Rush: Health Care Reform To Be As Unsuccessful As Car Clunker Program

On Rush Limbaugh's website, it's called "Government Disasters: Cash for Clunkers, Obamacare for Suckers," and it was a twisted attempt on Friday to tie the "cash for clunkers" program in with health care reform.

You would think most rational conservatives, observing how successful the Car Allowance Rebate System, would not want to conflate this new auto program with the drive for what Rush terms "Obamacare." But then most conservatives aren't as brazen as the head of the Republican Party was on July 31:

And now we get the cash for clunkers, and care for suckers. Cash for clunkers. Health care for clunkers. You could almost say they're the same plan..... Cash for clunkers. Death for clunkers. Disastrous government programs that, it should be noted, were not inherited from George Bush, either. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, have the gall to call various groups of Americans "villains...." .

.... Cash for clunkers is a public sector disaster. It turns out our cars aren't clunkers; the program is. Just like Obamacare. You know, I warned everybody. I told you America could not afford Barack Obama. I said, "I hope he fails," because Obama's programs are designed to harm this country. You have to ask yourself a question: Why in the world suspend cash for clunkers after four days?

Perhaps, Rush, the program was suspended because it ran out of money. And it ran out of money because, far from "a public sector disaster," the effort has been a tremendous success. As the News-Star in Louisiana put it on Saturday,

For Toyota dealers in the five-state region — Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma — customer traffic is up 47 percent and sales up 27 percent since the program kicked off last week, according to the company.

Up north, the Philadelphia Inquirer describes the reaction of a general sales manager of a Ford dealership in nearby Cherry Hill, New Jersey:

Rucci began requesting additional orders -- about 20 percent more than usual, he said -- six months ago with Ford Motor Co. in anticipation of the start of "Cash for Clunkers."

But even his expectations have been exceeded, he said.

To handle the extra customers, he has extended the workday for five managers and a sales staff of 17 by an average of four hours a day since the program began July 24.

Experts say demand generated by the clunkers program may have pushed U.S. auto sales to a 2009 high last month, possibly signaling a bottom in the car-buying market's worst slump since at least 1976.

An increase in demand, increase in sales, happy customers, dealership profits increased. It's enough to rile Limbaugh up. But wait- there is more, according to the owner of two Dodge dealerships in the Philadelphia, Pa. area:

"I really think it will jump-start the industry," he said. "We were looking at another six months of doldrums. . . . Now it's speeding up our recovery by six months. A lot of guys didn't have that six months in them."

Or as the general sales manager for a Toyota dealership in the area summarized

"It's been a fantastic program for the industry and for the customers taking advantage of it."

That man's name: Glenn Beck (not that Glenn Beck).

Rush gasped

Just expand the program. But they cancel it? Or suspend it? On the theory that they were overwhelmed? What the hell do they think is going to happen when they're the only people you can go to for health insurance?

He spoke too quickly. The House on Friday promptly voted an additional $2 billion for the program, with the Senate expected to act similarly this week. That is, the federal government has expanded the program, as Limbaugh argued it should. And if a public option for health care is adopted, perhaps this is "what is going to happen when the're the only people you can go for health insurance." Quick, decisive action to respond to the needs of the American people, apparently. (Of course, Rush made up the part about "the only people you can go to for health insurance- unless he knows of a plan to eliminate the private health insurance industry- be still, my beating heart.)

Will Rush on Monday applaud the federal government's decision to expand the "cars for clunkers" program, as he advocated? Will he then acknowledge that reform of the health care industry will be as successful? Hmmm.... probably not.

Next Rush: "Cash for Clunkers" is no more than a tax cut, which I'm always in favor of, but not this program.