Brett Baier's Panel On the Debt Ceiling

I was watching The Fox Report a while ago and the panel (Juan Williams, Rick Klein of ABC, and Charles Krauthammer) discussed the debt ceiling debate.  Juan Williams said that "the American people side with the president in this debate." 

Both Stacy McCain and Ed Morrissey have posts to refute that CBS poll to which I believe Juan refers so I'm not sure Juan is entirely correct.  I would venture to say (even without a poll) that a large number of Americans are tired of the massive government spending and want a smaller government.

Juan Williams blamed much of Republican resistance on "Tea Party members" and said McConnell's plan was not accepted by the Tea Party members.  I suspect those freshman members remember quite clearly how they got to Washington in the first place and are reluctant to turn their backs on the constituents who sent them there with clear intent.

It does seem, though, that Republicans may have a communications problem as Charles Krauthammer said, "They're losing the PR battle.  Obama has managed ... to spin this" however he wants.  Krauthammer suggests there is one way out:  Republicans need to pass a short term, say five months, resolution with $1.5 trillion in cuts.  There is no way Obama can veto it with any reasonable argument.  While Obama insists we all rise above politics on this issue, he wants "a big deal" so it won't come up again before his election in 2012.  Talk about politicizing!  Krauthammer might be correct in supporting a short term deal as it would certainly avoid the dreaded default issue and it would all but remove the posturing.  For now.

Senator TomCoburn has his own plan - reduce the size of government, cut $3 trillion from entitlement reform, $1 trillion in defense, $3 trillion in discretionary spending, etc. Juan Williams discounted this plan as "too large!"  He says that if you have such a sharp cut in government spending it would drag the whole economy down.   I think Juan is missing a big part of the picture.  The private sector needs to be stronger, not government.

Rick Klein of ABC scoffed that Republicans "don't want revenue on the table at all."  Revenue is, of course, synonymous for "higher taxes."  It's the new euphemism.  

Krauthammer pointed out that Obama has increased discretionary spending over 25%.

On the 2012 election, Qunnipiac has romney ion the lead at 25, Bachman at 14%.

The panel then turned to the 2012 election and the possibility of Rick Perry's entrance into the race; Perry is feeling the call, he says.

All Baier's panelists seem to think that Perry will run.  Williams pointed out that Rick Perry has a good economy in Texas and he will take momentum away from Michelle Bachmann.  "He could be a big player," he said.

No mention on the panel tonight about Obama's plan to veto "Cut, Cap, and Balance" should it get to him, or his likely veto of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act which would actually cause Obama to put some skin in the game as he's asked us to do.

Because the START Treaty is So Much More Important Than The Economy...

If nothing made clear the differences between conservatives and liberals before, Juan Williams surely did on Fox this morning.

Consider this article from Karl Rove in the WSJ this morning regarding the extension of the Bush tax cuts which says (emphasis mine):

If that happens, every worker will receive a smaller paycheck in the New Year. This will happen regardless of what action the new Congress takes—because the Treasury Department must very soon send employers and payroll processers instructions for 2011 tax withholding. If no bill passes in the next 10 days, the Treasury Department will have to assume the Bush tax cuts expire and order more withheld from everyone's pay.  The impact would be dramatic. H&R Block's Tax Institute, for example, has estimated that a married couple earning $80,000 will receive $221.48 less in each bimonthly paycheck starting in January, just when Christmas bills show up.

And Juan Williams tried to argue that Americans are more interested in the START treaty and the DREAM act.  Seriously?  

Senate Republicans have sent a letter to Harry Reid saying basically, we aren't doing ANYTHING until we do taxes.

You tell me.  What do YOU want Congress to deal with first in this lame duck session?  Tax cuts?  START?  Amnesty? 

Friday Sift - Williams, Noonan, and More

It's Friday morning and the end of a wild work week; not to go into too much detail here, but it's homecoming week and, well, things are a little out of order during homecoming week which always presents new challenges.  It seems students do best with structure and things during homecoming week are, well, shall we say a little less structured, so I think we're all actually looking forward to getting back to normal next week even though it's all been a lot of fun taking part in the various homecoming activities.  I've got to get to school a little early today so I'm in a rush this morning.  I'll share a Happy Friday picture with you of Milly's cute dogs for our Friday sift:

Here are some quick Friday links:

Be sure to catch Peggy Noonan's column; this makes two weeks in a row I've pointed to her work.  The woman that waxed rhapsodic over Obama seems to be coming back to the light, but let's not get our hopes up yet.  She does, however, correctly assess the role of the tea party, I think, when she writes:

The first: the tea party is not a "threat" to the Republican Party, the tea party saved the Republican Party. In a broad sense, the tea party rescued it from being the fat, unhappy, querulous creature it had become, a party that didn't remember anymore why it existed, or what its historical purpose was. The tea party, with its energy and earnestness, restored the GOP to itself.

snip

The tea party did something the Republican establishment was incapable of doing: It got the party out from under George W. Bush. The tea party rejected his administration's spending, overreach and immigration proposals, among other items, and has become only too willing to say so. In doing this, the tea party allowed the Republican establishment itself to get out from under Mr. Bush: "We had to, boss, it was a political necessity!" They released the GOP establishment from its shame cringe.

There's more; read it all.

Charles Krauthammer is in classic form this morning:

Opening a whole new branch of cognitive science — liberal psychology — Obama has discovered a new principle: The fearful brain is hard-wired to act befuddled, i.e., to vote Republican. 

He seldom misses the mark and he is, this morning, discussing Obama's explanation for his falling numbers.

Emilio Karim Dabul has a nice defense of Juan Williams:

Anyone who cares about freedom of speech should protest what has been done to this decent and fair man. And even if that were not the case, even if Mr. Williams' views made him a detestable ogre to most, he still has the right to voice them. For many Americans, NPR's consistent tilt to the left has caused them to reject it as a viable source of news. 

That conversation got some lively play in the comments on this blog yesterday.

In a "got to see it to believe it moment," here is Harry Reid claiming to have saved the world.

Finally, would someone go down to The Keys and poke Bride of Rove?  She's too quiet and I'm getting worried about her. 

Have a Happy Friday; the weather is gorgeous here and I'm going to enjoy some of that this afternoon, then Steve and I are off for Prime Rib at the Barksdale Club tonight ... and then over to Hangar 2 to visit our mugs.

Fox All Stars Ought to Be Interesting Tonight: Will Williams Be on the Panel?

Juan Williams has been fired by NPR for exercising his right to free speech.  NPR claims Williams was let go because he expressed fear of Muslims on airplanes while on The O'Reilly Factor Monday evening.  The real truth seems to be something a little different, however.  NPR has never approved of Williams doing commentary on Fox News and has chastised Williams for stepping off the reservation in the first place.  "He tends to speak one way on NPR and another on Fox," Alicia Shepard of NPR said.

This started when O'Reilly asked Williams about "the Muslim dilemma" in the United States.  O'Reilly said O’Reilly said, “The cold truth is that in the world today jihad, aided and abetted by some Muslim nations, is the biggest threat on the planet.” Williams agreed and responded:

I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” 

Mr. Williams also made reference to the Pakistani immigrant who pleaded guilty this month to trying to plant a car bomb in Times Square. “He said the war with Muslims, America’s war is just beginning, first drop of blood. I don’t think there’s any way to get away from these facts,” Mr. Williams said. 

The context of the response is O'Reilly's reference to extremist Muslim jihad.  He was not referring to peaceful Muslims living quietly as the rest of us do.   It's all about the context.

Yet NPR saw an opportunity to get rid of Williams because he wasn't following the party line.  I've disagreed with Williams on many issues;  some of the things I've heard him say on Fox All Stars leave me agape, but I've never disputed his right to say them.

In February, Politico reported that NPR was receiving pressure from their listeners over correspondents Mara Liasson and Juan Williams appearing on Fox News.  NPR disputed this story.  Yet here we are.

If NPR wants to get rid of Williams because they want commentators all spewing the same "kumbaya" pablum rather than one who speaks the truth, challenges the issues, and expresses an honest opinion, then by all means cut Williams loose.  But don't challenge Fox News that they aren't "fair and balanced" when you dismiss any semblance of balance and don't pretend you're doing it in the pious name of taking offense when your real purpose is there in plain view for us all to witness.

Afterthought:  There may be more to the story, as there often is, and we should wait and see.  It occurs to me that this might be like the "firing" of Marc Lamont Hill from Fox in October 2009 yet Hill continued to appear on many Fox programs as an analyst.  Maybe that will be the case with Williams and NPR.  Time will tell.

(More on Memeorandum)