Posted on 08/15/2011 11:46:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
It appears David Gregory is a bit confused about how our system of government works.
During intense questioning of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Sunday's "Meet the Press," the host scolded his guest for having the nerve to actually care what the American people thought about raising the debt ceiling (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DAVID GREGORY, HOST: Let me ask you about the debt ceiling. You were adamantly opposed to raising the debt ceiling. You voted against that.REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MINNESOTA): Mm-hmm.
MR. GREGORY: And there's a lot of people who said that was an incredibly reckless thing to do for our economy.
REP. BACHMANN: Oh, hardly, hardly.
MR. GREGORY: But, wait...
REP. BACHMANN: Yeah.
MR. GREGORY: ...let me just, let me just take you through it. It wasn't just the president of the United States, it was also the chairman of the Federal Reserve, it was the Treasury secretary, it was your entire...
REP. BACHMANN: And they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?
MR. GREGORY: Well, if I can just finish the question. The entire Republican leadership thought that was the wrong thing to do. Major members of the business community in this country thought that was the wrong thing to do. Why should we trust your judgment that that was the right thing to do and not a reckless act...
REP. BACHMANN: Because...
MR. GREGORY: ...on the part of a congresswoman?
"Why should we trust your judgment that that was the right thing to do and not a reckless act on the part of a congresswoman?"
Before we get to Bachmann's answer, can you imagine Gregory or any member of the mainstream media asking this question of former Senator Hillary Clinton when she was running for president?
Or such a question being asked about votes made by other high-profile Democrat women such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), or Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.)?
But I digress:
REP. BACHMANN: It's a great question you're asking, a fantastic question. Because that's the judgment of the people of this country. The people of this country would love to weigh in, and they would love to say, "Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, you're wrong. Mr. President, you're wrong." And that's what we...MR. GREGORY: But this is why we have elected representatives, Congresswoman...
REP. BACHMANN: That's, that's really, that's really...
MR. GREGORY: ...who actually know the true financial impact of a step like this. Maybe people are against raising the debt ceiling, but the reality is, bipartisan agreement, in the business community saying you don't do that, you don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States. Would you have voted the same way...
REP. BACHMANN: That's right, that's exactly right.
MR. GREGORY: ...if you were the deciding vote?
Actually, we have elected representatives to go to Washington and carry out the wishes of their constituents whenever it's possible.
In this instance, the public as measured by a July 12 Gallup poll were strongly opposed to raising the debt ceiling. Such people didn't want the United States to default on its debt. They instead rightly believed there were ample revenues coming in from tax receipts in August to pay the interest on all of our outstanding treasury paper.
As such, folks like Bachmann that were against raising the debt ceiling were indeed carrying out the wishes of their constituents without being anywhere near as reckless as the administration and their shills in the media claimed.
On top of this, Gregory is certainly no one to point fingers about knowing the "true financial impact" of not raising the debt ceiling as he completely neglected to determine that for his viewers when he interviewed treasury secretary Timothy Geithner in July.
Maybe if the "Meet the Press" host had grilled Geithner with the same intensity he did Bachmann, the nation would have been far better informed of the "true financial impact" of such a move:
REP. BACHMANN: That's right, you don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States. That's why I introduced the bill that I did that would have prevented any form of default. It's President Obama who failed to put any sort of a plan forward. That's what led to uncertainty. I was at another business here in, in west Des Moines, Competitive Edge, and, and the owner of that company told me that their problem right now is, again, uncertainty and the fact that they didn't know what was going to happen with interest rates, they don't know what's going to happen with Obamacare, and so they're on hold right now for hiring. The president is not sending the right signals. And again, let me just answer your question because you said, well, all the people in Washington said we had to raise the debt ceiling, all the people out in America said don't raise the debt ceiling. That's the problem with Washington.MR. GREGORY: Right. But, but why does that make it...
REP. BACHMANN: They're not listening to the people.
MR. GREGORY: ...why does it make it the right thing to do? I mean...
REP. BACHMANN: Well, because, because, because representatives are supposed to represent the people that they serve. The people that they're serving are saying, "You guys don't have it figured out. Stop spending money you don't have."
MR. GREGORY: But so public opinion will be the sole determinant of how you vote on a particular issue?
She didn't say it would be the sole determinant, but the wishes of constituents should certainly be a factor in how an elected official votes.
Unfortunately since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007 and the White House in 2009, the Left and their media minions have gotten used to their representatives doing whatever they want with total disregard for public opinion.
Now that some folks on the right are once again paying attention to the voters, Gregory and his colleagues think it's "reckless."
Quite the contrary, what has been reckless for the past four years is Democrats passing bill after bill with far greater support from the press than the citizenry. That started to change this January, and people like Gregory can't stand it.
Of course doing the public's bidding will surely come back in vogue the second it's once again on the side of the Left.
Funny how the public is only important when their views mesh nicely with those of so-called journalists.
When this isn't the case, these very same citizens become immediately labeled as uninformed and reckless.
It's always quite a treat to watch the intellectual capacity of the average American quickly skyrocket when he or she agrees with the prevailing liberal view.
The only time David Gregory has been semi coherent was when he appeared drunk on the Imus radio show. He should do meet the press while drunk, it might make more sense.
Gregory is an idiot.
He suggests we listen to even more bad advice from people who have shown themselves to be massive failures.....typical Lib...
She has already stated that she would cut entitlements like Paul Ryan. That is what has to be cut, no two ways about it.
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That’s a perfectly reasonable position for Bachmann to take but that will hardly scratch the surface of a $1.6 trillion deficit. The fact of the matter is that nobody, including Michele Bachmann or Paul Ryan, has detailed a 2012 budget that comes in at anything like the $2.2 trillion that represents the U.S. Federal Governments FY2012 income.
So until I see that FY2012 balanced budget I’m just going to laugh at those politicians, mostly Tea Party types unfortunately, who are either just naive or are just voting what their constituents want - no more borrowing. While that sounds good even to me you have to be able to explain what the consequences would be if you actually managed to balance the budget in a single year. If you think that is easy consider the fact that even if you zeroed out the entire $670 billion Defense budget you would still have a long way to go.
If anyone believes that a FY2012 balanced budget is achievable just show us where the $1600 billion in cuts are coming from.
Bachmann it turned out did well voting ‘no’ because the final deal was another closed doors secret agreement that was shoved down members throats at the last minute much like the stimulus and obama-care and TARP were with trigger gimmick to try to hide the meaning of the vote. Amazing the MSM considers these smelly deals examples of ‘bi-partisonship Washington working’.
Just to be my usual contrarian self, you cant cut entitlement spending without defying the results of most polls. So 'the views of the American people' is usually what ends up giving us deficits even though they say they hate them, that and big deals.
Very great risk, indeed. As, for example, Keynesian Harvest.
William Flax
This is the conceit of the left. They know better, so you have no right to speak up against their views.
During our own Great Recession, the multiplier has been below 1.0! And still declining....
Gregory is like the rest of the left. He beats up girls. They are effing fascists.
“Keynes didn’t believe that government stimulus would work if the money multiplier was less than 2.”
The multiplier is always negative. When the government spends, the private sector and the economy contracts. Keynes was wrong.
I agree the cuts are not enough, but it is more than the other candidates have offered. Do you hold out for a candidate that has yet to come forward with a better plan or do you go with the one that cuts the most like her? I don’t believe in waiting for “hope” and “Change”, so a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you have a better viable candidate, let’s here of him or her.
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My problem with Michele Bachmann is that she infers that she has a budget in mind that is $1600 less than the current FY2012 budget. Any budget that cuts less requires an increase in the debt ceiling.
The simple fact that she is against an increase in the debt ceiling means to me that she knows how to balance the budget for FY2012 at $2.2 trillion.
I don’t believe she can and I’m surprised that she hasn’t been challenged on that specific issue.
So I’m still waiting for the Bachmann $2.2 trillion FY2012 budget.
You are right...NOTHING is served by conversing with the enemy in their own camp. What ‘their camp’ needs is an outright ‘no-quarters raid’.....screw them and their listeners.
A candidate can make all kinds of promises. Being able delivering the promises is another thing.
” Bachmann gets ‘-A’ for guts for going back on those shows and defending her conservative positions. Gregory trying to get her on her past statements on Gays was even worse. She didnt apologize for them or deny them nor did she get lured into getting off subject explaining them. “
Bingo!
” Bachmann gets ‘-A’ for guts for going back on those shows and defending her conservative positions. Gregory trying to get her on her past statements on Gays was even worse. She didnt apologize for them or deny them nor did she get lured into getting off subject explaining them. “
Bingo!
Gregory is too out of touch to realize it, but this exchanges didn’t hurt Bachmann, it helped her. People viewing this exchange would have agreed and connected with Bachmann on the issue.
REP. BACHMANN: And they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?
Love it!
Of course Hussein voted against raising the debt ceiling in 2006 and neither Gregory nor any of the other media toadies ever uttered a syllable about it.
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