Terrific interview with former Senator Alan Simpson on Hardball about the fiscal "cliff" and related issues. Watch the whole thing. It will make you really nostalgic for moderate, pragmatic, plain-spoken Republicans. Where have they gone?
Here are a few choice quotes.
About the current lame-duck congress:
"For God's sake get off your can and do something. Unless you go big, go home. At December 31st there's a mess floating around right now -- about 7.2 trillion bucks worth of stuff in ten years. You got to do something."
When asked why they never act until the last possible minute:
"These people never respond, which would be a beautiful reaction; they react. And they're going to react right down to the last point when there's going to be blood and hair and eyeballs all over the floor. And they're going to come up with something. But let me tell you, if it's kicking the can down the road, the can is now a 55-gallon drum filled with explosives."
When asked about the damage being done to the U.S. and its image around the world:
"Well, it's pretty simple. They love their party more than they love their country. How did we get to that point? Don't ask me."
"They love their party more than they love their country." You said a mouthful, Senator Simpson. As far as I'm concerned, Mitch McConnell and others are arguably guilty of treason.