El Rushbo himself has weighed in on the possible sale of Anheuser-Busch to Belgian beer giant InBev. On his radio program this morning, Limbaugh read from my story on the mother ship about political worries that A-B donations might dry up after a sale.

Limbaugh believes that the politicians are crying crocodile tears about the loss of an American icon. He suggests all they care about is cash.

Here’s a transcript:

“We’ve all heard about the attempt by the European brewery, InBev, to take over Anheuser-Busch St. Louis for, what was it, 60-some-odd billion, and everybody had been worried about, “Oh, my God, oh, no, oh, no, we’re going to lose an American icon! This is horrible, this is horrible, they employ so many people,” and everybody has been having a cow about this, as you well know. Well, leave it to the Drive-Bys to get to the real problem here. I am holding, ladies and gentlemen, in my formerly nicotine-stained fingers a printed copy of today’s story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch by Tony Messenger, and the headline says it all: “Would InBev Staunch the A-B Flow to Political Coffers?” Here we go. This is the real concern. I should have known it.

“When it comes to politics, Anheuser-Busch is more than the king of beers. It’s the Clydesdale of cash. The St. Louis brewery and its employees give big bucks to candidates without regard to party. The brewery is the 63rd-biggest corporate political donor in the nation over the last 20 years, contributing more than $11 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In federal campaigns, A-B is No. 1 among beer and wine companies, giving nearly 10 times more in the current political cycle than SABMiller, according to the center. In the 2000, 2004 and 2008 federal elections, the company has been Missouri’s top corporate giver to political candidates and parties, and the race isn’t even close. And that has political fundraisers worried about A-B’s possible sale to Belgium beer giant InBev.

“‘It could have an impact on campaigns from U.S. Senate down to state representatives,’ said Republican political consultant and fundraiser John Hancock. ‘Without question, Anheuser-Busch has been the marquee financial supporter for political causes throughout the state.’” This is… (laughing) I’m so embarrassed that I didn’t realize this from the get-go. When all these politicians stood up and started whining and moaning about losing an American icon, I should have known it was BS. This is a legitimate fear. I mean, if this outfit’s given $11 million over whatever number of years, is some outfit in Brussels going to do that? They may give more, though. You never know, ’cause they going to have a lot of people upset with them for having bought Anheuser-Busch if this thing goes down.”