Sunday, February 13, 2011

TODAY ON THE SUNDAY TALK SHOWS

FOX NEWS SUNDAY
Rep. Paul Ryan defends Republicans' budget plans
Chris Wallace asked U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) how cutting stimulus spending would help the economy, when many economists - along with Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue - argue that some investment is needed to spur job creation. Ryan responded that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had told congressional Republicans that cutting spending would "send a signal to the markets, to the small businessmen and women of tomorrow," giving them confidence to start hiring. "I am not worried about Washington cutting too much spending too fast," he added. Asked about cutting entitlement spending, something the current Republican budget cuts don't touch, Ryan said the caucus needed time: "I can't tell you what our budget's gonna look like."

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) spoke on his own record on spending cuts, saying the libertarian CATO Institute was mistaken when it gave him a 'C' for fiscal policy. He explained that he raised taxes on cigarettes in his state "for health reasons, not for budget reasons," and that taxes had been so low they were out of line with the rest of South. On his poor showing in the CPAC straw poll, Barbour pointed out that the poll closed before he spoke, and said that many young conservatives had told him after his speech that they wished they could have voted for him.

ABC: THIS WEEK
Newt Gingrich: Obama should have reached out to Mubarak quietly
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R) criticized the Obama administration's response to the crisis in Egypt, saying the White House should have stood by Mubarak publicly while privately pushing him out. "You do it quietly, because every other potential ally in the world is watching you. And if they see you publicly abandon somebody who's been with you for 30 years, they wonder, why should I trust the United States?" At the same time, he says, "It's the courage of the Egyptian people that made that possible and we should be encouraging and reinforcing that courage." As for what the U.S. should do now, Gingrich said U.S. officers should reach out to friends in the Egyptian military and tell them, "You don't want to own the country, because then you own every problem and you can't solve them."

NBC: MEET THE PRESS
Boehner: Not my job to tell people what to think
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) followed a panel on Egypt, and he was hesitant to attack the president as some other Republicans have. "I think what happened surprised everyone, so there's going to have to be a real assessment of why," he said. "I think I was surprised, I think [the White House] was surprised ... It's a very complex situation." He added that the uprising "gives you an idea of the impact of digital media today."

Boehner also avoided criticizing 'birthers' in his own caucus and the general public. "It's not my job to tell the American people what to think, it's my job to listen to the American people," he told David Gregory. He said he'd made it clear what he believed the facts to be: "I believe that the president is a citizen, I believe the president is a Christian, I take him at his word." But "the American people have a right to think what they want to think." Asked about Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), who made a joke about his birth certificate at CPAC last week, Boehner said "the gentleman was trying to be funny, I imagine." On the other hand, Boehner declared his willingness to judge his members' behavior, in response to the resignation of Rep. Chris Lee (D-N.Y.): "The American people have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical standards from members of Congress," he said. He also said that once the American public understood the depth of the Social Security crisis, it would be easier to cut entitlement spending.

CNN: STATE OF THE UNION
Sen. Lindsey Graham: 'Electable' GOP 2012 presidential candidate 'has yet to emerge'
Graham (R-S.C.) joined the program as news broke of the Egyptian military leadership's announcement that it would dissolve the parliament, suspend the nation's constitution and retain power for six months or more before elections could be held. "This election ... is going to define Egypt for decades," Graham said. Conversation turned to the Conservative Political Action Conference, which concluded Saturday, with Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) winning the gathering's informal presidential candidate straw poll. "I'm looking for the most conservative person who's electable," said Graham when asked if there was a potential 2012 presidential candidate he could get behind, "that person has yet to emerge."

Graham was followed by White House Office of Management and Budget director Jacob Lew, who addressed the president's budget request set to be released Monday.

"We're beyond the easy, low-hanging fruit," Lew said referring to tough choices that needed to be made. Lew referred to the Obama's plan to make cuts to the Federal Pell grants program -- cuts that, Lew said, would need to be made to preserve the integrity of the student loan program. Lew defended the cuts saying that while the burden would increase on students - they would have to start paying their student loans, plus interest, immediately after graduation -- it would not jeopardize the accessibility of higher education.

In response to whether the GOP's proposed $100 billion cuts were possible, Lew demurred, choosing to tout the president's proposed plan saying, "We look forward to working with the congressmen."

C-SPAN: NEWSMAKERS
Rep. Steve Israel: 'Republicans are actually helping us' get House majority back
DCCC chairman Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) joined reporters Reid Wilson of Hotline and Alex Isenstadt of Politico to discuss Democrats' preparations for the 2012 elections after their drubbing in 2010.

"The state of the Democratic party is sound," said Israel,"we have a path to get the house back and Republicans are actually helping us along the way." Israel went on to describe the party's fundraising efforts, and the instructions the party was delivering to lawmakers in terms of how to orchestrate their election efforts on the ground. "We lost 9 million independent voters between 2006 and 2010," said Israel, but "Republicans have a heck of a lot more to be nervous about on retirements than we do." He also announced that Democrats would be making announcements regarding re-redistricting results "by the end of the quarter," refusing to provide any early details.

Israel was also called on to address the fallout from Rep. Chris Lee's (R-N.Y.) sudden retirement following the disclosure that he had attempted to cheat on his wife via the online classifieds Web site Craig's List. Israel denied being in touch with White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, who is rumored to be exploring a potential bid. "I've not had any direct conversations with Bill," Israel said. He also took an opportunity to advertise his own abilities to lead Democrats to victory in 2012. "I may not have the same volume of obscenities that Rahm Emanuel did" or "the same attributes" that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had, Israel said, but he was confident he could produce the same quality of results.

CBS: FACE THE NATION
Sen. John McCain on the uprising in Egypt: 'We should have seen this coming'
Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian ambassador to the United States, provided an update on the situation in Egypt and was followed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). McCain was asked if the United States should have seen the Egyptian uprising coming. "I think so. We should have seen this coming when the Egyptian government failed to move forward with a process to democratization," McCain said. McCain went on to blame the Obama administration for not speaking up for the protesters in Iran, referring to the outrage that followed the death of Iranian protester Neda Agha-Soltan - who became a touchstone for anti-government protesters in 2009.

"I think it's going to be a confrontation," McCain said of the nature of the debate that will follow the president's release of his fiscal 2012 budget request and how it will be compared with Republican's cost-cutting proposals laid out in the continuing resolution to fund the government through the current fiscal year. On the subject of making cuts to entitlements ans defense spending, McCain was firm: "No longer can it remain the third rail of politics," he said, praising Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for "getting out ahead" of the budget debate and proposing cuts on his own.

"We've got to be very careful with our cuts to defense spending," said McCain, a decorated military veteran.

Washington Post

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