help me in the polls."

<<Repeat Chorus, then Bill speaks>> "You know I hear there's
sexual harassment in the Bahamas. That's why we're monitoring the
situation very closely. Doesn't Aristide have a cousin in
Grenada? Yeah, I need to give him a call, around November maybe!"

********

Rush remarks that Jimmy Carter was "lusting in his heart" after
Raoul Cedras's wife, talking about how slim and attractive she
was. Rush can only imagine what would happen to a Republican who
said such things.

Phone	Susan from Windsor, CT

Susan thinks Rush's next book should be "Politics for Dummies," a
handbook to educate people about democracy and politics. Because
she has read both of Rush's previous books, she finds she can now
understand a lot more about what's going on in politics today.

Rush says several people have recommended he do a "wit and
wisdom" book, culling his best lines from his six years on the
air. However, he's been thinking that the best thing to do would
be to write a book that would be read by people who have only
heard about Rush second-hand, and haven't listened for
themselves.

Susan thinks this would be a great idea and thanks Rush for what
he's doing.

Phone	Joe from Minneapolis, MN

Joe used to be a lobbyist, and one thing he learned early was
that you had to understand the process in Washington. He agrees
with what Rush has been saying about the Lobby Reform bill, but
there is something else to consider.

No member of Congress could vote against a genuine lobby reform
bill without incurring the wrath of the voters, yet at the same
time he has to please the special interests and lobbyists who
have contributed so much to his campaigns. Thus, one way he could
solve this problem is by putting something in the lobby reform
bill that is so heinous that his constituents virtually demand he
vote against it. Thus, he pleases both his constituents and his
special interest supporters.

In fact, members of Congress, if they are lucky enough, might get
Rush Limbaugh to get people worked up about this. Rush agrees
there is an all-out assault on lobbyists, but there is a case
that can be made for lobbyists, although reform is also
necessary. However, he doesn't know too many people who have
considered Joe's theory.

The problem with this theory is that the bill could be sent back
to conference, with the objectionable parts taken out. However,
if Joe's theory is true, then members of Congress won't do this
because it would prevent them from killing this bill.

Joe says "that's the way we've killed a lot of bills," and Rush
finds that comment interesting. Joe points out that this is the
way the system works, and he's known state legislators who had to
ask the governor to veto a bill they authored because they were
playing political games like this which didn't pan out as they
hoped.

Rush says he'll be interested to see what happens now, but gets
handed a note saying that the House passed the rule for this
bill, 216 to 205; thus, the bill will not be sent back to
conference to be modified again. Joe says this means members of
the House can now vote against the bill and not be lynched by
their constituents.

Rush noted that six Democrats switched their vote to pass this
bill, and the House leadership kept the vote going 10 minutes
past the time limit for voting. It thus looks like the bill will
be going for a final vote and possible passage.

*BREAK*

Phone	Mike from Sacramento, CA

Mike says Rush has helped him a lot, given that the first time he
heard Rush, he was in prison. This started him thinking about how
he had gotten into the position where he was at the mercy of
people of such low caliber who were running the prisons. Rush got
him to realize his problems were of his own making, and he
started taking responsibility for his life.

Mike's life has been totally changed around; in the three years
since he left prison, his life has changed for the better.
Although he was put in prison for armed bank robbery, he now has
a good job in sales, travelling and making about $75,000 a year.
The key for him, though, was personal responsibility, which made
him feel that he was finally in charge of his life.

Mike notes that prisons won't keep crooks off the streets
forever, so the answer to crime is personal responsibility, not
more jails. He notes that Rush was the only thing in prison that
helped change him; he bet the best and worst people in jail, with
the worst being those who worked for the federal bureau of
prisons.

Rush thanks Mike for calling with this story, and he's flattered
by his comments. However, Rush thinks Mike is the one who
deserves the credit for accepting responsibility for his own
life.

*BREAK*

Phone	Joe from Clinton Township, MI

Joe says he heard a news story about Michael Fay, who's been
inhaling butane recently, claiming that his caning in Singapore
had traumatized him into doing drugs. Joe, though, thinks Fay's
just a troublemaker who's looking for any excuse he can to avoid
taking responsibility for his actions.

Rush says this is a possibility, but Fay's lawyer and father did
say last year that Fay's caning was so traumatic that it might
force him to commit suicide; plus, Fay supposedly was the victim
of Attention Deficit Disorder. Thus, they could have positioned
themselves nicely to come up with an excuse for his actions.

Rush notes, though, that sniffing butane is hard to do and takes
a lot of work. Obviously, Fay has some problems, so perhaps this
incident will help him get them fixed.

Phone	Zoysia from Queens, NY

Zoysia thinks Rush's next book could be about America, comparing
it to the rest of the world. This would help people understand
how America is a land of milk and honey in every possible way.
People hear all sorts of criticisms about America, but things
here are far better than elsewhere; in England, for example,
people pay $4 a gallon for gas.

Rush likes this idea and promises to think about it. He thanks
Zoysia for calling.


