Roger Ebert's Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh (speech, government, federal)

[sanrene]

Rush is a true patriot and fights everyday to combat the man who is intent on changing/destroying that which has been fostered and nurtured for over 200 years.

[sanrene]

RUSH: No, it’s not “whether or not.” That matters. I mean you call here and ask, “Where do I get off suggesting that we don’t donate to Haiti because we do in the income tax?” and I tell you I said that, but I also said private donations are going to be much better than a government donation. They’re all going. Go to the Red Cross, do other things. Don’t go through the government. It’s just going to go through hands and bureaucracies and a dollar is going to end up being 30 cents by the time they get through with it. I did not say, “Don’t make donations.” That’s not a “whether or not” thing. That’s why you called.

Rush is right here. Is this the quote that has the panties in a twist? It is much more expeditious to donate to private entities than the government. Why would anyone go through the federal government to give to the effort in haiti?

By the time they get through deducting their "cost", the donation would be drastically reduced.

[jojajn]

Originally Posted by sanrene

Do you have a video of Rush saying that?

We all know the Left loves to attribute quotes to Rush that he never made.

Watch the video. Rush asks the caller if he trusts the money given through WhiteHouse.gov would go to Haiti.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEbpZ8bsR8

[Jill61]

Originally Posted by shorebaby

Again look at the poll in this forum on this topic. There are folks on the left who worry about the exact same thing. They worry their donations will not go where they want them to go. I didn't read this as him saying Obama will steal the money simply that the money donated will not go to Haiti. It may go to some other cause. Others have correctly pointed out that donations made to the Red Cross during Katrina did not neccessarily go to the Katrina victims.

Don't forget that some people who mad inquiries to Whithouse.gov eventually found their way ont the Obama politcal arm mailing list. It was a mistake, the White House acknowledged it. That is what Rush was referirng to.

Let's try this again.

There are some legitimate reasons to be concerned that monies donated to charities, such as the Red Cross, that are supposed to be earmarked for a specific disaster, might not make it to aid in relief of that specific disaster. But that is not what Rush Limbaugh said. Here, I'll go ahead and reprint the exchange in this thread, since it's not doing any good to have you read it from the source:

--------------------------------------------------------------
Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?"

Limbaugh: "Exactly. Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?"

Justin: "No."

Rush: "But would you trust that your name's gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?"

Justin: "Absolutely!"

Limbaugh: "Absolutely!"
--------------------------------------------------------------

The caller wasn't concerned that the Red Cross has a history of misdirecting donations intended for specific disasters. They asked why they should trust President Obama and go through the whitehouse.gov website to donate to the Red Cross.

And Rush flat out said that there is NO CONFIDENCE in the fact that donations made THROUGH THE WHITEHOUSE.GOV WEBSITE would ever get to Haiti. But, your name sure might end up on an email list -- Oh, the horror!

Here are the facts: There are scam charities that pop up every time a disaster like this happens. For that reason, many, many, many legitimate organizations and government websites provide links directly to well-known LEGITIMATE charities on their web pages, specifically so people can TRUST that their donations are going to a legitimate charitable organization and not a scam that's set up to look like that charitable organization.

When you go to a known web page like whitehouse.gov and click through on a link provided there, it redirects you directly to THAT CHARITY'S website to enter all your personal details. The originating website never, ever, ever sees any of that information. Ever. It's done as a courtesy and as a means of instilling CONFIDENCE.

YOU know this. RUSH knows this. He had a perfect opportunity to disabuse this caller of the notion that the White House or President Obama would ever get either their money or their information. He could have explained to his caller how this works and reassured them that when they go to the whitehouse.gov website they are redirected to the Red Cross website and away from the White House website.

Instead, he out and out LIED. And not only that, he went even further to say that the White House cannot be TRUSTED in this matter.

If you want to have a reasonable discussion about charitable donations making their way where they're supposed to, I am certainly willing to have that conversation. But that's not what Rush said or implied. That's not what Rush meant to say or imply. It's clear that Rush had a specific agenda against both the President and the White House in that exchange. And so long as you continue to deny that and feign innocence on Rush's part, there can be no honest dialogue.

[sanrene]

Watch the video. Rush asks the caller if he trusts the money given through WhiteHouse.gov would go to Haiti.

An excellent question.

Why on Earth would anyone go through the WH to donate to the crisis? Don't you realize that doing that will tie your donation up in red bureaucratic tape. The private relief organizations like the Red Cross are much more efficient and cost effective.

[JoeyPants]

why not just watch the video and decide for yourself. I know it's difficult for dittoheads to form their own opinion without being spoon fed, but you guys should try it once it awhile.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiEbpZ8bsR8

[sanrene]

Again - he brings up an excellent point. Why go through the WH?

An excellent question.

Why on Earth would anyone go through the WH to donate to the crisis? Don't you realize that doing that will tie your donation up in red bureaucratic tape. The private relief organizations like the Red Cross are much more efficient and cost effective.

[jojajn]

Originally Posted by sanrene

An excellent question.

Why on Earth would anyone go through the WH to donate to the crisis? Don't you realize that doing that will tie your donation up in red bureaucratic tape. The private relief organizations like the Red Cross are much more efficient and cost effective.

Please post only what you are informed about. Otherwise, start your comments with IMO!

This is the site.

Haiti Earthquake Relief | The White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake_embed - broken link)

[Jill61]

Originally Posted by sanrene

Again - he brings up an excellent point. Why go through the WH?

An excellent question.

Why on Earth would anyone go through the WH to donate to the crisis? Don't you realize that doing that will tie your donation up in red bureaucratic tape. The private relief organizations like the Red Cross are much more efficient and cost effective.

No, he brings up a stupid point, which I just explained to you a couple of posts up. Here, I'll repost it for you. . .

Here are the facts: There are scam charities that pop up every time a disaster like this happens. For that reason, many, many, many legitimate organizations and government websites provide links directly to well-known LEGITIMATE charities on their web pages, specifically so people can TRUST that their donations are going to a legitimate charitable organization and not a scam that's set up to look like that charitable organization.

When you go to a known web page like whitehouse.gov and click through on a link provided there, it redirects you directly to THAT CHARITY'S website to enter all your personal details. The originating website never, ever, ever sees any of that information. Ever. It's done as a courtesy and as a means of instilling CONFIDENCE.

YOU know this [well, maybe not, given that you think it was a legitimate point, but the point is. . . ]. RUSH knows this. He had a perfect opportunity to disabuse this caller of the notion that the White House or President Obama would ever get either their money or their information. He could have explained to his caller how this works and reassured them that when they go to the whitehouse.gov website they are redirected to the Red Cross website and away from the White House website.

Instead, he out and out LIED. And not only that, he went even further to say that the White House cannot be TRUSTED in this matter.

[sanrene]

Here are the facts: There are scam charities that pop up every time a disaster like this happens. For that reason, many, many, many legitimate organizations and government websites provide links directly to well-known LEGITIMATE charities on their web pages, specifically so people can TRUST that their donations are going to a legitimate charitable organization and not a scam that's set up to look like that charitable organization.

Unlike democrat sheeple, I don't need the WH to direct me to legitimate charity websites. It's pretty darn easy to get to the Red Cross site without being waylaid by scammers.