2012 SelectSmart.com Presidential Candidate Selector Positions Rush Limbaugh (born January 12, 1951) is an American radio host and conservative political commentator.

Foreign policy and war issues: "So poor Musharraf, he wakes up today, and he learns that Barack Obama wants to invade his country. He wants to take the troops out of Iran and invade Pakistan... If it weren't for the fact that [Obama]'s running for president, it would be laughable. What it is, is horribly naïve... [Obama] would invade Pakistan. Now, the military futility of that is crazy. They have a 39 million-man army in Pakistan. They have nuclear weapons. They play a vital role for us. If you look at the map of that region, you find that there's no suitable replacement for Pakistan if we alienate them in order to base ourselves for staging operations to re-supply troops in Iraq and so forth. Just from that sense, this is a nonsensical thing. It shows exactly what Mrs. Clinton claimed Barack Obama is, and that's naïve." Source

Regarding a two-state solution to Israeli/Palestinian conflict Limbaugh opined, "This week Hamas and other terrorist groups -- which, like certain of the countries that surround Israel, seek the destruction of Israel, not co-existence or even the establishment of a Palestinian state -- intensified their war against the Jewish state by unleashing 5 fanatic suicide bombers against innocent civilians, mostly children... Ironically, the major obstacle to Sharon implementing the Bush Doctrine [which endorsed a two-state solution] has been U.S. Middle East policy. When attacked by terrorists, Israel has been urged to show "restraint," to make more negotiated concessions and even accept the creation of a hostile Palestinian state on its border... It is, therefore, necessary that in the pursuit of real and lasting peace, Israel also be free to destroy its enemies -- meaning the terrorists and, yes, their sponsors, who are at war with her, and that she do so before they obtain devastating weapons of mass destruction." Source
RUSH: I mentioned earlier President Bush kicking butt at a speech this morning in South Carolina on the war on terror and the war in Iraq, and we have three bites, and I want to play them for you. Here's the first of the three.
THE PRESIDENT: Our top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, has said that Al-Qaeda is public enemy number one in Iraq. Fellow citizens, these people have sworn allegiance to the man who ordered the death of nearly 3,000 people on our soil. Al-Qaeda is public enemy number one for the Iraqi people. Al-Qaeda is public enemy number one for the American people, and that is why for the security of our country, we will stay on the hunt, we will deny them safe haven, and we will defeat them where they have made their stand.
RUSH: Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, how this irritates the kook fringe base of the Democrat Party and Pelosi and Harry Reid? They are trying to disrupt George W. Bush's confidence; they're trying to shred it; they're trying to get everybody in the country isolated from him, including other Republicans, and he doesn't care. Second bite here.
THE PRESIDENT: Some note that Al-Qaeda in Iraq did not exist until the US invasion and argue that it is a problem of our own making. The argument follows the flawed logic that terrorism is caused by American actions.
RUSH: Right on, right on.
THE PRESIDENT: Iraq's not the reason that the terrorists are at war with us.
RUSH: Right on, right on. Source "I don't support anti-war rhetoric. I don't support Republican candidates trashing the war in Iraq when we're winning it." Source

Security/liberties: "When the critics are more interested in punishing this country over a relatively few incidents at Abu Grahib and Guantanimo than they are in defeating those who want to kill us; when they seek to destroy a foreign surveillance program which is designed to identify those who want to kill us and how they intend to do it; when they want to grant those who want to kill us U.S. constitutional rights, I don't call that patriotic." Source

Social Security: Said Social Security "is broken". Source Spoke supportively of George W. Bush's 2005 plan to privatize (at least in part) Social Security. Source

Stem cell research: "When it comes to stem cell research and embryonic stem cell research, precisely because there is no evidence it works -- there's none, folks." Source

Same sex issues: Supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. "If Sue and Sally get married and move to your state, your state has to recognize their marriage. That's in the Constitution, which is why we need an amendment to stop it." Source

Trade issues: A free trader. "RUSH: Now, you're partially right. Since the Democrats have assumed control of the Congress, we have lost some manufacturing jobs...They're blocking free trade legislation. They are doing everything they can to dispirit the attitude of the American people." Source

Budget issues: "Conservatism is a set of principles and ideals, kind of like the Constitution. They don't float, they don't bend, they don't shape. You don't rewrite them to fit the social mores or depravity of the day or what have you. Conservatism is what it is. Conservatism seeks to balance the budget, not by raising taxes, but by cutting government and reducing the size of government." I don't support repeated increases in taxes." Source

Business & labor issues: Limbaugh holds anti-union views. "[W]hen you join a union, by definition you are scrubbing your individuality. Your job performance will matter not a whit to how much you money you make. You could be the best crane operator and somebody else could be a lackadaisical crane operator and goof up and screw up. You could show up on time every day. The only way you're going to make more money than that other guy is come in and do over time or maybe get a foreman or supervisor position. So it takes the merit out of things." Source

Abortion issues: Is pro-life. "The Declaration of Independence: "We're all endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them, LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." When a political party [The Democrats] is doing its best to see to it that every abortion possible happens, there's only one agency empowered by our founding documents to stand up for life. That's the government. That's considered a proper use of the government, to stand for life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Source

Capital punishment: Supports the death penalty. Immediately before the 2008 election, Limbaugh expressed fears that an Obama presidency would mean "the abolition of capital punishment and the mass freeing of criminal defendants...Nothing less than the very idea of liberty and the rule of law are at stake in this election. We should not let Mr. Obama replace justice with empathy in our nation's courtrooms," and that's what Obama says he wants to do." Source

Marijuana: Opposes legalization. "It looks like reefer madness is real, or it can be. "Pot Smoking Linked to Psychotic Disorders -- Among all cannabis users, including sporadic experimenters and habitual users, the lifetime risk of psychotic illness increased by 40%, according to a study published yesterday. 'It's not as if you smoke a joint and you're going to go crazy,' said Richard Rawson," UCLA. He "was not involved in the study," by the way. "But he cautioned: 'It's definitely not a good idea to use heavy amounts of marijuana.' The researchers found that the risk for psychotic illnesses did appear to increase with dose, suggesting that stopping marijuana use would decrease risk, said coauthor Dr. Stanley Zammit, a psychiatrist at Cardiff University and the University of Bristol in Britain. Psychotic illnesses," for those of you in Rio Linda, "include schizophrenia and disorders with such symptoms as hallucinations or delusions." In other words, normal for you. It doesn't say anything about munchies or obesity...If you smoke pot, you won't care. But if your friends smoke pot, are you going to smoke pot? All these things are socially contagious out there now. We don't have a chance, folks. We're just doomed." Source

Gun control: Opposes gun control laws. In response to excerpts from an Obama campaign speech said:
OBAMA: What I've said is that I do not -- what I've said is that I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment --
RUSH: BS.
OBAMA: -- but I do not think that that precludes local governments being able to provide some commonsense gun laws that keep guns out of the hands of gangbangers or children, that local jurisdictions are going to have different sets of problems, and that this is a very fact-intensive decision that has to be made.
RUSH: Okay, some more gibberish, absolute, total gibberish. Local governments gotta be able to keep guns out of the hands of gangbangers and children. Gun laws already do that, unless they're going to go violate the law in the first place or in the second place and get a gun. Source

Minimum wage: Opposes minimum wage. "Well, if $10 an hour is great, why not 20? In fact, why not 50? Why not $50 an hour minimum wage? Why not a hundred? Why not just guarantee everybody $200,000 a year[?]" Source

Health care: " I don't support national health care, whether you call it a children's program or whatever it is." Source

Prescription drugs: I mean, this [The Democratic Agenda] is the same tired, worn-out agenda that they have been using my whole life: increase the minimum wage, cut the costs of prescription drugs..." -Oct 23, 2008 Source

Immigration issues: "I don't support open borders and amnesty." Source

Education issues: Supports vouchers. "Okay, libs, we've tried it your way for 60 years and now we're going to try it our way: enterprise zones, school vouchers, turning renters into owners, rebuilding this place without rebuilding slums." Source

Environmental issues: On no issue has the evidence of my foresight and keen political instincts been more compelling than that of the environment. Come, let us count the ways: Despite the hysterics of a few pseudo-scientists, there is no reason to believe in global warming Mankind is not responsible for depleting the ozone layer The Earth’s ecosystem is not fragile, and humans are not capable of destroying it The real enemies of the radical environmental leadership are capitalism & the American way of life There are more acres of forest land in America today than in 1492 Less-developed cultures are not kinder to nature than technologically sophisticated civilizations. The reverse more often is true Big-government regulation is not the best way to protect the environment Many environmental groups have adopted their cause with all the enthusiasm of a religious crusade, abandoning reason and accepting many faulty premises on faith Mankind is part of nature and not necessarily the enemy. Source

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