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07/10/08: Hey Rush, Get Off Welfare Listen to Ralph Nader's audio message here:
According to press reports, Rush Limbaugh will be making $38 million a year.
For eight years. Rush is making this money by being a radio talk show host. On public property. That would be - the public airwaves. Owned by the American people. For which Rush - and his affiliated companies - pay no rent. Rush Limbaugh is on welfare. Corporate welfare. The public airwaves belong to the American people. The Federal Communications Commission is supposed to be our trustee. The people are the landlords. The radio and TV stations and the corporate giants who own them are the tenants. Rush's show is syndicated on over 650 radio stations. Rush has enormous leverage over these stations. They pay no rent. And therefore, he pays no rent. Here's the problem: Since the Radio Act was passed in 1927, the corporate tenants have been more organized and more powerful than the tens of millions of listeners and viewers. The result? Rush Limbaugh and his corporation get to use the public's valuable property for free. No payment of rent. Zero. Nada. Nothing. This freeloading on the backs of the American people is called corporate welfare. Rush Limbaugh is the Kingboy of corporatist radio. And it's past time he set a corporatist example for his peers and - pay rent to the American people for using their property. It's past time Rush Limbaugh takes himself off the corporate welfare rolls. Rush need not wait for the FCC and Congress to do the right thing and order him to pay. He can lead by example. And pay voluntary rent - for the hours and hours every month Rush occupies on the hundreds of stations that carry his show every weekday. And by the way, this fits well within Rush's so-called conservative philosophy. Payment of rent for the use of public airwaves owned by the American people is the conservative position. Real conservatives oppose corporate welfare. Note the Cato Institute's position. Real corporatists feed off the public trough - from the hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare gushing out of Washington, D.C. every year - your tax dollars. So, Rush, today I ask you - which side are you on? Freeloading? Or paying rent for the public property you have been using free for so many years? Today, I mailed a letter to Rush asking him to get off welfare. The letter is posted at votenader.org. Take a look. And then let Rush know what you think. You can e-mail Rush at: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Tell him - hey Rush, I agree with Ralph Nader. Get off welfare. Start paying rent.
Nader to Limbaugh, Get Off Welfare NADER TO LIMBAUGH, GET OFF WELFARE WASHINGTON, July 10 -- Independent Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader today released the following letter to radio talk show host, Rush Limbaugh.
Rush Limbaugh Dear Mr. Limbaugh, The Associated Press reports your new contract with Premiere Radio Networks will enrich you with at least $38 million a year over the next eight years. You are making this money on the public property of the American people for which you pay no rent. You, Rush Limbaugh, are on welfare. As you know, the public airwaves belong to the American people. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is supposed to be our trustee in managing this property. The people are the landlords and the radio and TV stations and affiliated companies are the tenants. The problem is that since the Radio Act of 1927 these corporate tenants have been massively more powerful in Washington, DC than the tens of millions of listeners and viewers. The result has been no payment of rent by the stations for the value of their license to broadcast. You and your company are using the public's valuable property for free. This freeloading on the backs of the American people is called corporate welfare. It is way past due for the super-rich capitalist -- Rush Limbaugh from Cape Girardeau, Missouri -- to get himself off big time welfare. It is way past due for Rush Limbaugh as the Kingboy of corporatist radio to set a capitalist example for his peers and pay rent to the American people for the very lucrative use of their property. You need not wait for the broadcast industry-indentured FCC and Congress to do the right thing. You can lead by paying a voluntary rent -- determined by a reputable appraisal organization -- for the time you use on the hundreds of stations that carry your words each weekday. Payment of rent for the use of public airwaves owned by the American people is the conservative position. Real conservatives oppose corporate welfare. Real corporatists feed voraciously from hundreds of billions of dollars in corporate welfare gushing out of Washington, DC yearly. Whose side are you on? Freeloading? Or paying rent for the public property you have been using free for many years? I look forward to your response. Sincerely yours, Ralph Nader The Nader/Gonzalez Campaign addresses these and other issues Obama and McCain have taken "off the table." For a full list of "on the table" topics see: VoteNader.org Onward The Nader Team
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