Sunday, March 1, 2009
Obama Wants to Punish Those Who Succeed
President Barack Obama wants to “punish” those who succeed and who helped make America great, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told a wildly cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday.
Limbaugh said Obama and the Democrats are waging an “assault” on capitalism by raising taxes on those who make more than $250,000 and by expanding welfare, limiting deductions on charitable contributions, increasing the deficit and giving the government an expanding role in Americans’ lives.
“We can take this country back. All we need is to nominate the right candidate,” he said.
Just before he spoke, CPAC released the results of its straw poll of attendees. For the third year in a row, Mitt Romney won the poll. Of the 1,757 conservative activists who cast votes, 20 percent favored the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate. Romney was followed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, with 14 percent of the vote. Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin each received 13 percent.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich got 10 percent of the vote, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee received 7 percent. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford received 4 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani got 3 percent, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist received 1 percent.
“Let me speak about President Obama for just a second,” Limbaugh said, as he delivered the closing speech on a stage festooned with a glowing blue drape and 16 American flags topped with eagles. “President Obama is one of the most gifted politicians, one of the most gifted men that I have ever witnessed. He has extraordinary talents, he has communication skills that hardly anyone can surpass. I’m very serious about this. It just breaks my heart that he does not use his extraordinary talents and gifts to motivate and inspire the American people to be the best they can be.”
Instead, Limbaugh said, Obama “seeks a path that punishes achievement, that punishes success, and he speaks negatively of the country. Ronald Reagan used to speak of a shining city on a hill. Barack Obama portrays America as soup kitchens, some dark night in a corner of America that’s very obscure. He constantly is telling the American people that bad times are ahead, worse times are ahead. And it’s troubling, because this is the United States of America.”
What made America great is “the freedom, it’s the ambition, it’s the desire, the wherewithal, the passions that people have.” That is what “gave us the great entrepreneurial advances, the great inventions, the greatest food production, the human lifstyle advances in this country,” Limbaugh said. “Why shouldn’t that be rewarded? Why is that now the focus of punishment? Why is that now the focus of blame?”
In an aside, Limbaugh said, “There’s one other business where the customer’s always wrong, and that’s the media. If you ever call them to complain about whatever they do, they say yessir, yessir, three bags full, they hang up and say you’re too stupid to know how they’re doing what they’re doing. You can’t get it, you’re not sophisticated enough. So that’s another business where the customer’s always wrong.”
Referring to Obama’s massive stimulus package and budget plan, Limbaugh said, “It’s not new. It’s not change. And it’s not hope.”
Limbaugh warned that Republicans should not let concerns about racial insensitivities limit criticism of Obama’s policies. “It doesn't matter to me what his race is. He’s liberal, and that’s what matters.”
Limbaugh added, “The racism in our culture was exclusively and fully on display in the Democrat primary last year. We didn’t ask if he was authentically black. What we were asking was, ‘Was he wrong?’ We concluded, ‘Yes.’”
Limbaugh said, “The racism, the sexism, the bigotry that we are all charged with ... doesn’t exist on our side.” He added. “We want everybody to succeed.”
Limbaugh derided those who found fault with his saying he hopes Obama fails. He said Democrats hoped George Bush would fail, and they hoped we would fail in Iraq. In fact, Sen. Harry Reid said we had lost the Iraq war.
“So what is so strange about saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to reconstruct and reform this nation so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?” Limbaugh asked.
Limbaugh said he wants the “country to survive. I want the country to succeed.”
Obama is in the “honeymoon phase,” Limbaugh said, and conservatives shouldn’t get discouraged.
“We are not quitting. We are not giving up,” he said. “The country is too important.”
President Barack Obama wants to “punish” those who succeed and who helped make America great, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh told a wildly cheering crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday.
Limbaugh said Obama and the Democrats are waging an “assault” on capitalism by raising taxes on those who make more than $250,000 and by expanding welfare, limiting deductions on charitable contributions, increasing the deficit and giving the government an expanding role in Americans’ lives.
“We can take this country back. All we need is to nominate the right candidate,” he said.
Just before he spoke, CPAC released the results of its straw poll of attendees. For the third year in a row, Mitt Romney won the poll. Of the 1,757 conservative activists who cast votes, 20 percent favored the former Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate. Romney was followed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, with 14 percent of the vote. Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin each received 13 percent.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich got 10 percent of the vote, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee received 7 percent. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford received 4 percent, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani got 3 percent, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist received 1 percent.
“Let me speak about President Obama for just a second,” Limbaugh said, as he delivered the closing speech on a stage festooned with a glowing blue drape and 16 American flags topped with eagles. “President Obama is one of the most gifted politicians, one of the most gifted men that I have ever witnessed. He has extraordinary talents, he has communication skills that hardly anyone can surpass. I’m very serious about this. It just breaks my heart that he does not use his extraordinary talents and gifts to motivate and inspire the American people to be the best they can be.”
Instead, Limbaugh said, Obama “seeks a path that punishes achievement, that punishes success, and he speaks negatively of the country. Ronald Reagan used to speak of a shining city on a hill. Barack Obama portrays America as soup kitchens, some dark night in a corner of America that’s very obscure. He constantly is telling the American people that bad times are ahead, worse times are ahead. And it’s troubling, because this is the United States of America.”
What made America great is “the freedom, it’s the ambition, it’s the desire, the wherewithal, the passions that people have.” That is what “gave us the great entrepreneurial advances, the great inventions, the greatest food production, the human lifstyle advances in this country,” Limbaugh said. “Why shouldn’t that be rewarded? Why is that now the focus of punishment? Why is that now the focus of blame?”
In an aside, Limbaugh said, “There’s one other business where the customer’s always wrong, and that’s the media. If you ever call them to complain about whatever they do, they say yessir, yessir, three bags full, they hang up and say you’re too stupid to know how they’re doing what they’re doing. You can’t get it, you’re not sophisticated enough. So that’s another business where the customer’s always wrong.”
Referring to Obama’s massive stimulus package and budget plan, Limbaugh said, “It’s not new. It’s not change. And it’s not hope.”
Limbaugh warned that Republicans should not let concerns about racial insensitivities limit criticism of Obama’s policies. “It doesn't matter to me what his race is. He’s liberal, and that’s what matters.”
Limbaugh added, “The racism in our culture was exclusively and fully on display in the Democrat primary last year. We didn’t ask if he was authentically black. What we were asking was, ‘Was he wrong?’ We concluded, ‘Yes.’”
Limbaugh said, “The racism, the sexism, the bigotry that we are all charged with ... doesn’t exist on our side.” He added. “We want everybody to succeed.”
Limbaugh derided those who found fault with his saying he hopes Obama fails. He said Democrats hoped George Bush would fail, and they hoped we would fail in Iraq. In fact, Sen. Harry Reid said we had lost the Iraq war.
“So what is so strange about saying I want Barack Obama to fail if his mission is to reconstruct and reform this nation so that capitalism and individual liberty are not its foundation?” Limbaugh asked.
Limbaugh said he wants the “country to survive. I want the country to succeed.”
Obama is in the “honeymoon phase,” Limbaugh said, and conservatives shouldn’t get discouraged.
“We are not quitting. We are not giving up,” he said. “The country is too important.”
