tonight, expecting the usual pro-republican talking points, pro-corporate america, pro-business viewpoint...I witnessed something truly amazing! Lou Dobbs is a progressive!
In an interview with Congressman Jeff Flake (R-AZ) (a befitting name ;-) Lou Dobbs, the king of corporate America, cheerleader for globalism, Mr. Stocks....revealed his true colors. He is a progressive! He is sick of the BS the republicans have been stuffing down our throats for 5+ years, and has had enough!
It is time to rejoice ladies and gentlemen! We are winning the values war! The "culture of life" is near death.......Lou Dobbs has flipped!
scroll down to his interview with Jeff Flake.
Congressman Jeff Flake had this to say about the Republican leadership crisis last week. He said, quote, "We don't just need new leaders, we need a serious course correction or we're going to be in the minority. It's a different ball game. We've crossed that Rubicon."
Congressman Jeff Flake, who's pushed aggressively for new Republican leadership in the House and for new congressional lobbying curbs, joins me tonight from Washington (sic). Congressman, you've been working for months to replace DeLay. It's happened. Is this a victory for you now that he's stepped aside? REP. JEFF FLAKE (R), ARIZONA: Well, what we've got to do is get down to the business of actually having an agenda that will move us ahead. I think we need to understand that we've done some things wrong, that we've allowed a culture to develop that isn't healthy. And we've got to move ahead and correct that. It's not going to happen just with putting more curbs on lobbyists. We have to recognize that we need to put our own House in order.
DOBBS: Congressman, I want to first of all -- I misspoke, I said you were in Washington. Obviously you're in Phoenix.
FLAKE: Right.
DOBBS: Turning to another course correction that is, you know, the Republican Party has become the -- if you will, the straightforward, the poster boys for corporate America. There is very little that is not being done by the Republican Party that corporate lobbyists haven't asked. What -- how are you going to change that perception right now?
FLAKE: Well, certainly we're spending too much money. That's the biggest course correction we have to go after. We simply spend far too much. We can't sustain this trend we're on.
At the heart of that, I think is this earmarking culture that we've developed where individual members of Congress can designate specific projects for their home district. And that simply breeds corruption. We can't have that anymore. We've got to reverse course there.
DOBBS: The opinion poll suggests -- we focused on the president's approval rating, and appropriately so. But the fact is, Congress has a lower approval rate. Both parties, a lower approval rating than the president by a wide, wide margin.
But as we look at what's happening in Congress, half of the people who leave your institution and retire or defeat at the polls rarely, but occasionally it does happen -- become lobbyists. The fact is, you are actually allowing, not you, but Congress is allowing, in many instances, for lobbyists to write the doggone laws that you're passing. How are you going to turn that back?
FLAKE: Well, there's nothing wrong with being a lobbyist, certainly.
DOBBS: Well, that's your opinion. I happen to think there is a lot wrong with it because I don't see the middle class with a lobbying group representing them. I don't see working men and women with real lobbyists working for them.
FLAKE: Our Constitution protects it. The problem is, when we allow our own members to designate specific money for specific projects, it allows those lobbyists to have too much influence and control. That's the problem. And so we need to look within. I could tell you, just beating up on lobbyists isn't going get the job done.
DOBBS: Oh, I'm not just beating up on lobbyist, Congressman. I don't think you guys in Congress have done -- you guys -- you guys and gals, I guess. I don't think you have done a terrific job, either.
I think, as a matter of fact, when you go back it 1976, you threw away your responsibility to vote on trade agreements in this country. You got fast-track authority, which is an advocation to the executive. You don't have oversight of intelligence agencies. You have not been effected on a host of issues. Believe you me, I think there's a lot more involved than lobbyists.
FLAKE: Well, definitely. We have an agenda that we can't pursue that involves limited government, economic freedom, individual responsibility and free trade. I'm a believer in free trade. We may differ there.
But, we need to get to a position where we can pursue that agenda. And in order to do that, we need to make sure that our own House is in order. And there are things that we need to do, including, and first at the top of the list is get ahold of earmarks. If we can do that, then we can pursue our agenda.
DOBBS: If you get ahold of earmark, you think this is going to just sort of fill the people back home with passion and they're going to look down, they're going to see public education is a mess. They're going to see 29 consecutive years of trade deficits are a mess. They're going to see federal budget deficits roaring out of control. You think that ...
FLAKE: ... Oh, no. No, that's not all. I'm just saying, you've got to start somewhere. And then we need to continue on the path that we're on to make tax cuts permanent, make sure the economy keeps growing, and to make sure that we have local control in public education. That's the ticket.
DOBBS: Congressman, I guess what I'm amazed at is we do have an issue of corruption in Congress. We have an issue of corruption among lobbyists. Overwhelming corporate influence on public policy as a result.
We have men and women in this country working every day, usually both mother and father trying to get by, part of the middle class that under just under absolute assault, passing the bankruptcy laws, pushing forward the death tax. I mean, what's the last piece of legislation written by the United States Congress that was in the interest of a working man and woman in this country?
FLAKE: I would certainly say the tax cuts.
DOBBS: You would?
FLAKE: When you give people back their own money to spend, then you have done something for the American family.
DOBBS: What about those folks that are working 20 years from now that are going to have to pay all these debts and deficits that we have run up?
FLAKE: You've hit exactly the point. The reason lobbyists have so much influence is because government too big and it taxes and regulates too much. We have too much power in Washington and that's what our agenda ought to be about, is to limit government.
DOBBS: Well wait a minute, President Bush was elected precisely to do that.
FLAKE: Right.
DOBBS: Government has been growing six percent a year. We've got a bigger government than we've ever had.
FLAKE: That's the point.
DOBBS: My good grief.
FLAKE: You've made my point. We need a course correction. That's where we need to go.
DOBBS: That's what I'm saying.
FLAKE: OK.
DOBBS: So -- let's go back to those tax cuts you want to make permanent when we're looking at $300 billion plus deficits.
FLAKE: Well, if you're dealing in a static environment and you assume that you're...
DOBBS: ... Oh, I'm not dealing in a static environment, I'm looking at $300 billion plus deficits. I've seen them growing for the last three years.
FLAKE: Let's look. We have increased revenue. We don't have a revenue problem, we have more revenue coming in than ever. We have a spending problem in Washington. We spend far too much.
If you want to kill the economy and make sure we have less revenue for government, then increase taxes. I don't know who in the world would be advocating that, other than the Democrats.
And frankly, the reason that we're doing as well as we are is because the Democrats simply have no agenda. We ought to be doing better, and what ought to be our agenda, that's limited government, economic freedom.
DOBBS: Well, let me ask you this. Congressman Boehner, Congressman Blunt want to be the leader. Who do you think should be?
FLAKE: We're still looking at it. We haven't yet seen their reform agenda. We need desperately a course correction. And so myself and other people who believe in limited government are going to be looking to see what kind of platform they have. And I hope that my colleagues keep their powder dry until those plans actually come out, instead of committing right up front.
DOBBS: How soon do you think we'll have a new leader?
FLAKE: I think within three weeks.
DOBBS: All right. Well, Congressman Flake, we thank you for being here. We appreciate it.
FLAKE: Thank you.
Unfuckingbelievable! Dobbs just called out the republicans on the economy, with an angle of why their policies suck for the working men and women of this country.
Cheers.
p.s. this made my day!