Timothy Birdnow

Yesterday on the Rush Limbaugh sow a guest host (Ken Mathews) got burned by a sneering progressive caller and failed to correct the record. This Prog called in huffily complaining when Mathews said the Democrats make their political fortunes by giving away free stuff; the caller launched with "and the Republicans do the same thing". When Mathews asked for an example the caller went on a diatribe about "tax cuts for the rich" and Mathews pressed him for specifics. See, Mathews had stated that Obamaphones were an example of liberal largesse and this caller then slammed him "That was started under Reagan, IDIOT!"

Funny how this fellow didn't call when Rush was hosting; he would be picking his teeth out of larynx. I suspect he knew that.

But instead Mathews, unused to such rudeness, simply went on to generalities and never actually answered this guy.

I was really angry, and thought about calling, but had things to do and couldn't wait in line.

So let me answer this Progressive pinhead here.

First, letting people keep THEIR OWN MONEY is not a freebie. The fundamental assumption of this fellow (who admitted he was a Bernie supporter) was that all wealth belongs to the government and it is by their good graces that we are granted our living. He and the rest assume the government has a right and duty to determine how much someone should have (to each according to his need) but that somehow the rich got control of the levers of power and diverted the flow of wealth to themselves. (They do that now, in our neo-fascist economy where government DOES decide winners and losers, but whose fault is that? The Left set this up by insisting on empowering government in the first place; it wasn't the market that created this situation.) The idea that someone's money belongs to that person and that government taking it and doling it back to them is a form of theft never occurs to these popinjay. See, by hard work, or by risk taking, or even by having the right parents these people EARNED it; it is theirs. The most hated of all people - the trust fund kids - still deserve it because their parents worked and slaved to acquire it FOR THEM.

Our system of government and in fact our core philosophical belief is that the individual is first master of himself, and that he therefore has the right to enjoy the fruits of his own labor. This is fundamentally at odds with the liberal view - bequeathed by Jean Jacques Rousseau - that our society is a collective one, where the collective will is supreme, and thus wealth ultimately belongs to the collective and the individual is merely a caretaker.

Had I been Mathews I would have asked this buffoon if he would mail me his paycheck every period and I would gladly send him some back - what I figured he needed. Would he still consider that some sort of freebie?

But on to his "Reagan created Obamaphones" flame.

No.

This has become a popular meme among Progressives to excuse Osama’s expansion of an existing program, but it was not Reagan who did this.  CONGRESS created the Lifeline Assistance Program to give Federal assistance to low income people to pay for LANDLINE phones (not cell phones, which used to be considered a luxury until the 21st century.) This program was created by the Democratically controlled Congress and it was done because a Federal judge ordered the breakup of ATT. ATT was sued under anti-trust regulations in 1974 and a settlement reached in 1982. With the loss of AT&T as a primary telephone provider prices rose, leading to the Democratically controlled Congress passing the act, which was then passed on the to FCC (an independent branch of the bureaucracy) for implementation. It was initially funded by taxation on ATT, but is now funded by taxes on every telecommunications system.

Reagan had little to do with it. I couldn't find any information on whether Reagan signed the bill, and if so what it was attached to (probably a rider to something Reagan needed, but I can't be sure as Google only gives "Think Progress" type articles that do not go into the details - even the Wikepedia entry does not give this information.) The program was clearly implemented by the FCC, the five-member commission of which enjoys appointment every five years (thus all commissioners at the time the program was devised in 1984 were carter or Nixon appointees). But suffice it to say the Democrats were in charge of the purse strings when this was first established. And the program was expanded under Clinton, then Obama.

This is the typical liberal trick of revising history to suit themselves.. It is very dishonest. I don't know whether the particular liberal in question knew it and was lying or really was miseducated, but the guest host should have done a little research (he's got a staff on hand) and corrected the record after the fact. Donald Trump is right; you don't let the Left lie and get away with it. We've been doing this for years "moving on" and where has it gotten us? If you let a lie stand it becomes the conventional wisdom.

It is unfortunate because now this jerk is walking around bragging about how he 'put those moron conservatives in their place" when in fact he himself played the fool.

It should also be pointed out that just because Republicans don't live up to what should be their standards does not mean those standards are incorrect. Republicans HAVE given away freebies to buy votes in the past. It doesn't make it right.

I wish all this had been said at the time. We have simply got to do better with these people. The time to worry about civility over substance is over. We are at war, folks, and the sooner our side understands that the better.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:10 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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