Associated Press
Remember those guys?
Putting aside whether his ideas have merit, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) at least has a specific set of goals. He talked to CNN yesterday and presented his vision quite clearly: Graham is (a) outraged by proposed cuts to defense spending; (b) open to new government revenue but not through tax increases; and (c) convinced letting Bush-era tax rates expire is "stupid."
With that in mind, this exchange between Graham and Candy Crowley stood out for me.
CROWLEY: So just quickly, yes or no, if the Democrats stay where they are and if the president stays where he is, would you be willing to say, fine, if we can't reach a deal, taxes go up on everyone?
GRAHAM: I'm willing to do the Bowles-Simpson plan. Not one person who has looked at this in a bipartisan way said you need to raise tax rates.
This fascinates me because I have a strong hunch Lindsey Graham supports a deficit-reduction plan he hasn't read.
The South Carolina senator may have forgotten, but there's a reason it's called the "Simpson-Bowles plan" instead of the "Simpson-Bowles commission plan" -- Republicans on the panel hated the recommendations and refused to sign on to the proposal. Why? Because among other things, it raised taxes -- even more than President Obama's debt-reduction plan -- and slashed defense spending. It also allowed all of the Bush-era tax breaks to expire on time at the end of 2012.
Indeed, Matt Yglesias asked a good question a while back: "Do Simpson-Bowles fans know what's in it?"
Lindsey Graham, that need not be a rhetorical question.
Simpson-Bowles raises taxes, allows Bush-era tax rates to expire, and cuts Pentagon funding -- three measures Graham considers unacceptable. Though Crowley didn't ask it, my follow-up question for the Republican senator is, "Really?"
Leave a Comment:
Graham says he is "open to new government revenue but not through tax increases; "
His plan: Trade the family cow for some Magic Beans, climb the beanstalk, and steal the giant's Golden Goose.
Not exactly. What Graham favors is exactly what was called for by Simpson Bowles - raising revenue by lowering marginal rates, eliminating distortionary exemptions and deductions, and broadening the revenue paying base. That is a serious plan for deficit reduction and boosting long term revenue (unlike taxing the rich an extra 3%)
CNN is way too scared to push back on anyone lest they be seen as partisan. Candy is the worst offender. Is it any surprise she didn't say anything. Most of the time, she is given questions to ask but does not know any details to follow up on the responses. Just one of the ways journalism today is getting a failing grade from the public.
Look at it this way: most "journalists" today go in with a list of questions prepared and approved in advance. They, personally, are not prepared to go off-script even if it wouldn't result in losing "access." They're photogenic actors with pleasant voices, nothing more -- ad lib is not a job requirement.
Even so, you'll notice that this year the Republican candidates rarely speak to anyone but the Murdoch Media. They especially don't talk to people who actually think during interviews -- or have you noticed the difficulty Rachel has getting them to appear on her show?
Unscripted moments for a politician are high risk low gain. This is the spineless lameness of executive producers being manipulated into accepting the conditions of access for the interview, pre screened questions, which of their talking heads pitch the scripted questions- whether the interviewer gets an unscripted followup.
The best Crowley could do with the Graham Lie accusation was bluster: "The.. the leader of the Senate is a liar?!?" How about this Candy: "Has Romney showed you his returns? If not, on what factual basis do you think what was told Reid is a lie?" This isn't just about failure of the "journalism" in media. It is a general failure of citizens, in asking pertinent questions. I am reminded about the... wasn't it the Texas state curriculum that cut "critical thinking" from its goals? Education is not about the answers- it is about how to get at the right questions.
Not asking them makes for bad science, bad civics, and bad relationships.
It could be Crowly was caught off guard by this response , you never know what lever the gop are going pull from behind the curtain , a reasonable response from cnn and Crowley would be to point out what mr benen is saying , on the air , and ask him to come back and clarify , I am going to email Crowley with this suggestion , and suggest others do the same
Or will senator graham just say he is talking about the conservatives version from the simpson bowles negotiations ?
If Lindsey Graham actually read thru the Simpson-Bowles plan he would never have agreed with it! I've come to believe that the GOTP don't have reading for understanding - either they push for things that go against what they say they believe, or they whine cause it's too big to read". You might think that they would prefer simpler writing, but such is so not the case.
Of course not. However, there's no risk of the question coming up. As it is, they'll just use "why hasn't Obama implemented his own Simpson-Bowles commission's plan" to get headlines and shape the opinion of a public which has no clue that they're being lied to.
My daughter and I sat in on a "session" of the US Senate the other day (I say "session" because there were only about 15 people in the room.). Sen. Manchin (WV) spoke about Simpson Bowles, that it was a "practical" solution to our problems, and that he had invited Erskine Bowles and former-Sen. Alan Simpson to speak at a forum in West Virginia during Senate recess.
I watched both interview's on the tea party/republican channel by republican spokesperson Candy Crowley.She mostly let Graham run on and on without interruption but when it came to Gibb's it was interruption after interruption.I guess she wanted him to apologize or scold Harry Reid for his comment.I do'nt recall her asking any republican's to apologize for saying Obama was not born in this country amongst other thing's.CNN must be trying to be like Foxnot News in order to up the rating's.Anderson Cooper is getting just as bad.His segment, keeping them honest never mention's Romney lies,which he could do a full hour, five day's a week on.But let Pres Obama say something wrong and he's right on it.
I have noticed the same thing on the network stations , I have not had cable for some time , but see it once in a while and get the same impression , I am admittedly a dem , so I try and stay as objective as I can , but the last instance like this , ABC This Week G Stephanopoulos went after the dems for calling the aca penalty tax mandate " a penalty " instead of just using the word " tax " alone , he was relentless to them , then they just give the gop pass after pass on their made up lies , it is to the point of being rediculous
Then they have ann coulter on that show? As a legitimate source ? I will never watch it again ...I had to stop watching cnn 5 years ago , , crap corporate news , period ...... watching it once in a while for a reminder of their perspective is about it
"Though Crowley didn't ask it..."
Is there a stranger concept to the bobble-heads than the follow up question? Any old answer will do. Slather on the b.s. Lay it on nice and thick. No argument from the bobble-heads. They are as happy and clueless as daisy's on a warm summer's day, being blown gently in the soft breeze.
This article is pretty misleading. Simpson Bowles doesn't raise marginal rates - it raises effective rates by lowering marginal rates, eliminating loopholes, and broadening the tax base. That is the bipartisan consensus for addressing long term deficit reduction
Graham proves the old saying: South Carolina is too small for a Republic and too large for an insane asylum. Let him go run with the other Republican Tax Fairies and see if they can spread the pixie dust of ignorance far enough.
I say let him sign on to it and everybody keep their mouth shut and we might actually get this congress to DO something :)