haha this should be good. When is Phil Gram going to be on?

I understand that he is going to spin whatever comes out of his month, anyway to ask him why he and the many other econ adviser to the McCain camp were so wrong on the economy?

GOP reform? i love to hear that, could it be tax cuts, tax cuts, no social programs,let the private market take care of everything since there doing a great job, just make it mandatory that everyone is bound to these leeches or did i get ahead of your guess?

Not a fan of the Republicans who seem to be the party of “no”. They have no ideas as far a I can see.

However Obama and the Democrats get an D at best.
The handling of the financial crisis has been OK except they have done nothing to rein the banks. They have done nothing to help the states, which are hemorrhaging.

The so called stimulus package seems to have only gone to the banks and AIG.

I’m not interested in anything this man has to say quite frankly as I did not like McCain at all.
They worked on his campaign, great one of the worse campaigns I can remember going back at least to Clinton.

i heard Eric Cantor on Good Morning America this morning talking about the Republican plan. How they have come up with a study saying that most people get their health care through their employers and that they would work with employers. he said that they would have employers continue employees health care even if an employee lost their job. i really dont understand these Republicans. how does that make any sense?

gabrielle it does not. It’s just wind, hot air.
It’s not a plan, it’s the same old same old. It’s what one has now. I am curious, what did Cantor say would happen after on loses their job? Apply for Cobra? Which is so expensive and absurd. I have never done this as it always cost way to much. Expect the former employer to keep paying for your health care? What was the plan?

I didn’t leave the Republican Party the Republican Party left me. Republicans’ curious obsession with gays, their pointless fixation on abortion, their moronic denial of basic science, and their penchant for starting billion-dollar-a-week wars left me sour. Abraham Lincoln and others founded the Republican Party on the ideas that all people share the same rights and that capitalism and science are good things that can make the world a better place. Now the Republican Party is, in the words of The Economist, the party of southern-fried moralism.

“Straight Talk on the GOP” from a GOP economic adviser? Is that a punch line? ROFLMAO

I’d much prefer to hear from experts on the subject rather than from a political hack spouting talking points, no matter the party. It would be nice to hear informed opinions from both sides of an issue.

Regarding the Bush administration’s preliminary “short-term” loans to the auto industry, didn’t officials all but admit that they were “kicking the can down the road”–and in the process allowing/forcing the Obama administration to make the decision on the fate of Chrysler and GM?

Republicans would have spent just the same if they were in power right now. And why not? They would have had a perfect cover for it – the crisis. What is it in their historical record that would lead one to believe they would reduce government spending in the face of this perfect opportunity to blow a trillion or two?

Would the automobile companies have survived a bankruptcy under McCain? Can you imagine America with just one American automobile company surviving the recession and a world dominated by foreign manufactures. Would the automobile companies would have had the same fate as the textile mills of America? Remember the money is an investment not a giveaway. Plans are we are to be repaid.

The GOP must dis-own the Bush years and go back to being the party of low taxes, promoting economic growth, defending our nations borders, and fiscal responsibility. That’s what America wants and needs, not the tax and spend, over-regulation, high energy costs, soft on terrorism, and moral debauchery that the Democratic party is currently serving up.

Obama should listen LESS to the GOP.

First of all, is there a coherent Republican critique of Obama’s policies? One has to sift through vast oceans of ridiculous fearmongering, such as the oft-repeated idea that Obama is a crypto-Muslim socialist who wants to destroy America.

Second of all, even if there is a coherent critique of Obama, what of it? I would rather have Obama listen to the interests and ideas of the VOTERS who actually SUPPORTED him. Folks like me, who were operating under the assumption that if we voted for this candidate, if he were elected, he would then carry out his campaign platform. Naive, perhaps, but what other option did we have? We want single payer health care. We want out of Iraq. We want an end to DOMA. We want transparency in government. We dream of seeing high government officials held accountable for breaking the law.

Why should Republicans’ desire to feel as if they matter trump the real-life concerns of the millions of people who put Obama into office? I don’t see it.

My question to Mr. Holz-Eakin: what are YOU doing to separate the coherent critiques of Obama from the dishonest fearmongering that characterizes most Republican criticism of Obama?

1)
What ever happen to monopolies?

AT&T was split up. Why not the banks?

2)
We have public health care now. You have to clam you have no money or work for the government.

Now one should be getting rich because someone is sick.

We all need public health care.

If most health care costs are incurred by individuals in the later years of life and if most individuals in the later years of life are covered by Medicare, don’t we already have sucessful socialized medicine and don’t private insurers by-in-large insure the healthy portion of the population and not bear the majority of the risk?

Mr. Holz-Eakin sounds reasonable! I disagree with his policies, but I feel I could engage him in conversation and learn something, as well as get my views heard. Why does his party not come to be so reasonable? Why must they be so loud and so incendiary? Perhaps moving away from their typical loudmouth message-delivery might get them a more substantial base than those who sympathize with crazy, fringe Americans who have chosen violent actions in recent weeks.

America would be better off for it!

Is Mr. Holtz-Eakin familiar with Van Jones’ work and his “Green Jobs for All” proposals? The imperative to build a more environmentally sustainable economy is a golden opportunity to create jobs and wealth that reaches all levels of society. Is this a pressing concern for Republicans? Why or why not?

I find it really difficult to take Republican criticism regarding management of the economy seriously. The financial industry got out of control due to the laissez-faire, deregulation, let-the-market-take-care-of-itself attitude that has been coming out of the Republican party and pumped down the American throat for the last thirty/forty years.

Tax holiday. How did I know he was going to say that was the solution? Of course. Government can’t do anything, right? Let’s bankrupt it further by not collecting revenue. Who needs roads and schools and police officers anyway?

Where was the criticism about the enormous deficit when we got into that war in Iraq? Billions spent there. We don’t even know how much and we probably never will.

I’m not comfortable with debt but how about one of the things we start to do less with is expensive military equipment and wars? We spend more on defense than all the world combined but you only hear the Republicans talk about cutting things like school lunch programs. Why is that?

Sadly, the Republican Party is going down.. Given their insistence on driving out so-called RINO’s; who are really the only people who might be able to save them.

They simply haven’t been able to adapt to the times.. their fiscal conservancy sounds good, but their dogged insistence on having government control over people’s personal and intellectual lives renders them abhorrent to the bulk of younger Americans..

They aren’t worth the trouble.

why should any of us… any of us listen to this man’s obfuscating lies? A single payer health system would save 400 billion dollars that could be used to cover everyone. That’s the profit that private insurance makes on our present system. Executives of these insurance companies wallow in this money. Why do you have him on your show. He will only air the lies of the rich. They have pledged up to 12 trillion to the banks, 2 trillion for wars, but want to cut medicare and medicaid, cut social security, and give the American people enough health care to drive them into bankruptcy. They have shipped our industrial base overseas so where are the new jobs in this jobless recovery. Where is the danger to our economic system with this plan? Ask him!

Sarah Palin debating Obama, now that’s something I would like too see.

I have voted primarily Republican over last 30 yrs until this year.

1) Palin and the rest just don’t seem very smart

2) The defense dept is a mess, the economy is a mess

due to
1) poor decision making (on the war)

2)No regulation. Big business and big banks had no oversight and took us down the tubes on GOP watch (CHristopher Cox et al at SEC, Paulson and the rest)

3. Conservatives? Biggest deficits ever under GOP rule

Why should I ever trust GOP to do the right thing? You seem out of ideas and vision.

BLAH! BLAH!, bLAH! YET ANOTHER WASHINGTON INSIDER WITH A CUSHY JOB AND A STEADY PAYCHECK TELLING US THAT THE REPUBLICANS CAN FIX EVERYTHING.

COME ON TOM! GIVE US SOME REAL PEOPLE WHO GET THEIR HANDS DIRTY. THE WORKING PEOPLE (WHO USED TO VOTE REPUBLICAN TILL THEY WERE SOLD OUT) JUST MIGHT HAVE THE REAL SOLUTION FOR BRINGING AMERICA BACK FROM THE BRINK.

A GOOD START WOULD BE TO SEND THE GREEDY FINANCIERS AND CORPORATE LOBBYISTS AND THINK TANK EGG- HEADS OUT TO PICK THE FARM CROPS – MAYBE THEY COULD LEARN TO DO THAT RIGHT…

What disturbs me greatly about the Republican position, as Cheney just stated so perfectly, is the need to WIN AT ANY COST. What we get is, “How can we package ourselves to sell the product,” rather than “What is in our package that meets the real needs of the broad spectrum of Americans?” Do the Republican think tanks deal with any but election strategy?

It is disturbing that Republican policy is based on the thinking of people who have arrived at the top and now live in comfort and financial security, all the while congratulating themselves that they lifted themselves up by their own bootstraps. We can now see clearly that capitalists won’t invest in anything that does not turn a profit. And there are many, many things that need doing, that do not assure a profit.

Is this guy nuts? Go back to Ronald Reagan? I bought a house – the interest rate was 13%!!!!!! Stockton is in big trouble for being a crook. Hmmm – lower taxes and go to war – what idiot thought that up???

Re Gabrielle’s posting:
I didn’t hear Eric Cantor’s pitch but I didn’t need to. It’s a perfect example of serving up old wine in new bottles. Everything he apparently holds up as an innovative strategy is being done already.
Employers already provide health coverage–with that hefty contribution deducted from your paycheck. However, health coverage is never provided for part-time workers, a direction employers have been moving toward for years.
The COBRA plan that initiated under Clinton covers a brief gap in employment, but you’d better be prepared to pay the monthyl premium of several hundred dollars.

What is a well-kept secret in all the discussion about the single-payer system is that we already have it in place–Medicare, and also the health benefits that government employees get, from the military on down.

Come on, who is the GOP trying to kid???

This man is selling somthing what is it? So far it’s been nothing but spinn. He has been a real republican in that he only weaved FEAR into everything. Only talking about what we don’t have but seems to forget that the Republicans created this situration now they sit back and complian and blame they talk about action but take a hands off, the public welfare, because they are not in “power”. How is it that after 12yrs they now have all the answers on how to fix what they built. Do All Americans think at a 3rd grade level? Obama is the only leader that seems to have had an actual thought of his own in years(since JFK).This Speaker seemed to be trained to hit all the republican talking points with only fear in between. WE would aready be in would war three if the republicans where still running things there(personal gain)way. There was such a one sided presentation that I was upset by this fear monger.

ASININE IDEA! THE MOST ASININE IDEA!!! Which idea is ASININE???!! The idea that health insurance REFORM should be taken care of by the states!!!

I live five minutes from the next state. IF I lost my job here and got a NEW JOB across state lines, I would have to completely CHANGE DOCTORS AND HOSPITALS, because the insurance carriers and regulations are completely different. I am NOT saying this theoretically; this IS what happens to people!!! I could see a situation where husband and wife qualified for two completely different and incompatible insurance systems because they lived in one state, but worked in different states. EVERY state, except Alaska & Hawaii, have this situation as a geographical given. This is NOT about those couples who live bi-coastal lives.

People are losing their jobs & HAVING to move to different parts of the country, IF they are LUCKY: there should be ONE, UNIFORM SYSTEM for health care, ESPECIALLY when people have PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS, and it should apply whether or NOT you have a job!!! People are losing their jobs & therefore losing their health insurance. This does NOT happen in most of the intelligent countries of Europe.

THERE SHOULD BE ONE, UNIFORM SYSTEM FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. If it has a private insurance component WITHIN that system, it should STILL be uniformly experienced by residents of the various states.

I was going to add this to my point above, but decided to stay on point re: health insurance/states. THEN, I went back and read ALL OF THE FANTASTIC COMMENTS PEOPLE MADE!!! Thank you, almost all! So, I will add my original thoughts, after all, altho they are NOT as articulate as what so many of you added to the discussion!

DO THESE CONSERVATIVE SPOKESMEN KNOW HOW TO THINK OUTSIDE OF THEIR OWN THEORIES, as in the Theory of Conservatism??? NO! NO! NO! You can use big words, but if you can’t think comprehensively – which you CANNOT DO when you think inside a box, which is what a THEORY is – you are NOT thinking in any intelligent, useful way!!! Theories are useful in science because they limit the data looked at, etc., etc. In politics, theories help people & parties to grand-stand. BUT, IN GOVERNANCE, theory MUST be thrown out of the window!!! COMPREHENSIVE THINKING — about how laws impact ALL citizens, not just party contributors – is required by those serving the PUBLIC in the multitudinous acts of GOVERNANCE!!! BAD education is fundamentally what got us INTO this absurd situation wherein too many powerful people CANNOT THINK, they can only SPOUT falsehoods!!!

TRUE conservatism WOULD provide for: universal health coverage (in the form of medical access, NOT monies for that wasteful middleman, the insurance industry); environmental protection; terrific education for all students, especially for the poor & disadvantaged; keeping good jobs within the area governed, not sending them overseas to benefit only those who collect dividends; diplomacy, not war; a food supply that is safe; water supply that is safe & that has NOT been sold to a foreign nation; transparent & firm regulation of the financial industry; decent & safe housing & neighborhoods for all; absolute insistence on full civil rights for all. These areas are the very ones that the Republican Party does NOT provide!!

Another point. WHY do so many people look at the health insurance systems of England, Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Italy and say, “OH, look at the FLAWS in their system”. Why don’t we look at both the SUCCESSES of those systems which the citizens of those countries ENJOY, and then decide how to TWEAK their systems to AVOID THE FLAWS??!! WHY does America have to REJECT the universal care idea entirely, instead of BUILDING A BETTER MOUSETRAP??!!! The dialog is always framed as YES/NO, rather than YES/BUT EVEN BETTER!!!

We’re so afraid of Socialism?? Well, we’re losing our JOBS BECAUSE OF CAPITALISM. It will almost ALWAYS seek the lowest wages, unless certain OTHER considerations and/or regulations are put into place. Those “considerations” might NOT be government driven, by the way. But, unregulated, unfettered Capitalism is as much OUR ENEMY as Socialism is, UNLESS (and this is MAJOR) you are in the dividend-collecting class. THAT is WHY we are still a NATION DIVIDED!!!! AND, THIS IS WHY we NEED politicians who are NOT from that class!!!

I was cheered by the positive words on education because American progress relies on it.

Can we tie success in public education to growth of the G.D.P.? Can public service and commercial output be integrated with public education?

—

Mr. Holtz-Eakin must be aware that a party that changes itself to follow the votes cannot by definition be called conservative.

Change in the conservative party must be overtly moderated by a principled debate within the Party.

Granted, there may be an intellectual argument for cynically chasing the, ‘core,’ of the Republican Party, but for those conservatives who embrace progress relying on one demographically diminishing group is unsustainable.

Furthermore, the core must not be used as pawns by the right or condescended by the left. They are our brothers and sister one and all.

The two political parties need each other for the country to remain healthy.

Tom,

is there no moderate republicans that u can speak too like the ones from maine?

i see the few moderates who are left to be the ones that can work together with obama, the dems to fix and help the country as a whole.

if like some say both sides need each other than vote out these obstructionist, who only can say no with no other option’s to bring to the table.

i looked at the proposal mccain and company had about the stim bill over 600 billion in taxes cuts.of course it was rejected. or the corp tax cut to 12.5 percent they trouted as well, lowering or cutting the dividends rates.

its illogical and frankly naive for some to think boths sides will work together when the republican party is only focus and looking out for there far-right base. Then others in the think tanks think only of fear, culture war, and figuring out the best way to spin issues to win just enough votes to destroy our economy again.

i much prefer 3 party system so i gleefully wish the republican to contiue and fail at what there doing to give rise to a 3 more moderate party. But i doubt they will, once the econ is back there find a way to start the culture wars and play on that

Oh dear.

My apologies to Mike.

I looked back at the past year’s archive and I could not find an long passages of quoted material from Mike. All of Mike’s comments appear original and thoughtful.

I should have taken the time to verify who I’m thinking about before writing. I am sorry. I will presume that was offensive and unfair. I will also look back to see why I may have developed a negative bias towards Mike.

btw who was cutting and pasting massive blocks of text?

Posted by frederic C., on June 22nd, 2009 at 3:03 pm EDT

I remember hearing McCain say “The economy is fine” the day before Bush declared we have a crisis and the public discovered that we have a financial meltdown in the making. Holz Eakin was McCain’s policy advisor at the time? What kind of advice was he giving McCain?
It seems that McCain didn’t know the economy was in trouble.

Holtz Eakin doesn’t seem to realize that medical care is a prime example of a market failure, and that private insurance companies are going to act in such a way as to prevent sick people from getting insurance, no matter what the regulations are. We need a public option. The idea of leaving it to the states is silly.
The results will be spotty and many will be without adequate insurance especially in the southern states, the bastion of the Republican party.

As far as the budget is concerned, Obama recognizes the coming deficits, and most of it will be due to Medicare. Obama has taken the initiative to determine best practices, publicize them, and proposes to cut out payments for volume of services, which drive overtreatment and costs. Holtz Eakin talked as if the Obama administration didn’t recognize the problem and wasn’t taking action.

It is the Republicans that oppose having the evil government get involved with medical care, and would prevent this problem from getting solved.

I didn’t really hear any impressive ideas from Holtz Eakin, despite his resume as advisor to presidents and presidential candidates.

This guy is a pretty smart cookie I’d say. If only more republicans could articulate ideas about the issues that really effect all of us (healthcare, education, environment) then they would likely be a much stronger party. Unfortunately to I do not hear republicans really speaking to these issues.

Holtz-Eakin said that one of the main ways to create more jobs is to untie the hands of small businesses and take the burden off them as much as possible. When I heard that I thought isn’t that exactly what public health care would do? It would take away the 2nd largest labor expense of any small business.

P.S. BTW, this show is a testament to NPR not having an incredible liberal bias like all the Republicans constantly accuse it off. Holtz-Eakin got a whole hour to express his views. No one shouted at him, called him names or threatened to cut his mic a la Fox News or conservative radio. It’s ironic that those sources accuse NPR of bias as they have a lot to learn about having a civilized debate.

OK, I admit it: I am perplexed. Is there some reason a former advisor to a soundly-defeated presidential candidate should be given an hour to expound on the winning candidate’s performance six months in to the presidency? Is there some pent-up demand for speculation on “what would McCain have done”? …. not like there’s any real news (health care, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, tobacco bill, &c) out there today….
Please, could you at least try to be relevant?!

In reference to future job creation:
We are going through a population shift that will dimish jobs, but I think more people will create more businesses. You will see people becoming employers rather than employee’s.
I have been in business for 21 years and have 4 employee’s, of which 3 depend on us for their livelihood. I need more help, but can’t afford it now. There is nothing out there in the form of stimulus money, grants or monetary help to keep us in business or help new businesses grow, yet this may be the largest job growth segment in the economy now.
Gloria

The Republicans should endore the idea of a gov. sponsored medical insurance but also push to downsize the size of government. (WIC, Foodstamps, Dept. Of Education, Student Loans, etc) to pay for it. Give everyone a choice, “Do you want some help with medical insurance or do you want peanut butter).

Obama should not let republicans get in the way. The American people elected Obama not McCain. The republican economic policies have failed. They call themselves conservatives, but they have blown up the deficit and bankrupted the economy. Republicans decided that the only way of “saving” the economy was to bail out banks. Unfortunately this top down approach does not work. The rich become richer while the middle class and the poor see their purchasing power go down.

Ron Paul’s brand of conservatism is the future of the GOP. He’s the only one in the party with any kind of grassroots support. He is the only one in the GOP that is 100% consistent in his rhetoric and voting record, and is the only one that honors his oath to protect the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. He voted against the Patriot Act and against the Iraq War. He is a friend to liberty and freedom, and an enemy to the corporatism and corruption that plague our government.

Support HR 1207 – the bill to audit the Federal Reserve – find out what they did with $2 trillion of the public’s money.

Given that the economy has only worsened under the current administration and that we have nothing for the trillions that have been spent the last 6 months, I welcome some new thoughts from the opposition. With all the stumbles, broken promises, and deficits; the monopoly power in DC cannot go unchecked or we risk complete ruin.