Watching James Carville this evening on Anderson Cooper's 360 had me jumping out of my seat as if I was at a Baptist revival.
Yes...Yes...Yes...
This is the way forward and Dems should utilize this framing not because its effective (because it is).
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, they told us exactly what they were going to do. Think of what you want of the Tea Party. I don't think very much of them. But they said that this is what they were going to do when they got here. And by and large, that's what they're doing.
I have a theory that the only thing more dangerous than someone that thinks about reelection all the time is someone who never thinks about reelection. And that seems to be what some of them are. But they're very true to what they said they were going to do.
CARVILLE: Yes. These are people that don't believe in evolution or global warming. So why are they going to believe that default would hurt anything? You're not dealing with like rational people here. Come on.
FLEISCHER: Anderson, I think that if the Boehner plan fails in the House of Representatives tomorrow, it's going to be a political calamity for Republicans. If it passes in the House tomorrow, I think it's going to be a political calamity for the Democrats. Because at that point the Democrats are going to have to realize that only way the debt gets increased is with Democratic votes and for a plan that does nothing but cut spending and doesn't increase taxes.
That is going to make the liberal base of the Democratic Party become unglued. And I think the likelihood is Barack Obama will sign that. And that's why you hear panic in the voice of James and in other liberals that fear that Republicans are actually getting their way.
CARVILLE: I'm not panicked. I don't know how to tell you this, Ari, but let me explain it to you.
This deficit was caused by irresponsible tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy, ill-thought-out and irresponsible wars, OK, and a deregulated, over-speculative financial sector.
Now you're coming back and wanting working people and students and retirees and veterans to pay for it. And Democrats don't think that's a good idea. And we're going to run on that. We're actually going to have an election on this. That's my general view. Sign it and then take it to the public and they will see what happens.
FLEISCHER: You know, James is pretending the Obama stimulus, which cost more than $800 billion and was supposed to keep unemployment below 8 percent never -- it never even took place.
He's forgetting all the spending that's taking place now that -- a budget -- the only people in town that have a piece of paper that cut spending are Harry Reid and John Boehner.
The piece of paper that Barack Obama submitted, his budget, increased spending and left us with trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. That's the Obama problem today.
CARVILLE: Let me explain to you so you just know, Ari. But you already know and you know that I know. And you know that I'm going to point out that every chart shows that 85 percent of this is a result of policies of the previous administration.
And the two biggest contributors to this are tax cuts and the wars that were started that are still going on. Plus you had the crash in the financial sector that caused all of this. Now you guys want people that have nothing to do with it to pay for it. And the Democrats are going to take that and they're going to run on it. Now, that's just what's going to happen. And you know the charts.
FLEISCHER: If the Democrats are so against those Bush tax cuts, then why did they extend them all for two years?
And what James is really saying is he wants to raise taxes on all Americans.
CARVILLE: You're right. I do, absolutely.
FLEISCHER: He wants to take away the marriage penalty that George Bush gave to all Americans, the child credit that George Bush gave to all Americans that Barack Obama extended to all Americans. James wants to raise taxes on all Americans regardless of income level.
CARVILLE: Let me be very clear.
FLEISCHER: That's the implications if you oppose the Bush tax cuts.
CARVILLE: Let me be very clear. I so oppose the Bush tax cuts. I particularly oppose them on people making over $250,000 a year.
I oppose the tax credits that they give to special interest groups, absolutely. And I think that they ought to pay for it. And I don't think that students, I don't think that veterans and I don't think retirees ought to pay for the mistakes that your administration made. I think the people that benefited by that ought to pay for it. That's exactly what I think. You don't have to say what I think. I'm glad to tell you about that.
FLEISCHER: You didn't hear James address it all. I never heard him address why those tax cuts got extended for two years by a Democrat House and a Democrat Senate.
CARVILLE: That's what it is. So you know what I think. I don't think we ought to pay to clean up your mess.
AWESOME TAKEDOWN....