Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Virginia) found himself in a one-on-one interview with Rachel Maddow tonight. She wanted to know whether the $700 billion in the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy would be added to the deficit that the new Republican majority cares so much about.
As you can see, Rep. Cantor had a lot of words to say, but really very little for an answer.
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Cantor cannot box a hole in a doughnut. He could not answer Maddow's question because he could not comprehend it, IMO.
Cantor answered Maddow's question and then Maddow made up an answer on her own.
He stated that we (Rep) will cut discretionary spending back to '08 levels which will produce 100 billion dollars the first year and close to a trillion over the next decade (thus covering the 700 billion over the next 10 years the extended tax cuts will cost).
Maddow then said something to the effect of "Thanks for letting us know you are going to add it to the deficit."
He said a lot, she just didn't want to hear it.
Actually he didn't. Rachel asked him to state specific areas where they would cut IN discreationary spending. Discreationary spending covers a variety of different government projects. He wouldn't state where he would cut specifically in discreationary spending. He stated that tax cuts don't cost anything which is untrue as well and that it "wouldn't add to the deficit."
Republicans have yet to state where in discreationary spending they're willing to cut. They also won't commit to either making real cuts in defense or entitlement programs if they're "serious about cutting the deficits while not raising taxes."
Miss Maddow did not ask specifically where in discretionary spending would he make the cuts, she asked would it be added to the deficit and he explain how it would not. You may not like his answer but he answered her.
He also did not state that tax cuts don't cost anything, not in his interview with Miss Maddow.
People here don't seem to want to hear both sides, most seem to only want to hear what they want to hear.
Someone please explain why my comments were collapsed. They were not disrespectful and they were not inaccurate.
RobDon, Rachel did indeed ask Cantor what he would cut (at about 1:40 in the clip). Rachel said, "...do you think the $700B should be added to the deficit, and if you don't, what will you cut to compensate for that money, that loss in revenue?" Cantor's reply was long on words but short on specifics. Rolling back discretionary spending to 2008 levels... What will be cut? What does Cantor consider "discretionary spending"?
Also, your comments get collapsed when others in the community report them as no value, inflammatory or advertising. I'm not sure of how many such reports are needed before comments are collapsed.
Thanks Dutchie6. Guess I need to add more value.
You haven't commented on your blog regarding the Feingold loss...but you did so on air. Can we expect blog on this election? As a WI native I feel like I deserve an intelligent outlet to express my thoughts on this election (guber and senate).
Ryan and Bekah
Two concerned, liberal (one less and one more) concerned citizens
This is going to be a painful two years. It'll be interesting to see what remains of the Tea Party (and GOP at large) once their chosen few have been consumed by a machine that buckles to corporate interest as opposed to will of the people. The cognitive dissonance needed to defend their hypocrisy will be freakin' deafening.
As for Cantor, well... You tried to get him to explain something in depth rather than regurgitate the same old talking points. But, you know, get used to it. Those soundbites and non-answers are going to be part-and-parcel of the upcoming legislative session.
Agree. Regarding first paragraph: hopeful that the next two years are as painful as I imagine they can/could be. Plain and Simple: I'm sick of seeing military friends/military folks die overseas. I'm ready us to continue in the direction that we have been heading. Unlike teaparty/other right-wing folks, I have an attention span larger than two years. I understand that we are pulling out and moving towards the more earth friendly, peaceful, budgeted balanced, etc type country that these tea party folks actually want! Why would tea partiers vote for the party that gave them the Patriot Act?!
They were dupped and don't know it yet. They were angry and riled up, enhanced by right wing media, brains disengaged. Unfortunatly the party with the least interest in thier needs were elected by them, they will suffer the results along with the rest of us. I hope they kick thier own asses as long as the nation has to deal with the idiots they elected.
severely unsettled by the sickening circuitousness of Cantor's "answers" and dread two more years of serious questions being grinned away in the manner of Angle
TheobrominetheEpicurean,
No dread! There are many people whom dread to get out of bed because of the despair in which their lives have become (like my son and myself). It is because of this fact that the next two years are going to be insane. Think for a minute about what the Republicans must do with thier new grip on power. They can no longer sit back and do what Eric Cantor did tonight on msnbc (TRMS). The people elected them for REAL answers, and when they portray this same old nonsense...well,,,it's going to real funny!
Exactly. They can no longer be the party of NO! They gotta get to work. They have a lot to do to start creating these jobs and reducing the deficit. And they better start answering questions about how they're going to do it and what they're going to cut. I'm dying to hear.
But they will be the party of no and they have the power to do unlimited damage.
Cantor lives in an alternate universe where words have no meanings and facts are irrelevant.
No, tonight it was Rachel living in her own little world with her mind made up and no way of getting inside. See my previous comment for details.
If the neocons are so 'fiscally responsible' then why did they leave Obama with a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit? Cantor is a BS artist just like the rest of the reich wing. Its going to be fun to watch the neocons squirm for the next couple of years when they can't produce anything they shot their mouth off about.
Way to change the subject, John. When you can't win the argument, move to another topic.
Will nobody admit that Cantor answered Rachel's question?
He danced the conservative dance. He did mention the 100 billion per year and when pressed to define how he would reach that number he danced and we all know how the Republicans dance...he is in the public spotlight and all he wants to do is cut health care, medicaid, medicare, VA and the likes. In 2 years he better go back to his practice and hopefully he's better at that than politics. He is just a smug conservative with a greasy persona destroying the middle class at all expense. I'm so sorry most of whom voted for the right really do know how the Republicans actually lied to America just to gain power and push their agenda for the America they want than what it needs. I would like him to man up and say I will cut the military by 100 billion per year and have it come all out of my state. His state is the biggest leach on our economy with all the monies that go to the IMC and military proper.
Can you get Chris Mathews to go away???
THANK YOU!!! He was glaring at Rachel after his snarky remark about Boner crying...sorry...weeping. He is so envious....'They're not all rich you know...' Bonehead has been a republican for a quarter of a century!!!! HE IS RICH NOW!!! And we now have a first rate alchie as our 3rd in command. He hasn't held a broom or a mop for over 25 years!!!! I am also the first in my family to complete college, so what? I also had much more debt than anybody in my family has ever had. Chris Matthews never lets anybody talk...he loves to hear himself and talk about old Iriish and Polish people from Philly...really????
Chris does have the irritating habit of asking a question and when someone begins to answer, he begins talking over them. If he finally stops to take a breath and someone tries to answer at that point, he talks again.
Who can we write to at MSNBC to get Chris to let people answer his own questions?
The same person should advise Matthews that he needs to enunciate, and speak clearly. I have never heard a more mumble-mouthed speaker in all my born days.
The reason I despise the reich wing party is they have no guts or class. The Democrats were handed an economy on the brink of disaster. They passed the bills that were necessary to save our economy from going over a cliff knowing fully well it could cost them their political careers. They put America first. The neocons like to proclaim themselves as the 'real' Americans which is laughable. Tonight Im more proud to be a Democrat than ever before.
I 100 per cent agree with you. We all should be proud to be progressive and continue to push for an America we all can be proud of.
I am perplexed by the duplicitous allusions asserted by Eric Cantor...he is as philosophically bereft as Sharon Angle and as pointless as Christine O'Donnell. Why he refuses to stand tall next to a certain fiscal commitment of ANY kind, is suspicious at best. Why we are settling for the "lowest common denominator" is an utter mystery.
Cantor's demeanor and lack of candor offers a 20/20 glimpse into the duplicitous and nefarious character of his political ambittions, philosophies, and understandings. It is finally time that all serious, informed, and genuinely progressive players lay their respective goals & positions open to the American people.
We are precariously poised on the ledge of indifferent commitment, and only the most intellectually honest of pols will prevail on behalf of the diligent and dedicated voters of the current American electorate. How is it that Truth has now become a dispensable commodity?
Also, I am deeply troubled by the fact that, at my polling station, I am not asked to provide any sort of legitimate identification. This is something that invites voter fraud, pure and simple. Why do we not push to make it a law that every voter must present a state or gov't identification card at the time they attempt to vote in any political election. Am I out of line for being so concerned about voter integrity?
Fake ID's are easy to come by as well. Any law passed my also pass the test of enforcability. Many times laws just make the 'evil forces' more cunning in how to circumvent those laws. As an example of that I give you the Citizen's United case that helped to refill the swamp with the best people money can buy.
What kind of argument is this:
Let's just make it easy for the "evil forces" instead of passing laws?
Cantor doesn't have to answer you, because he has power. He's not afraid to use it either, unlike so many Democrats. I can't stand the man and intend to spend the next two years in the fetal position. Republicans are ruthless and will show Democrats how power can be wielded. Expect many ugly things from Congress.
Cantor doesn't have the power! And he did answer the question, Ms. Maddow just didn't want to hear it!
RobDon,
Please explain to us what you heard Cantor say. The question you will remember was, 'how can you reduce the deficit while extending all of the Bush tax cuts'? If you look at just the 2003 tax cuts, that were predominantly for the upper 1% of income, by extending them leaves a $700 billion dollar hole in the budget. Eric Cantor went on his usual wild ride about a tax cut is a tax hike if the tax cut expires as the law requires. This analogy is the same old BS from the Congressional Republicans.
I think the question was a fair question, and Eric Cantor did not answer the question! Therefore, please tell us what you heard. What cuts will be made to pay for extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts thast are due expire on 31 December 2010?
Gladly, he stated, as he has during the campaign, the plan to roll back discretionary spending back to '08 levels that would save close to 1 trillion dollars over 10 years. Listen to the interview and then tell me where I'm wrong.
That's not an answer. That's a generalized statement with absolutely no specifics whatsoever. Do you really think that he'll take the military budget back to what it was? Do you really think he'll cut Veterans' benefits (you don't have to answer that last question if you don't want to. History says that the answer is yes.)
I'm okay with that opinion dkm. I don't know if he'll (republicans) will make those cuts or not. That's what this election seemed to be alot about, cut spending.
But I contend that he answered her question. If Ms. Maddow, like you, do not think he would follow through she should have addressed that.
To say return discretionary spending back to 2008 levels is an answer. He has been saying it all during his campaign even with more specifics. You can disagree or say he will not, but don't say he didn't answer the question.
Maddow's question to Cantor was, as elucidated above, "... what will you cut to compensate for that money, that loss in revenue?" [emphasis added]
I just think it is typical of you and MSBC to press a GOP member but never once ask how we are going to payback the 14 trillion dollars of debt that the President has put on hard working people, their kids and their grand kids. You wonder why you are last in the ratings.
Its a question that won't be asked because if they did a non-answer would be give...another talking point. That's all we had this cycle were talking points and no details. The average American wanted change but really didn't know why because they were told that they needed change. Change can be good but to change for the sake of change is insane.
People have been asking that question ever since Bush and the Republicans put their two wars, Medicare Plan D, and their tax cuts on the nation's credit card, but so far, the Republicans have ignored the question. As randy said, all we get from those folks are non-answers, just like Cantor did in his interview.
This morning in an interview I heard Rep. Boehner and Cantor repeat the phrase "the American people" at least a dozen times. I am an American person and I don't even closely agree with anything they say. Just wanted to get on the record.
The only thing that has changed is that the Republicans have gained control of the House and they will still be the party of no with one big exception it will be no, unless you do what we want. The saying "Be careful what you wish for" has come true and I can't wait to see the big failures that they will be making. The continued rhetoric from the Repugnicans with the B.S. line of discretionary spending will never be answered and extending the Bush Tax Cuts will a big fiasco for 98% of the country but they have no choice to extend them because their money got them into office. They had better reform campaign funding or it will be the same in 2012. I hope the Supreme Court is happy that they made it possible to buy your candidate. I think it's disgusting.
She most assuredly did ask where he would cut. Listen to the beginning of where she started asking questions. And Cantor didn't answer ANY of the questions he was asked. He didn't answer whether the Republicans would raise the deficit level. He didn't answer the question about whether he would raise the deficit itself by extending tax cuts to the rich. All he did was mouth a lot of platitudes.
I just watched the excerpt interviewing Rep Cantor, and I'm still confused that the interviewers didn't confront his claim that small businesses would suffer increases in taxes (not true, except for the very wealthy business owners), and that the rest of us would see out taxes rise (also not true). That seems to me to be low hanging fruit to confront the misrepresentation that the conservative wordsmiths used to turn the working/unemployed class against the progressives, who have done a tremendously good thing to stop the decline in our standard of living. I wish you well.
It's funny that Republicans are saying they have a peoples mandate and that President Obama should listen to it! When President Obama had a "Peoples mandate", by a landslide....did they listen to the "Peoples mandate"??? No they did not! So why should the Dems? They should say no to all historically failed policies and propaganda points....all of them. I repeat .... all of them! Give them nothing to hurt the Country again with. We tried them and they damaged America should be the answer.....then "hell no, stupid" should be the response. Besides, during the whole election, I did not hear any good policy or change from anyone on the Right. They now need to go on the field and come up with things that will work and they will find that President Obama, a thinking reasoning man, is already there. They will have a hard time finding such a workable policy without spending any money, adding to the deficit or deregulating Wall St. and getting the direct blame for it tanking again. Let them try! and tell them " were not going back to proven stupid ideas that didn't work"
No, we cannot afford to go back. Then if they can win control, like they had for 8 yrs, then they can govern...until then, the proof is clear, they don't know how and their philosophy is poisonous to average Americans. Jobs aren't coming back! There needs to be investment in new technologies like Obama was doing in order for good paying jobs to be created. We don't need more Walmarts...besides nobody has any money for more Walmarts. Croney Capitalism has reached it apex its now toxic for everybody, including the rich! Grow up and think people. Watch what happens. Without a robust economy, nobodies going to hire. Service jobs are all that America has left...without investment in education and new technologies America is over! The West and East Coast is where all the innovation comes from....and they spoke loud and clear yesterday.....They are going forward.....without the dumb Christian bigots!
They damage their childrens minds and souls with their lies....and their children move to L.A. and N.Y. as soon as they find out how they have been deceived! They are extinct and are too dumb to know it. Anti Science? Creationism? Give me a break. Half of America is worse than a third world country...at least they want and value education.
Kudos to Rachel & Lawrence for asking and re-asking the hard questions and demanding specific answers. We didn't get them, but it's nice to know that someone will ask.
Two comments that got by without a panel comment:
John Boehner didn't know what time it was. "The polls may still be open". Don't they have clocks in the RNC headquarters. You would assume that someone was following waest coast elections. JB, clueless or complacent?
John Boehner pulled the "Weasel Clause" (before midnight, I might add) absolving himself and the Republicans from all failures, while the polls were still open. He said "The President controls the agenda", therefore any time that the 112th Congress is successful, JB wins. Any failures, not my fault, Presidents agenda, his fault.
Of course Cantor did not answer a question.
Has any repubs answered any questions in years? I hear a lot of sound bits no substance. We get what we deserve Bonehead, and non con Canter and zombie Bachmann & Blackburn babble.
Let them balance the budget by giving the rich tax cuts!!!
I wish someone had asked Cantor when Obama's impeachment would start?
Clearly the repubs will not be happy till they can throw our president out of the white house.
They truly believe it is reserved for a white European-American.
Anyone listen to President Obama this PM
He clearly responded to all questions and was very careful to satisfy the reporters who were grilling him .... Ever since he entered the White House President Obama has said repeatedly that he wants to work with both parties to solve the issues
Somehow the party of "NO" missed those sound bites...
Frankly, my take on the exchange between Rachel and Cantor is that he avoided the question and was exceptionally condescending and demeaning. He had his usual cocky smirk expression as he chuckled. His arrogance is beyond description.
Stubby, you are exactly right. Cantor's smirk was beyond the pale. If I were a fighting woman and he within reach, blows might have been exchanged.
Cantor and Bachman sounded liked robots, never answering the questions, never getting off their message babble, BORING message babble.
Keep asking (demanding) real answers, please.
Is there anything to be done about the disgusting, 25 minute long,
Republican National Pac Ad?
It's funny but listen to any neocons BS rhetoric every day and I guarentee you you'll never hear the phrase 'Middle class'. Maybe it's not funny after all...
If they don't mention middle class then there is no middle class. Or at least thats what they are working on.