You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (7)

PLAYS: (28)

These people can't stop lying. Peggy Noonan carries some water for the Republicans and pretends that President Obama and the Democrats in Congress haven't reached their hands out to Republicans again and again only to get them slapped, like accepting 160 Republican amendments on the health care bill without a single vote to show for it. She says that the President needs to piss off his base, as though she does not know how badly he's done that already. She also thinks we need more "seriousness" in Washington. Well maybe we'd get some of you and your fellow Villagers quit remaking reality for them Nooners.

MR. GREGORY: And--but here's--one of the big questions that came up this week is what is--do Americans listen to these two congressmen and say, "This is petty politics," or do they say, "This is sincere ideological division. What you really need is better leadership in Washington to cut through all of that."

MS. NOONAN: Well, I think it probably would have helped if the president, when he came in so strong having won by 9.5 million votes just more than a year ago, if he had come forward with more centrist ideas and very bravely reached out to Republicans, even to the point of alienating or frightening or putting off a little bit of his base. I think that didn't happen.

Overall, though, I think Washington is not broken. Bipartisanship is very possible, but we see too much bipartisanship in terms of passing bad things. There's always--the bastion of unity in Washington is the Appropriations Committee, also. They're always coming together to spend. Other issues that are not so easy spending have less unity.

And, look, overall we need more seriousness. Both parties have to remember they are here during a crisis, an ongoing crisis for serious reasons. They all get together, the Republican conference and the Democratic conference, once a week for lunch, and I know from people who are at those lunches that they spend 98 percent of the time talking about how to trip up the other guy and 2 percent of the time on policy.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (188)

PLAYS: (1022)

The anti-incumbent feeling in the U.S. will not lead to Democrats losing the House, according to Rep. Chris Van Hollen. The Democratic senator was quoted as saying anyone who thinks that Republicans could take control of the House is in "la-la land."

He didn't back down from his comments Sunday. "I have always said, David -- way back a year ago, after the election of Barack Obama, I said this would be a tough political cycle," Van Hollen told NBC's David Gregory Sunday.

"The idea that [Republicans] will be measuring the drapes is clearly -- they are high on their own hype," he said.

(Nicole:) The polls back Van Hollen up, not that silly things like facts will ever stop conservative bobbleheads in predicting doom and gloom for the Democratic Party. From Polling Report:


Hell, look at Barack Obama's favorability ratings from the GOP's personal propaganda arm:

And that's after months of unrelenting negative coverage.

So GOP, don't go counting those chickens just yet...we've got a long way to go to get this country back on track after your years of horrible leadership, but the country isn't prepared to let the people who ran this ship aground back at the helm just yet.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (348)

PLAYS: (786)

Gen. David Petraeus has served with gays and lesbians and believes troops may not care if the military's discriminatory Don't ask, don't tell policy is repealed.

"Do you think soldiers on the ground in the field care one way or the other if their comrade in arms are gay or lesbian?" asked NBC's David Gregory.

"I'm not sure that they do. We'll see," replied Petraeus.

"I know, I served, in fact, in combat with individuals who were gay and who were lesbian in combat situations. Frankly, you know, over time you said, hey, how's this guy shooting or how is her analysis or what have you?" explained Petraeus.

The general supports Secretary Gates' plan to review the law. "There is a process at work here now, David. I think that it is a very sound and good process," he said.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (625)

PLAYS: (4826)

I still can't understand why David Gregory has a job, when it takes another reporter from another network to show the hypocrisy Gregory's own guests are displaying right at his Meet The Press desk.

Fareed Zakaria argued on February 4 that the budget Obama inherited was completely broken in the first place, first by the Bush tax cuts and secondly by the prescription drug plan for the elderly and two wars that were "off budget." The Bush Administration set the next several generations up with a massive budgetary mess that will not go away with politics running the governmental show.

But Zakaria points out that even those who are NOT elected officials, including Hank Paulson and Alan Greenspan, are so subservient to the corporate overlords that they will not hear of rescinding the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy even after they wail over the horrible-ness of the deficits.

Until some grown-ups run the show in Washington, our Federal financial house will be a condemned hovel.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (739)

PLAYS: (6840)

Like I said, if MSNBC cared about their ratings, Rachel Maddow would be hosting Meet the Press. Here she does David Gregory's job for him and corrects Rep. Aaron Schock for repeating the talking point that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab quit talking after he was read his Miranda rights and she points out that this was not an issue until a Democratic administration took office.

MR. GREGORY: Are Republicans and Republican attacks against this administration helping al-Qaeda?

REP. SCHOCK: Absolutely not. And I think it's insult to most Americans to suggest that their elected representatives who are carrying their views and the message of, of the majority of Americans to Washington and to this debate are somehow helping al-Qaeda. Mind you, these are the--many of these Democrats, including Mr. Brennan who served in the last administration, faced many of these same attacks under then-President Bush from, from the left. So the idea that we can't challenge the administration and their view on the fight on terrorism is completely bogus.

MR. GREGORY: What happened to Democrats when they challenged President Bush in the same way?

REP. SCHOCK: Well, some of the same, some of the same claims were made against them.

MR. GREGORY: Right.

REP. SCHOCK: But at the end of the day, we're representing mainstream America and the majority of views. And, and whether it's closing Guantanamo Bay and moving it to the heartland of America, whether it's the, the--trying these folks in downtown New York, whether it's Mirandizing terrorists who come to this country to attack us, the majority of Americans have not bought, do not believe that Obama and his administration is right on these policies.

MR. GREGORY: So you don't support the way the president is prosecuting the war on terror?

REP. SCHOCK: No.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (673)

PLAYS: (6123)

From Meet the Press Rachel Maddow calls out Rep. Aaron Shock for taking credit for what the stimulus bill has done for his district while at the same time touting his vote against the stimulus bill. Schock tries to shift the argument to whether any Republicans were included in drafting the bill or not. David Gregory follows up and asks Schock if that means he won't take any federal money for his district or not and Schock responds that he thinks it is a ridiculous argument and is Rachel Maddow going to give back her Bush tax cuts she rails about and says his district deserves their share of federal spending. As Rachel points out though, that's not the problem but rather the rank hypocrisy of voting against something and then touting it.

If MSNBC actually cared about their ratings on this show, they'd get rid of Gregory and let Maddow host it.

MR. GREGORY: Congressman Schock, where are the Republicans going to be on this?

REP. SCHOCK: Well, look, I think, unfortunately, it's more of the same. I mean, all of this talk about bipartisanship, and yet the rhetoric doesn't match the reality. As David Brooks mentioned, there was some, some Republicans who worked with Democrats in the Senate to come up with a jobs bill only to have their leadership put the kibosh on it. We, we are for creating long-term economic growth. You do that by incentivizing entrepreneurialism, risk taking, and investment. You do that through creating certainty in the markets through certain tax incentives. And that's where we'll be on a jobs bill.

MR. GREGORY: So it sounds like you're--you like what the Democrats are doing here?

REP. SCHOCK: Well, I don't like all the pork that was in the bill. Seven hundred eighty-seven billion dollar stimulus bill, the largest spending bill in, in history, one of the reasons why it didn't create long-term growth is it didn't have stimulative tax cuts in it, but rather a lot of pork and spending.

MS. MADDOW: Which are the least stimulative things in the stimulus. I mean, when you assess what creates jobs, in the stimulus band it's the tax cuts that were put in in order to try to win Republican votes that didn't come anyway that are the least effective thing in the stimulus bill. So the theory doesn't match the practice here.

But, I mean, you, in your district...

Continue reading »

In the politest possible way, Joe Biden tells David Gregory on "Meet the Press" that Dick Cheney is a lying bag of dog doo in his attacks on how the Obama administration is handling terrorism. Cheney appeared this morning on "This Week", clearly laying the groundwork to blame the Obama administration in the case of another terrorist attack. Why do I get the feeling he's actually rooting for one?

DAVID GREGORY: Let me ask you about some of the criticism that's been leveled at this Administration by former Vice President Dick Cheney. He has argued that this Administration has failed to treat the fight against terrorists as war. He cites the decision related to Khalid Sheik Muhammad to offer him a civilian trail as one example. Giving the Christmas Day Bomber the privileges of the American criminal justice system is another example. The decision to shut down the Guantanamo Bay prison. What do you say?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Let me choose my words carefully here. Dick Cheney's a fine fellow. He's entitled to his own opinion. He's not entitled to rewrite history. He's not entitled to his own facts. The Christmas Day Bomber was treated the exact way that he suggested that the Shoe Bomber was treated. Absolutely the same way. Under the Bush Administration there were three trials in military courts. Two of those people are now walking the streets. They are free.

There were 300 trials of so-called terrorists and those who engage in terror against the United States of America who are in federal prison and have not seen the light of day. Prosecuted under the last Administration. Dick Cheney's a fine fellow, but he is not entitled to rewrite history without it being challenged. I don't know where he has been. Where was he the last four years of the last Administration?

DAVID GREGORY: What about the general proposition that the President according to former Vice President Cheney doesn't consider America to be at war and is essentially soft on terrorism? What do you say about that?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I don't think the Vice-- the Former Vice President Dick Cheney listens. The President of the United States said in the State of the Union, "We're at war with Al Qaeda." He stated this-- and by the way, we're pursuing that war with a vigor like it's never been seen before. We've eliminated 12 of their top 20 people. We have taken out 100 of their associates. We are making, we've sent them underground. They are in fact not able to do anything remotely like they were in the past. They are on the run. I don't know where Dick Cheney has been. Look, it's one thing, again, to-- to criticize. It's another thing to sort of rewrite history. What is he talking about?

DAVID GREGORY: You have often said, when I've asked you and others, that you never impugn a man's motives. But why do you think Dick Cheney is speaking out and being so critical of the President and the Administration so publicly?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: I don't know. I-- I-- I'm not gonna guess about his motive. All I know is he's factually, substantively wrong. On the major criticisms he is asserting. Why he's insisting on that. He either is misinformed or he is misinforming. But the facts are that his assertions are not accurate.

DAVID GREGORY: You would not be this outspoken or critical when you're out of office. Is that fair to say?

VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, I-- I-- I would hope I-- look, it's one thing to be outspoken. It's another thing to be outspoken in a way that misrepresents the facts. And I-- I guess-- again, I-- it's almost like Dick is trying to rewrite history. I can understand where the-- why that would be-- you know, an impulse. And maybe he isn't-- literally, I'm not being facetious. Maybe he's not fully informed of what's going on. I mean, the progress we have made. There has never been as much emphasis and resources brought against Al Qaeda. The success rate exceeds anything that occurred in the last Administration. And they did their best. I'm not-- I'm not impugning their effort. It's simply not true that the President of the United States is not prosecuting the war against Al Qaeda with a vigor that's never been seen before. It's real. It's deep. It's successful.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (484)

PLAYS: (760)

Oh yes, who better to bring in than Hank Paulson and Alan Greenspan to ask how we get the economy and the job market turned around in the United States? I know I always want to hear from the people who helped take a wrecking ball to something for advice on how to put it back together. Paulson says we need more certainty with how the financial markets are regulated for job growth. I'd love for someone to explain to me how letting the bankers and Wall Street know that we don't want them to act like casinos with our money any more has anything to do with whether we have businesses hiring Americans or not. Both of these guys didn't think we needed any regulations when they were running the show. Now that our economy is in the ditch, David Gregory thinks we should be taking their advice on how to fix it.

DAVID GREGORY: We're back and joined now by Henry Paulson, the Former Treasury Secretary and Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Welcome both of you back to-- Meet The Press. Dr. Greenspan, here was the headline in the New York Times yesterday, after that Friday jobs report. And it was this. Jobless rate falls to 9.7 percent giving hope that the worst is over. Does this jobs report signal a turn around?

ALAN GREENSPAN: It doesn't signal a turnaround, but what it does say that a turnaround, which has already occurred is moving, but not in any aggressive manner.

DAVID GREGORY: And-- and-- Secretary Paulson, if you look at the jobs lost since the recession began, 8.4-- million jobs over that time horizon. The question is-- what's gonna cause a turnaround. When do you see this-- this jobless rate actually stay in the single digits?

HENRY PAULSON: Well, the economy is clearly recovering. And I have-- great confidence that-- we have such a dynamic private sector in this-- in this country, that they're eventually gonna begin creating jobs. Now, one of the factors, not the only factor, but one of the factors that will help is more certainty-- with regard to-- to actions out of Washington. And for instance-- certainty with regard to-- financial regulatory reform will-- will help.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (587)

PLAYS: (911)

Steve Benen made a really great point about this segment from Meet the Press yesterday.

The remarks should make it pretty clear that Republicans have no interest in working with Democrats on finding solutions to pressing policy challenges. But here's the thing that so often gets lost in the discourse: Republicans are the minority party, which means it's their job to oppose the majority's agenda.

[...]

But if Boehner's right about this -- and I believe he is -- then why in the world is it incumbent on the Democratic majority to work with Republicans to find "bipartisan" answers to every question? If Boehner has no intention of "coming together" with Dems in the middle -- a reasonable, albeit rigid, position -- why must the political establishment maintain the fiction that the governing majority is doing something awful unless they bring the discredited minority on board with every proposal? Read on...

Good question Steve. If Republicans can't even be honest with their arguments and have to continue with this "most liberal Senator" lie and calling compromised positions "leftist" and have made it crystal clear that they aren't going to work with Democrats, why are the Democrats constantly propping up the minority when they don't have to?

Transcript below the fold.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (713)

PLAYS: (1006)

Unbelievable. Everyone knows the Republicans think we need absolutely no regulation of anything what so ever but they generally don't say it out loud this bluntly. Of course we didn't get any follow up from David Gregory asking him how being smart has anything to do with making insurance companies behave.

Gregory: You don't want government in charge of health care, yet you're a supporter of portable health insurance; the ability to take health insurance across state lines, but I thought the Republicans were states' rights guys and didn't want -- because you'd have to have some kind of Federal regulatory agency to monitor that kind of portability, wouldn't you?

Boehner: No, you wouldn't have to. What we're saying is the American people ought to buy health insurance across state lines. They ought to buy health insurance where they get the policy that they need for themselves and their family at the best price.

Gregory: And there wouldn't have to be some sort of Federal regulatory agency...

Boehner: Well no! That's the whole point. The President said I'm for that but you know there has to be some bureaucrat in Washington that needs to make sure that this is done fairly. The American people are smart enough to do this on their own.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (697)

PLAYS: (951)

Sometimes it's all I can do to stop myself from throwing something through the TV screen, like this morning when David Gregory kept pushing David Axelrod about moving to the center.

Now, I have to admit: It's been a shock for America to adjust to our radical new single-payer health care system, having the troops pulled out of the Middle East, and the president nationalizing the banks and resurrecting FDR's WPA, putting America's unemployed back to work -- all in the first year.

Yeah, in what freakin' universe?

If I ever have occasion to be in an elevator with David Gregory, I will have to ask him one burning question: "Just where the hell do you think the middle is?"

MR. GREGORY: Let me move on to domestic matters and that pretty extraordinary appearance on Friday in Baltimore at the House Republican retreat. The president came there, a kind of British style question-and-answer period. He even gets the blueprint for the Republican agenda from the House side. I wonder whether the decision to accept that invitation-- was there recognition on the president's part that if he wants to be more than a one-term president, he's got to govern from the middle?

MR. AXELROD: You know, David, I'd say a few things about that. First of all, the decision to attend was not a last-minute decision on our part, it was, it was, it was on the calendar, we were aware of it. The Republican caucus had been good enough to extend that invitation. And this is something that--we had visited the caucus before. But it's interesting the way you asked the question: Does he, does he--did he do it because he wants to be more than a one-term president? We don't sit around in the White House making calculations on that basis. The president of the United States has one concern, which is how do we move this country forward, how do we get people back to work, how do we lift incomes, how do we build some security for the middle class who have been facing economic challenges not just through this recession but for a decade or more? And, and that's what he's thinking about. And if we can get some cooperation from the other side to do that, we're going to be a stronger country for it. That's why he went to the caucus, and that's why we're going to continue to have a dialogue with Mr. Boehner and others.

MR. GREGORY: Does he feel, does he feel like he has to move to the middle to achieve?

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (554)

PLAYS: (889)

The Congress shouldn't consider important civil rights issues while the country is facing a recession and two wars, according to the House Minority Leader. NBC's David Gregory asked John Boehner about President Barack Obama's call to end the military's controversial "Don't ask, don't tell" policy. Boehner believes this is the wrong time.

"In the middle of two wars and in the middle of this giant security threat, why would we want to get into this debate?" Boehner asked.

"While at a time when Americans are asking where are the jobs, why do we want to get in this debate?" he continued.

The House Minority Leader continued his argument, "While we're fighting over health care and trying to find some way to come to common ground, why do we want to get into a divisive debate that will do nothing more than distract the real debate about helping to get our economy going again and getting American people back to work."

Obviously not all Americans agree with Boehner. People took to twitter to voice their dissent. "Boehner, there will NEVER b a perfect time 2 address #DADT. if not now, WHEN? what a load of crap!" Jenci Spradlin wrote.

Simon Byrd of Burnsville, Minnesota sees an economic benefit to ending the discriminatory military policy. "'Why are we debating DADT when we should be debating getting people back 2 work?' sez Boehner. Because it WOULD result in gays having JOBS??" he asked.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (48)

PLAYS: (153)

I think I like the Bobblespeak translation of Peggy Noonan's hackery on Meet the Press better than the real thing. For a good laugh go read the whole post then compare it to the actual transcript.

Dionne: Obama needs to be like Reagan and speak in nonsensical parables

Gregory: he also needs have mindless optimism

Noonan: yes Reagan and Obama were both young Presidents

Gregory: um what?

Noonan: also Reagan had a clear plan - incite racial resentment, appear in front of a lot of flags and, build up the deficit and leave the problem for later

Gregory: people loved that

Actual hackery below the fold with Peggy Noonan still banging that we're a center-right country drum. Sorry Peggy, but we're not.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (39)

PLAYS: (78)

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says that President Barack Obama would have had more support in the Senate if he just governed more towards the middle. "As I've said all year, if he wants to meet us in the middle of the political spectrum we'll be there to help," McConnell told NBC's David Gregory Sunday.

For McConnell, the president's whole problem is that he isn't moderate enough. "The president decided to go hard left," he said. "That's why he doesn't have many of my members. If he chooses to govern in the middle he will have broader support," said McConnell.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (561)

PLAYS: (2256)

President George W. Bush is warning Americans not to fall for scams trying to raise money off the disaster in Haiti.

"I need to put a pitch in for the clintonbushhaitifund.org," Bush told NBC's David Gregory. "One of my concerns is shysters show up and take advantage of people's good will and generosity. So people want to help, one avenue besides the established NGO's would be to tap on that website and we'll help make sure your money is spent in a transparent accountable way," he said.