Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Rush Limbaugh Lies About Costa Rica?

Remember when Rush Limbaugh promised to leave the country if the health care bill passed? Way back in the March 8th edition of his radio show?

"I’ll just tell you this. If this passes and its five years from now, and all that stuff gets implemented, I am leaving the country. I’ll go to Costa Rica."

Well I'm sure being one of those "honest" right wing talking heads who is always finding reasons to call out others (Obama, Democrats, anyone who doesn't agree with them) for lying or breaking promises, that Rush should be in his new home waiting for the movers to bring him his furniture.

Right? Well if you ask Rush how life is in Costa Rica you might get a response similar to what he said on the March 22nd edition of his radio show.

"It’s funny. I can’t tell you how many invitations I am getting to go to Costa Rica today who thought that I said I would move to Costa Rica if we got health care passed. No, no, no once all this implemented I am going there for my health care. They’re asking me to go ahead and move."

Is his memory so bad because of addictions to painkillers that he can't recall what he said less than a month ago? I'm just asking the questions that Rush should step up and answer.

What does this mean when you're trusted "news source" who is quick to make accusations of bribery, lies and broken promises is basically caught doing the same? Well for starters that maybe they are not reliable outlets for "news" or political commentary. Rush, Hannity and Beck, to name the most known, are entertainers with no more politcal knowledge or integrity than a SNL show. Their job is to keep people entertained to bring in ratings for their show, and like any other actor in an entertainment show they will do or say whatever it takes to bring attention to themselves and make more money.

In his March 23rd show Sean Hannity says that the democrats had to "use every trick" to get it passed, including "bribery and bullying". Unfounded accusations of bribery? He might as well have said they performed acts of rape on congress members until they voted with the party line.

The bottom line is they are not here to be a voice of the people or "ask the questions that need to be answered". They're here to make a buck. If Fox News told Beck or Hannity that they want to cut their salaries by 80% because of the economy and to keep from firing their employees, do you think they would continue to do what they have said is their patriotic duty to their listeners/viewers? I doubt it.

10 comments:

  1. I question the legitimacy of this site and the ability of its authors to comprehend things they read or hear.

    Clearly, in the first quote YOU provided, Rush gave 3 conditions upon which he would move to Costa Rica: (1) IF the bill passes, (2) IF it's FIVE YEARS FROM NOW, and (3) IF all that stuff gets implemented. Obviously, it has not been five years and the majority of the legislation has not yet been implemented you fools.

    To call him a liar for not moving to Costa Rica just because the bill has been passed is completely moronic. Rush even explains this in the second quote YOU provided. How is his memory bad? He said he would go when it's implemented. It's not yet implemented, so he hasn't gone yet!

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  2. You fail to see the lie. He stated that he would move and then he later changed his mind, saying that he was only going to Costa Rica to get his health care.

    It is interesting that someone who leaves an anonymous comment would question the legitimacy of this site.

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  3. That is not what the author was implying in his post.

    "...Rush should be in his new home waiting for the movers to bring him his furniture."

    Clearly the author believes Rush is a liar because he did not immediately move to Costa Rica.

    God willing, this fall the ignorant left-wing Americans will understand how our current set of elected official are running this country into the ground and vote some people into office that can clean up this health care mess.

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  4. Either way, I doubt that even in five years, with health care being implemented, Rush would move. To argue over such a silly detail is just silly.

    As for this "health care mess," I disagree in the assessment that it is a mess - the current system we have is one big mess and this bill is a start. I don't understand why conservatives are so upset - the bill resembles a Hertitage Foundation penned bill. I think the bill we got stuck with could use some work, and hopefully Republicans will offer meaningful amendments, not just bills to repeal or cripple the law because Americans need meaningful reform...

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  5. In the first quote, it mostly implies that he would move to Costa Rica if the qualifications are met. In the second quote, he points out that he never said "move" in the first quote, rather it was an implication that people reasonably assumed, but there's a great quote about what happens when you assume.

    In effect, the second quote simply refines the first quote to clarify that he'd go to Costa Rica for his health care after the health care in the US got trashed in 5 years.

    First quote:

    "...all that stuff gets implemented ... I'll go to Costa Rica"

    Second quote:

    "... all this [is] implemented I am going [to Costa Rica] for my health care"

    The underlined part is what you are attacking, but it does not go against what he originally said whatsoever. In fact, it makes it clearer. With the quotes lined up, you can see that he never said anything different, rather it was the implication left at the end of the first quote that you're attacking.

    As for the bill itself: it was one of the most corrupt pieces of legislation put through Congress. It was filled with payoffs, and it does not fix the problems. Why does the cost of insurance keep going up? Not because the price of medical issues is changing radically every year, but because of lawyers. In some states it costs more to insure the process of delivering a baby (from the doctor's side) than it does in actual medical fees; this is all because of scumbag lawyers.

    Doctor's do need to be penalized when they do things wrong, but these regular multi-million dollar lawsuits, and even billion dollar lawsuits are what is driving the cost.

    What did this bill do to punish increasing health care costs? They added 30 million people to the system. I'm sure the insurance companies are really going to cry about that--we really showed them.

    I fully agree that the system needs work, but I hope that the current bill is scrapped and that a new one, that actually addresses problems, is passed.

    As for the Republican amendments (and I am a Conservative and absolutely not a Republican): there were numerous amendments, as well as multiple bills proposed to fix the system in batches. One was Tort reform (lawyers). Another was across border bidding for insurance (another reason for price increases because a lot of insurance companies have basic monopolies on certain states). There were others, but I doubt this will persuade anyone on this site.

    Republicans are just as bad as Democrats when they are in power. They spend (maybe not quite as much) more than we have, and they do just generally stupid stuff. However, I'd rather have a Republican Congress stalling out the current ultra-liberal and socialist agenda that is storming through Congress currently. We cannot afford to support everyone and this country was not founded on such a nice, but unmaintainable purpose. Until this bill is repealed, we are on a fast downward spiral.

    What I want from the next Congress: repeal the entire Healthcare bill, implement term limits for everyone in Congress, implement real Healthcare reform without the kickbacks (including to Pharmaceutical companies and insurance), put everyone in Congress into the same tax system (they don't pay into Social Security or Medicare), stop giving them pensions (it is a volunteer position; not a job), balance the budget, and then stall out.

    Their job is to implement necessary law, draft a budget, and declare war. Just because they're there does not mean they have to implement laws for the fun of it.

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  6. "One was Tort reform (lawyers). Another was across border bidding for insurance (another reason for price increases because a lot of insurance companies have basic monopolies on certain states). There were others, but I doubt this will persuade anyone on this site."

    Actually I support those options and believe that those amendments should be pursued further.

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  7. I think you underestimate this website. This is not some sort of "liberal" blog. I myself am a moderate Republican (if such a thing exists anymore) and support many of the policies of the Republicans as well as the Democrats. Currently I have been writing more favorably of the Democrats then the Republicans because I disagree with the current GOP strategy and feel that they have alienated a large percentage of the population in favor of their more conservative base.

    Things like the health care could have been more perfect had the GOP not gambled and lost. If they pushed harder on tort reform and breaking down borders instead of just complaining about the bill in its entirety, they probably would have gotten what they wanted, but their standoffish position really screwed them - they have been tirelessly trying to spin health care passage in their favor by painting the Dems in a negative light, and in many ways, it has been effective.

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  8. "What I want from the next Congress: repeal the entire Healthcare bill, implement term limits for everyone in Congress, implement real Healthcare reform without the kickbacks (including to Pharmaceutical companies and insurance), put everyone in Congress into the same tax system (they don't pay into Social Security or Medicare), stop giving them pensions (it is a volunteer position; not a job), balance the budget, and then stall out.
    "

    I agree with all this except for repeal of the healthcare in its entirety though i think they need to revise it.

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  9. @anonymous

    Regarding the Rush quotes you are correct in a way. In his first quote he never explicitly added the qualifier that he would leave the country "only for healthcare" and his act of doing so heavily implies that he would physically move out once his conditions(5 years, etc.) are passed when he uses the phrase "I am leaving the country".

    It is a very safe assumption that we all knew what he meant by saying those words and not being specific. And when he does clarify a month later what he meant he is essentially saying that he doesn't care if he is misleading his listeners since for him its all about ratings, which is really the point I was making in the article. Hannity and Limbaugh and the like who actually have people that consider them a valid news source when they are just very opinionated and loud entertainers.

    So you can probably say you "got me" as my use of the Rush quotes are based of the implication that he was saying and could be interpreted differently as you choose to believe he meant otherwise. However given the intentional vagueness in what he said and how he said it still fits in what the point of the article was anyway so it doesn't matter.

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  10. I think people like Rush say vague idiotic things because they know certain people would interpret them in a critical way - that way they can come around and say that is not what they meant, making their critics look like lunatics (this trick works for their core audience).

    Also, I like Rush Limbaugh's selection of Costa Rica because as we all know, Costa Rica has universal health care and it is ranked higher then America in health care...

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