Rush Limbaugh and Large Media Companies Are On Welfare According to Nader

As I suspected, the Rush Limbaugh story just won't go away. After saying he hopes that Obama fails as President of the United States of America, it seems the President's popularity is outweighing anything Limbaugh says on the radio. Last week Republicans told Limbaugh to back off from attacking President Obama. However, in the end, does Limbaugh win this battle? Probably. Undoubtedly, his ratings will increase, unless he says something so outrageously stupid, that it gets him thrown off the air.

Now on the heels of this controversy, former presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader has attacked the conservative talk show host and corporate radio. Do you think large media conglomerates should pay rent to the American people for using the public airwaves? We all could use the money...

Here's an Open Letter to Rush Limbaugh from Ralph Nader:

To: RADIO-TELEVISION EDITORS
Contact: Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate, +1-202-387-8030
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is an open letter to Rush Limbaugh from Ralph Nader:

Rush Limbaugh
The Rush Limbaugh Show
2 Penn Plaza
New York, NY 10121

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
PO Box 19312
Washington, DC 20036
SOURCE Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate

Here's Ralph Nader on FOX News