For once we actually want to talk about teleprompters
By Simon Maloy

Judging by the obscene amount of media interest in President Obama's teleprompter usage at last night's press conference, we figured we'd get this in right at the beginning. As any devoted reader of the Limbaugh Wire -- if there is such a thing -- can tell you, Rush has spent a great deal of time mocking Obama for an alleged teleprompter mishap involving the Irish prime minister, in which, according to Rush, the hapless Obama read from his own speech and thanked himself. Well, it seems that the UK Telegraph -- part of the British media that Rush so frequently recommends to his listeners -- has debunked that particular story, reprinting the pool report from the event that stated that Obama, in thanking himself, was gently ribbing the Irish PM, who actually had read the wrong speech off the teleprompter. It was “a good-natured and well-received joke at the Irish premier's expense,” a fact confirmed by the reporter who wrote the pool report.

Anyway, Rush kicked off the show trashing Obama's presser as “boring,” “professorial,” and claimed that fewer Americans are watching. Rush also slammed NBC News' Chuck Todd's question to Obama about “sacrifice,” calling it “silly” and “stupid,” and claimed that the “sacrifice that the American people are making is this man's presidency.” Rush also said that Obama's promised tax cut for 95 percent of Americans is “off the table now. Gone. Off the table.” Actually, as Obama said last night, it's already in place, courtesy of the stimulus package: “When it comes to the middle-class tax cut, we already had that in the recovery. We know that that's going to be in place for at least the next two years. We had identified a specific way to pay for it. If Congress has better ideas in terms of how to pay for it, then we're happy to listen.”

Moving on from Chuck Todd, Rush set his sights on Ebony, attacking the magazine's reporter for asking Obama last night about reports that one in 50 children in America is homeless. Rush was incredulous: “This bogus statistic that 1 out of 50 American children are homeless -- and what are you going to do about -- I want to see the facts on that.” A quick Google search would have enlightened Rush -- the National Center on Family Homelessness released a study this month finding that "[o]ne in 50 children is homeless in the United States every year." But, to quote Rush: “Would somebody tell me the last time you saw a kid sleeping under a bridge? I want to hear from somebody who's seen it, because that's the way the question was framed out there.”

From there, Rush moved to the European Parliament, saying that Republicans in Washington could “take a lesson” in “bravery” from European Parliament member Daniel Hannan, who lit into British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a speech yesterday, calling him, among other things, the “devalued prime minister of a devalued government.”

Coming back from the break, Rush quoted from AEI's Arthur Brooks' Wall Street Journal op-ed in claiming that conservatives are more generous with charity than liberals. From this, Rush concluded that Obama's proposal to limit deductions for charitable donations is “just another hit at American conservatives.”

Another break and Rush was back, attacking Chuck Todd some more for the “sacrifice” question, professing his admiration for Federal Express, and ranting about reports that FedEx will put off purchasing new cargo planes if the Employee Free Choice Act passes. EFCA is a “threat,” according to Rush, because more companies will do what FedEx is doing if it passes, and the Obama administration supports it because they view FedEx and “every other American business” as “evil.”

Closing out the hour, Rush took a call from a woman claiming to have received new tax tables that indicate her taxes, her employees' taxes, and everyone in America's taxes are going up. Rush said that her employees will blame her for their smaller paychecks “because she's rich,” and that even if she showed them the new tax tables, they would “blame Bush.” It was at this point that Rush decided he better ask her what her employees' political beliefs are (instead of just assuming they're liberals). The woman professed not to know, but she did know that both her employees are gay. Rush's laughing response? “All right, then, what you need to do -- you need to tell them that this is the result of Barney Frank.”

Highlights from Hour 1

Outrageous comments

LIMBAUGH: I love the drive-bys last night after the press conference: “Ooh, he really connected on the sacrifice.” He did not. He did not. “Well, American people are trying to come up with ways to put their kids through college and so forth.” The sacrifice the American people are making is this man's presidency. We are all making sacrifices here.

[...]

LIMBAUGH: What are these employees? Do you know what their political inclinations happen to be?

CALLER: Do I?

LIMBAUGH: Yeah. Are they Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, communist, Marxist? What are they?

CALLER: Power and money.

LIMBAUGH: No, your employees.

CALLER: My employees?

LIMBAUGH: Your employees. Yeah. What are they? Liberal, conservative, Marxist, socialist, communist?

CALLER: You know, I don't know. They're both gay.

LIMBAUGH: You can't make -- you can't assign an ideological --

CALLER: -- to that. You're right.

LIMBAUGH: Yeah, can't. I mean, you can't do that.

CALLER: But -- but they're good kids.

LIMBAUGH: But I mean, you're doing the Lord's work.

CALLER: They're really good kids. They're hard-working kids.

LIMBAUGH: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I'm sure they're great employees.

CALLER: They are great employees.

LIMBAUGH: All right, then, what you need to do -- you need to tell them that this is the result of Barney Frank.

CALLER: [laughter] OK.

LIMBAUGH: Do it. I mean, Barney Frank, Chuck Rangel -- it's all Pelosi. It's all coming from the Democrat Ways and Means Committee. It's the Democrats doing this, so, you know, Barney Frank.

Enemies list

NBC News' Chuck Todd, for his “silly” and “stupid” question about sacrifice at the presidential press conference.

America's Truth Rejector

Wrongly claimed Obama's middle-class tax cut is “off the table”:

LIMBAUGH: Sacrifice? What more do the -- what more does this government expect of the American people? Well, I'll tell you: higher taxes. That 95-percent tax cut for 95 percent -- off the table now. Gone. Off the table. In fact, Obama is looking for new ways to raise taxes. You people in the 95 percent, it was always going to be the case. You were never going to get a tax cut, but now it's official.

War on the poor

LIMBAUGH: This bogus statistic that 1 out of 50 American children are homeless -- and what are you going to do about -- I want to see the facts on that. Just like when we have the 2 to 3 million people homeless during the late '80s and early '90s -- Mitch Snyder and his bogus homeless numbers. I mean, that was obviously huge.

A bogus discussion about homeless children just after Obama got animated about cutting charitable deductions. He got happy. So, he's happy. He can't wait to cut the charitable deduction. He gets a question about 1 in 50 kids being homeless? If that were true, why would somebody want to cut charitable donations?

I think a caring person would want to triple the deduction in order to reduce the bogus number of 1 in 50 children who are homeless and living under bridges. Would somebody tell me the last time you saw a kid sleeping under a bridge? I want to hear from somebody who's seen it, because that's the way the question was framed out there.