Limbaugh Defends AIG From "Lynch Mob ... Ginned Up By Obama"

Anger at American International Group knows no party lines. But one top Republican isn't joining in. On Monday and Tuesday, Rush Limbaugh defended the insurance giant and their bonus payouts:

"A lynch mob is expanding: the peasants with their pitchforks surrounding the corporate headquarters of AIG, demanding heads. Death threats are pouring in. All of this being ginned up by the Obama administration."

When one of his own callers said he agreed with President Obama on this one, Limbaugh replied: "Let me ask you a question. ... You have a company -- let's take AIG out of this 'cause they're so emotionally charged. Let's say that the company being bailed out is the XYZ Widget Company. ... We need them to manufacture widgets and sell widgets and so forth. So why in the world -- or how do you get to the point where you're going to bail out the company, but you don't want the employees to get paid?"

The caller protested that the AIG employees were already getting paid plenty, and Limbaugh responded that the only thing stopping him from making just as much was himself:

LIMBAUGH: Do you know what? And I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Nathan -- the only person stopping you is you. There's 250 -- he hung up. Damn it, he hung up. Right?

Nathan, if you're -- there's $250,000 out there for you, Nathan. If you really want it, you really want to earn that kind of money, it's out there. Now, it's going to -- and don't -- I'm not being insulting -- it's going to take hard work.

Read the full transcript at Media Matters.

The AIG defense led MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to name Limbaugh, not for the first time, his "Worst Person In The World" Tuesday night. Watch:

Comments

[Georges10101]

05:09 PM on 04/11/2009

Have you people ever listened to Rush? Obviously not. Keep listening to Keith Olberman for your "facts". Listening might require a little effort, and Rush just might change your mind. I'm sure that's why you're afraid to listen. As for AIG, do you realize what a contract is? The company was doing poorly, and they didn't want all their employees leaving, so they put retention bonuses in if the people stayed for a set amount of time. Democrats knew about them, and put language in so they could still get the bonuses. Then afterwards, they want to tax them nearly 100%, and threaten to "put their names out there", in effect threatening their lives by these busloads of losers stalking these people's homes. This is not America. And the pinhead in the White House has done nothing to stop this intimidation. It's DISGRACEFUL.
I'll admit it's hard to argue with such well thought out arguments like
I am beginning to think that lousy pile of zebra shiq eats for a living!

Such intelligent comments are far too common on sites like this. Try an honest debate once in a while without throwing out such stupid comments as that. Oh, that's right, you HAVE no legitimate arguments. How sad.

[JohnGaltSaysSo]

01:46 PM on 03/20/2009

I'm not sure most of the people who post here have (a) actually listened to Rush Limbaugh, (b) are aware of the lies being told in Congress regarding the AIG bonuses, or (c) gives a damn about your fellow human beings.

1. Chris Dodd admitted he added the wording to allow bonuses to AIG employees. Geitner knew, too. So did Pelosi and Frank. They wrote the bill!

2. Thanks to Washington and the media, the employees at AIG who received the bonuses (who had a contractual right to them), are now harassed, even stalked, by those who threaten to do them harm.

3. The bill to tax the bonuses is unconstitutional. It is a Bill of Attainder, forbidden by Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the United States Constitution.

4.I don't earn $250,000 a year, or even a tenth of that. But I know what becomes of my life is my doing. If I fail, it's because I didn't do what it takes to succeed. If I succeed, it's because I made the sacrifices and had the talent to do so. Rush was right to say that to his caller.

5. Rush does not support AIG. He supports individual freedom, capitalism, and the Constitution. The big difference is that Rush doesn't see government intervention as the answer. He sees it as the problem.

I am appalled by the actions of Congress and I am deeply troubled by the angry, senseless, fact-less comments I'm reading here.

[cherry33]

03:48 AM on 03/19/2009

How hard does Rush work? LOL. His job is to sit there and blow real hard into the microphone.

[cuzkate]

09:00 AM on 03/19/2009

I am beginning to think that lousy pile of zebra shiq eats for a living!

[ApprxAm]

03:41 AM on 03/19/2009

Rush Lardbum, really couldn't care about America. If defending AIG makes the failure of the AMerican economy.........oh, heck with. Everyone knows Rush couldn't care about America.

[TRichards]

03:34 AM on 03/19/2009

Great Limbaugh thinking: The Obama Administration, eager to sabotage any future stimulus packages that it believes may prove necessary, is ginning up the mob against AIG as a way to burn its unwanted political capital.

Sure, Rush, another brilliant piece of analysis. A lesser mind might have noticed the glee of John Boehner and Eric Cantor as they go about their efforts to undermine the Obama Administration in any way they can scheme up.

Oh, I know you know better, Rush. I know that the goal for you is mischief making in the tradition of Donald Segretti -- the Republican dirty trickster who tutored Karl Rove and you in how to supplant logic with mud. The only difference is that you've become bolder and operate in plain sight, confident that your followers will never catch on because they simply don't want to catch on.

[Mekrabb]

02:08 AM on 03/19/2009

Here is a simple answer to get both stupid parties to shut their pie hole. Get rid of the law that requires citizens to have insurance. This was not a law till what like fifty years ago at the most but rather a luxury.

[Jesse Durst]

01:07 AM on 03/19/2009

I don't get it. Didn't Limbaugh hear that AIG was bailed out to the tune of $160 billion and counting? These people would be out on the street if it wasn't for the taxpayer. How can he possibly claim they deserve the bonuses, when they wouldn't even have a salary if it was for the free market? Hopefully his listeners start to wise up to the garbage he is spewing.

[JLRoberson]

12:29 AM on 03/19/2009

"Words mean things."
"Actions have consequences."
There's two Limbaugh quotes. I wonder if he remembers them!

[desertman]

12:17 AM on 03/19/2009

HP plays into his hands by continuing to report show comments. It's all about ratings.

[MyNameIsJames]

12:15 AM on 03/19/2009

After the MOB takes out the AIG types let's all head over to Limbaugh's place.....

[Georges10101]

04:57 PM on 04/11/2009

Sure, and then you can "head over" to everyone's place that disagrees with your socialist agenda. Real mature post.

[rockyersocksoff]

11:44 PM on 03/18/2009

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) had this to say today in my reverie:

"AIG executives should suck at the tit of Rush Limbaugh, then do the honorable thing and kill themselves."

[kellygrrrl]

11:36 PM on 03/18/2009

I'm just guessing here, but I highly doubt his entire DittoClub agrees with him on this one ... not that they would ever say that to his face

[maxfax]

11:13 PM on 03/18/2009

Did he feel the same way about Detroit and the unions and their contracts?

[rshrink]

11:26 PM on 03/18/2009

No! Th.e working class deserves the crumbs only, and only if they go along with the royalty

[rshrink]

11:44 PM on 03/18/2009

"Applegate urged delegates to write letters to U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown thanking him for co-sponsoring the bill and urged efforts to get support from employers who understand that raising living standards is necessary for economic recovery.

Les Wiley, coordinator of the North Coast Area Labor Federation, covering the area along Lake Erie from Lorain on the west to the Pennsylvania border, said with the introduction of the bill in the House and Senate that very day “the fight has begun.”

He said corporate forces have stepped up anti-labor propaganda and cited the claim of right-wing extremist Rush Limbaugh on his radio show, that morning, if the bill passes, organizers would use lead pipes to coerce workers to sign union cards."

Here is the link: http://pww.org/article/articleview/14909/

[huffingt]

10:57 PM on 03/18/2009

Worst person in American radio show----you guessed it .RU____BA

[Articulator]

10:41 PM on 03/18/2009

The GOP has been bashing hard working Americans for years telling those that have done nothing but go to work every day and put in their best that they have no one else to blame but themselves for their jobs being shipped overseas. They have been rooting with pitchfork and torch in hand for the demise of the last bastion of American manufacturing (the last of the survivors) the American auto industry, they have been fanatical supporters of eliminating any kind of oversight or regulation that would ensure the free market works for us and protect Americans from deviant behavior as can be seen in the financial industry. They were on the side of the President who lied to our faces to go to war that had nothing to do with Al-Qaida and who sent troops into battle without the proper armor, tore up the US constitution, destroyed the image of America in the eyes of the world, .... Who's side are they on?

[The Ghost]

12:36 AM on 03/19/2009

The Global Corporate Elite are loyal only to themselves.