McCain: Obama blame game to ‘scare game’Sen. John McCain accused President Obama of using scare tactics by saying that he cannot guarantee older Americans will continue to receive their Social Security checks if there is no deal to raise the debt ceiling. “The president has now gone from the blame game to the scare game,” McCain said Tuesday in an interview on CNN’s “In The Arena.” “It's really, really unfortunate and it's demagoguery.” The Arizona Republican said he agrees with statements made on the Senate floor Tuesday by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who said “as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable.” McCain acknowledged, however, that there would be serious consequences if a deal’s not reached by August 2. He pointed out that the stock market would implode if a deal is not reached. “I mean people's savings would be dramatically reduced because the markets would tank.” McCain added, “The good faith and credit of the United States of America is called into serious question. McCain said Congress can come to an agreement well before August 2 deadline. He believes that a short-term agreement can be worked out, but he remained steadfast to the Republican argument that raising taxes is not something his party can agree to. “We have to have a commitment, one, not to raise taxes, but second of all, to make sure that we are on a path to a balanced budget,” McCain added, “It's not much more complicated than that.” |
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The Democrats are trying to protect Social Security and Medicare while the Republicans refuse to increase any revenues. Well it was the Republicans that cut taxes under G.W. Bush and started the war in Iraq and gave out a big increase in the Medicare drug benefit without paying for any of it. Social Security is paid for by working people and $2.4 trillion of it was borrowed by the government to pay for the tax breaks. Medicare is likewise paid for by a payrole tax deduction.
There can be no more short term solutions and no more protecting the rich at the expense of those who paid their dues. The rich won't create new jobs except to get richer but they don't give up their mansions, expensive clothes and pricey cars, they borrow the money for business. Democrats must stand up to this Republican Taliban. Cut the military budget, cut corporate welfare, cut ethanol subsidies, cut oil depletion allowances, even require that generics be tried first in Medicare but only accept a long term deal with revenue increases.
This is not the time to be arguing about reducing the deficit. If a person comes into ER with a gunshot wound and heart diesease you treat the friggin gun shot wound immediately and then you deal with the friggin heart disease. Stop conflating the two you morons.
All this President can seem to do is scare old people. How pathetic. Everyone knows he can choose to pay out of current receipts whatever bills he wants. He could choose to pay interest on the debt first. He could assure old people and tell them Social Security and Medicare will be paid second. He could tell the troops they are paid third. He could tell everyone else in washington you are paid last. His choice is to scare old people and tell them they will not get their checks on time.. THIS IS THE HOPE AND CHANGE YOU ALL VOTED FOR? As I said, this guy is PATHETIC. HE IS THE WORST OF ALL THE BAD POLITICIANS. Makes me wonder how he can sleep at night just knowing how much fear he just gave all the seniors. PATHETIC!!!
Bring back Spitzer.
What about President Obama's statement is a scare tactic? It is not a scare tactic, it is the truth, and unfortunately, many people don't seem to be capable of handling the truth. This is how inept and immature many Americans who claim that President Obama is playing scare tactics are. Rather they keep believing false myths from Republicans, mainly because they only hear what they want to hear despite its falsity. Republicans have even admitted that they're not going to run this government, rather they're going to do things that won't help the country, but rather hurt President Obama. For anyone who likes the Republicans obviously don't care about the country, rather they care only about getting rid of President Obama. N369RM (left a comment here earlier) is unfortunately one of those inept, immature Americans. It is sickening to see so many people blind to the truth, blind to facts. This country should be utterly ashamed of itself for all the fatuity roaming this country. This disappointment reaches a level of ineffability!
E.D made some very valid points with Senator McCain about the Republicans being unwilling to compromise. Most Republicans are fed up with our party and how they are doing their job. They have been wrong on their handling of the deficit raise and just about every other issue so far. Senator McCain has certainly lost his way...not the man I voted for in 2008.
E.D. should have called him on the many untruths he told though...Elliott would have caught them. One example would be questioning him further on the fact that he claims that he is finally willing to "talk" about cuts in Ethanol subsidies. What I want to know is where was he and the rest of our party when the Democrats tried to do the right thing by stopping the 40 billion dollars or so in yearly subsidies we are now giving to the oil companies? Was he one of the Republicans who encouraged Republican Congressmen to stop it from being voted on just a month or two ago?
How about corporate farm subsidies and corporate welfare? He should have been pinned down more on those possible cuts as well. I don't believe he is sincere though on any cuts to welfare for big business though whether it be Ethanol, Oil, Farms...or anything else.. I will only believe it when I see it.
Big business is all the Republicans stand up for now. Many of us in the Republican party realize this now and will remember it. We were scammed in 2010. We thought they were going to stop being the party of "no" and would also more jobs....we did not want the rich to keep the Bush tax cuts. Now they talked the President into extending the tax cuts for the wealthy and where are the jobs. We all see that job growth has slowed drastically this past month or two and the unemployment rate is rising,
Senator McCain knew that keeping the Bush tax cuts in place for those making over an amount like $500,000 a year would not create more jobs. . NEVER, ever, has any decrease in taxes created more jobs. He thinks the American people are ignorant and maybe even too stupid to check the facts. Also, the amount of 200K he mentioned has never been considered and 500K is the amount that has been discussed most often for quite some time now. He and the other Republicans know that...
I'm really very sad to hear Senator McCain repeating the untruths being spouted daily by other Republicans? What happened to the John McCain who served our country honorably so many years ago and could be trusted to tell it like it is. I haven't heard from that John McCain in a very long time now and I miss him. When the Republicans turned Senator McCain into "just another politician", I began to seriously lose faith in my party and now I think they have NO credibility whatsoever.
The only honest and reasonable thing that he said was his opinions about our relationship with Pakistan. That one was easy for him.
WE NEED Elliot to sparate "facts" form "fiction". E.D. did very well on the interview with the former Pakistan Ambassador to the USA. I liked her coverage of the Murdoch scandal as well. However, she is just not knowledgeable enough about Washington issues to handle interviews with Pres Nixon's act-alike, "Tricky Dick" Army from the National Tea Party or any Republican politicians. They are all allowed to get away with lie after lie.
This show and Wolf's show are the only shows that seem to try getting the facts out about political issues. You need Elliot or someone just like him back on this show. You need more like him on other CNN shows too. Otherwise, you need to stop talking about political issues because it is just too frustrating to watch. WAKE UP!!! You had a really good show here with Elliot...now please get it back.
I really need at least ONE republican to respond to the NUMBERS CNN is finally presenting over the course of the day. They speak boldly in theoretical, or better, theological (thanks Gloria B.) terms, but NOT A SINGLE ONE acknowledges the reality of what they're proposing. They say we have a spending problem; ok, effective Aug. 2nd, we have a real-world opportunity to practice what they're preaching. Who should we not pay?
It is TRULY ridiculous how a practice we've followed with little fanfare for years; in administrations of both parties, all of a sudden MUST come to an end now? For what reason, aside from theology and the relentless efforts to sabotage this president and protect their special interests at the expense of the entire company? Don't get me started on the candidates who think that the Fed, the Treasury, and Moody's are bluffing? To what end?
Unbelievable!
CNN PLEASE continue to display that comparative graphic showing the historical tax increases and decreases per administration and the resulting impact on employment. Maybe they'll find a better response by the time Anderson asks one of them tonight.
Obama is correct. When he's debating the numbers and they're responding with blind faith with no basis or supporting evidence in history, there's no point in continuing that discussion.
We tried "trickle down" economics once, it's pretty clear all the holes in the colander have been plugged. The top 3% are not making jobs; they're enriching their heirs' heirs at this point.
By the way, what President Obama said was not a scare tactic. Someone will not get paid if the money is not there to pay them. It was the truth. I just wish he would be so blunt with the truth more often instead of trying to cover up what the Republicans are trying to do to our country. He tries to compliment them so they will keep talking to him. The American people would rather hear the truth about what they are doing to keep our economy down.
We want to know what all of you are doing...especially the things that are done as favors to campaign donors regardless of the affect those "favors" have on the well being of our country. We want much, much more transparancy in these negotiated Washington deals and all the other actions taken by Washington politicians.