11.20.11: The No-So Supers…

The not so super Congressional Super Committee has a deadline of tomorrow morning to put its proposal for deficit reduction in front of Congress, and the initial question is if the respective Republicans and Democrats will come to an agreement. Senator Kyl’s answer is that hope spring eternal, but this is no consolation or even acceptable as an answer in discussing the committee’s goals. The committee has neither achieved tax reform nor entitlement reform, and went on to explain that we would need to grow our way out of deficit spending and not tax ourselves out of deficit spending. This is in response to David Gregory’s assertion that the Bush Tax Cuts are going to add $3.7 Trillion dollars to the national debt and that most economists – Republican and Democrat recommend that they expire. Mr. Kyl was unfazed by this and went on to explain that we would increase revenue to the government by reforming the tax code. The problem with this is that Republicans want to reform the tax code by eliminating loops holes for corporations, but then also lower the overall tax rate, which becomes a wash – the lower rate offsets any gains that closing the loopholes offered. What he didn’t mention is that the lower tax rate would apply to everyone, “broadening the base,” which would levy taxes on families and individuals who have just enough income to meet monthly obligations, in other words the working poor.

For this opening segment, Senators Kyl and Kerry were introduced together but Mr. Gregory interviewed Mr. Kyl first while Mr. Kerry sat by. Then when Mr. Gregory interviewed Mr. Kerry, Mr. Kyl had left the set. Who set that parameter? The public needs to see and hear some of this debate, which was denied by this format. There was exchange at all, and this seems the typical way of Washington – deny listening opportunities. I’ll say what I have to and then you do the say and neither have to listen to the other.

Mr. Kerry explained in his segment that there are two things holding up any agreement that would cut $1.7 trillion dollars from the budget. One is that Republicans want to wait for the 2012 election so that they can take control and then implement their full agenda without Democratic opposition. Secondly, they will not let the Bush tax cuts expire and are subservient to Grover Norquist’s pledge to never raise taxes.

The entire point of the super committee was so that both sides would have to share in some sacrifice, and that if the committee could not come to an agreement automatic spending cuts would be implemented. For the Republicans, those cuts would effect defense spending. On this point, Secretary Panetta was cited that the cuts to defense would effect our national security. When Mr. Gregory confronted Mr. Kyl with this reality, The Arizona Senator eluded that they would try to work around it. Later in the segment, Senator Kerry took exception to this. This should have been a major point of the discussion, but today’s interview format did not allow for it – a mistake by the producers and the moderator.

Where we stand is that the Republicans won’t give in on the most major one demand that the Democrats have, which is to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire and given this, it has become all too easy for Democrats to blame Republicans of intransience. The end result is nothing will get done. To watch these two individuals just makes one bubble with frustration. The inability of the Senators of Rome caused its demise. We, the United States, are no better than Greece or Italy at this moment. The only difference is that we know the cash exists in the United States where it is nonexistent in these countries.

One last note on this dual interview and it’s something that Senator Kyl said that we take exception to. With regard to the Occupy Wall Street movement, Mr. Kyl said that these people didn’t understand the free market and how it works. This is clearly not true, but it does illustrate how out of touch Mr. Kyl and many of his party colleagues are in understanding the hardships of a shrinking middle class. With that said, we have to admit that after two months, the movement doesn’t have a clear message and they only have themselves to blame.

Speaking of only having yourself to blame, this is the Republican electorate given that their frontrunner for the nomination this week is Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, described by Dee Dee Meyers during today’s panel as a political sociopath – something that no one else on the panel could really dispute. Mr. Gingrich has clearly shown that he will take any position that is politically expedient. Republican strategist Mike Murphy demurred simply saying that he would be surprised if Mr. Gingrich is the nominee.

It’s simply another illustration of how the Republican party is completely dissatisfied with their respective candidates. Herman Cain can not answer a questions on foreign policy then claimed his is there to “lead and not to read.” After that statement, there is no way to take him seriously. Governor Rick Perry, who Eugene Robinson thought still has a shot to unseat Mitt Romney as the favorite, is consistent, but consistently nonsensical in his answers. And as for Mr. Romney, conservatives just don’t believe in him. They would be right to say he’s not a true conservative. In a way, he’s like Newt Gingrich in that he’ll say what ever is most politically expedient, what ever answer it takes to get elected, Mitt Romney can be counted on for that answer.

Round Table: Democratic Strategist Dee Dee Meyers, Republican Strategist Mike Murphy, Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, and former RNC Chairman, Ed Gillespie

Last thought: Statistic of Note (from today’s program) – Over the past thirty years, the richest 1%’s income has gone up 300 percent, while the middle class’ income has only increased 18 percent. Trickle down economics has worked if a trickle is all you’re trying to achieve.

11.13.11: The Bystander Effect

David Brooks talked about the "Bystander Effect" in reference to the Penn State tragedy, and make no mistake, it is a tragedy. Mr. Brooks explained that study after study has shown that most people would just as soon as walk away or ignore criminality than do something to intervene. E.J. Dionne begged to differ with his colleague, but unfortunately David Brooks is correct and most would do nothing.

It is in an instant where the bystander effect appears. However, it is also that instant that produces heroes. In the case of Penn State, Mike McQuery - the assistant coach who witnessed and didn't stop Jerry Sandusky from sodomizing a boy in the shower - is no hero. In that moment, he could have done the right thing, he had the means. Mr. McQuery is a former Penn State quarterback - 6'5"/220. He's not a criminal, but he's no hero, something that has been sorely missed through out this entire investigation. And Mr. Paterno isn't one either, deserved to be fired and is too senile to understand that in trying to protect his legacy and his job, every moral fortitude he said he tried to instill in his players was never a factor in his own conduct. Many victims and no heroes define a tragedy. Today's first guest, Governor Tom Corbett (R-PA), didn't know if there were more victims, but there most certainly are - how could there not be when considering loved ones and family members.

Speaking of a bystander, Michele Bachmann was the latest on the "Meet The Candidate" series, and the reason for this designator is her answer on torture. She would reinstate it by allowing interrogators to use water boarding, which is in fact torture.

Congresswoman Bachmann said that the Penn State tragedy should start a national dialogue. On what? Morality? It's difficult to have that discussion with someone who has no moral dilemma when it comes to torturing people. Also, in being another candidate who would 'listen to the generals on the ground" when it comes to foreign policy, she won't listen to them when it comes to their collective opposition to water boarding.

Ms. Bachmann went on to explain to the key to winning the 'war on terror' comes in the form of interrogation, and that Mr. President is almost trying to lose the battle because of his lack of use of this torturing. It is exactly why we may be winning the war on Al Qaeda - because we're not using water boarding. What Michele Bachmann doesn't understand is that by not using torture, our moral compass in the view of the world has a better perception while we are in the midst of sending out more predator drones.

She then switched to the real right-wing fear mongering and pandering rhetoric, saying the the A.C.L.U. is running CIA, and that we have no prison for Al Qaeda terrorists refusing to acknowledge Mr. Gregory's reminder of the Guantanamo Bay Prison. She said that President Obama is 'losing the peace' in Iraq and that the Iraqis should pay back the United States the $800 billion it spend on the war and should also pay back the families of fallen soldiers.

But how about the 10's of thousands of Iraqi citizens killed in the war? What amount the millions who were displaced to other countries because of the war? What about the $9 billion dollars in cash the Secretary Rumsfeld lost, yes lost, in Baghdad?

Lastly, Mr. Gregory asked the Congresswoman if it were a disqualifier for Herman Cain as a candidate if the sexual assault allegations turn out to be true, and her response was telling. She said it is up to the voters. Well, if those allegations are proven, then it's not up to the voters, it's up to the law, and in fact is a disqualifier. In this moment, Ms. Bachmann could have stood up in the face of a popular candidate (Mr. Cain), as she does when it comes to Mitt Romney's flip-flopping, and taken the right stand. By not doing it, she is suffering from the bystander effect.



Guests: Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, GOP candidate Representative Michele Bachmann, DNC Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, roundtable with David Brooks and E.J. Dionne.


Post Script:

During the interview with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), the congresswoman had a tough time defending President Obama's economic policy. And remember she is also the DNC chairperson. She pleaded the case that it's Republican obstruction that it causing the economy stagnate, outlined the job growth for the last 20 months versus the massive job losses prior.

So why do we say that she had a tough time - two reasons. One, the congresswoman did not possess a compelling answer for the mother of all political questions, are we better off than we were four years ago. She said the 'President's fighting,' Well everyone's 'fighting' right now literally and figuratively in this country so if the President wants to cut through the clutter, his DNC chair needs a list of accomplishments because Americans really like it when they see the government getting something done.

Secondly, the debt is blowing up and we're still at 41% deficit spending during this administration year over year with employment figures at 9%. Her rebuttal was that the debt needs to be reduced in a responsible way, but it would be more responsible to always have your budget in line, which frankly the Obama Administration does not.

One More Thing...

E.J. Dionne used the great word 'bellicose' in describing Mitt Romney's rhetoric on Iran's nuclear ambitions. Mr. Romney said during the second of two Republican debates this week that under President Obama's leadership, Iran will acquire nuclear weapons, while under a Romney Administration they would not. We get it, it's a sexy Republican position to be rhetorically hard on Iran's nukes and threaten military action - a bad idea by the way. Another word should be added which was noted in the first debate - pandering. Jon Huntsmann said that Mitt Romney's economic stance on China was pandering, and with regard to Iran, his comments are just more of the same. It's not like when he's sitting in the White House and then Iran does indeed get nukes, he can just say, "Oops."

11.6.11: A Bridge Too Far

Today’s blog title doesn’t come from the show directly but from a clip of Representative Darrel Issa (R-CA) that Mr. Gregory highlighted. In the clip, Mr. Issa explained that when he first ran for office, his challenge was going from the business world to Congress. He went on to say that in the case of Mr. Herman Cain and his candidacy for President, going from business man to the Presidency is a ‘bridge too far.”

However, as Chris Matthews pointed out, Mr. Cain is exactly what conservatives are looking for – a southern business man. This is where Republicans have government horribly wrong – the United States government should not, repeat should not, be run like a business. A government is not in the business of profit, it is in the business of the general welfare of its people. Should we be running huge deficits? Of course not, but Republicans seem to conveniently forget that it was Vice President Dick Cheney who said that deficits don’t matter.

Mr. Cain, with all due respect to his business acumen, is not Presidential material. The sexual harassment allegations swirling around his campaign aside for a moment, in an interview this week Mr. Cain talked about China aspiring to have nuclear weapons. The layman that writes this column has known that China has had nuclear weapons since 1964 so how could a Presidential candidate not know this. To quote Mr. Matthews, “it’s like he hasn’t read newspapers for the last 50 years.” To use a Hillary Clinton metaphor, if Mr. Cain were the President, that 3am phone call would go to voicemail. Mr. Cain as President is a bridge too far.

Also, that he would scold the news media, attempting to put the blame on them, for these sexual assault allegations is cowardice and irresponsible. Is this man not willing to take responsibility for his actions. Governor Haley Barbour on today’s program said that this smelled of what Judge Clarence Thomas went through with his confirmation hearing, explaining that if Herman Cain weren’t running for President, these allegations wouldn’t matter. But the fact is that he is running for President, and he needs to be vetted like everyone else. Because Mr. Cain doesn’t want to answer such questions, doesn’t mean they will stop coming. The long he delays in getting the facts out, the more amount of people will start digging, and dig deep they will, and should. Mr. Matthews described Herman Cain as the most confident man he’s ever seen in politics. We would amend that to be the most arrogant, evidenced by his campaign staff e-mailing the journalism code of ethics to Politico as pointed out by senior reporter Maggie Haberman.

Also a bridge too far is the personhood amendment being pushed by the extreme right wing of the Republican Party. Never in the forty years since the Roe vs. Wade decision, has women’s rights in this country been under such assault – life beginning at fertilization is a ridiculous notion. Mr. Barbour said he’s not a physician and not a theologian, but… and that’s where he should stop. It implies that theology, counter to what it says in the First Amendment of the Constitution, should be taken into consideration when making law in this country. Forget about health care mandates for a moment, these actions by Republicans, if based on the majority of the party’s faith is unconstitutional. Governor Bill Richardson is correct that this is dangerous action.

Presidential candidate who appear on the program as part of the "Meet the Candidate" series, said that fertilization goes too far, though he is pro-life with, as he explained, a few exceptions in the case of rape or incest. Throughout the interview, this column couldn't help thinking that if the Republican Party weren't so far to the right, Jon Huntsman could be the nominee. He has the approach that would draw in independent voters, especially when he says that we can not run away from mainstream science in particular on climate change.

However, Mr. Huntsman has his flaws as well, specifically on health care, which Mr. Gregory pointed out that previously the candidate said that mandates had to be worked in some way as part of the solution of reforming health care, but now he is firmly against them. We can not really hold Jon Huntsman's feet too hard to the fire on health care as every candidate and the President have had changing views on health care. It's the most complex issue that we have domestically and unless the two sides can meet in the middle, there will be no solution - too far left or too far right won't work.

With that said, the one person who is disqualified on this issue is Mitt Romney because he implemented a policy as governor of Massachusetts that works, and instead of defending the policy and explaining it thoroughly, he ran away from his original position. This has become a bad trend on many issues for the candidate. And in relation to Mr. Romney, David Gregory asked Mr. Huntsman about his Mormon and if America was ready for a Mormon President. Mr. Huntsman said that America has moved beyond religion in this election cycle.

This is naivete reminiscent of President Obama on race. There are those in the Republican party who will fight with everything they have to make sure the Republican nominee is of Christian faith, where the base of the party is firmly entrenched. One could say that the ever-changing positions of Mitt Romney are the cause for his poll numbers never really rising above 30% amongst Republican voters, but make no mistake, his Mormon faith plays a big role. It's why he won't win the Iowa Caucus. It doesn't draw confidence from the base, and it sours any potential conservative allies.

Speaking of friends, apparently President Obama doesn't have any, and it's hurting his chances for reelection. Some of the time, we look at this Republican field and think that President Obama's chances for reelection are great, but then we here a panel discussion such as this and then we think, maybe not so much. In particular, Chris Matthews pointed out that the President hasn't formed the close bonds that help a President muscle through tough legislative situations, people who willing to drop everything else to fight for him. He has many endorsers/advocates but not political warriors. Mr. Matthews cited his new book on President Kennedy as a key example of a President who could commandere such loyalty. Everyone on the panel agreed that since President Obama has been taking his American Jobs Act to the American people, there haven't been any Democratic politicians willing to stand with him. "There are more Clinton people out there then there are Obama people," Mr. Matthews said. In essence, Mr. Obama hasn't instilled fear in his opponents, he hasn't in fact bridged the apparent gap between his stand and where the others are standing.

Round Table: Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel, Senior Political Reporter for Politico, Maggie Haberman and author of the new book "Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero," and host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews.

Last Note: This Sunday was Meet The Press's 67th Anniversary - the longest running television program in history. The genius to make this the first show - putting our leaders on the spot and having them be accountable for their actions - is the reason why this column exists.

Happy Anniversary.