Rush Limbaugh: Crony Capitalism, Big Money Behind GOP Amnesty Push

On Monday, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh exposed the Republican politicians, donors, and consultants in the permanent political class that want the immigration bill to pass so they can benefit at the expense of American workers.

He said “big money” has trumped politics and principles in the push for “amnesty.”

“I think a number of elected Republicans are taking a look at their donors, and are listening to their consultants, and they are seeing that people that are donating big amounts of money to them want amnesty,” Limbaugh said on his show on Monday.

He named Republican consultants like Frank Luntz, Mike Murphy, and Steve Schmidt as those establishment Republicans who do not know any better. He said these consultants tell politicians that money will dry up if they do not support amnesty. Limbaugh then named prominent Republican donors, who often work with these consultants, that also want the immigration bill passed so they can get an influx of cheap labor.

“All of the Republican major donors want this bill,” he said. “I’ll give you some names. The Koch brothers, Sheldon Adelson. I mean, they want the bill, because they want the influx of new labor. They want it. They’re not concerned with how anybody’s gonna vote down the line. As long as these guys can stay aligned with whoever is running government, they’re in fat city.”

He said Republicans who support amnesty want the public to think “immigration reform” is about “ideas” and “politics,” but it is really about the crony capitalism that has made Washington, D.C. a boomtown. Limbaugh said, “there is a growing phenomenon in this country of crony capitalism taking place,” and moneyed interests and corporations actually support government.

He said big corporations never criticize government and don’t really care which political party is in the White House.

“What they care about is being in bed with whoever is there … If you can profit and profit big by being involved in the government, then you don’t need to be worried about government as an obstacle; they’re your partner,” he said.

Limbaugh’s remarks ring truer in light of comments made by two aides to Sen. Marco Rubio in which they disparaged American workers to a New Yorker magazine writer by alleging there are Americans “across every sector” that just “can’t cut it.”

Limbaugh said he continued to believe “conservatism sells every time it’s properly explained” and that it is “attractive to everybody who hears it.” He emphasized supporting immigration reform was not the way to win over new voters and then noted the “big money” forces behind the immigration bill have never really cared about the long-term health of the conservative movement or the Republican party.