Unreasonable Reasonable Republicans

Joe ScarboroughDo you know who is a real Reasonable Republican? Joe Scarborough. And that pretty much explains why the search for the lauded Reasonable Republican is such a foolish errand. When you find them, they simply have all the stupid policy prescriptions of other Republicans but they don’t think that rape victims ought to have to carry their pregnancies to term.

Of course, in Scarborough’s case, since he isn’t in office, his thinking has been heavily influenced by the Very Serious People in Washington. This was fully on display a couple of weeks ago when Paul Krugman came on Morning Joe to discuss the economy. Scarborough just could not understand what Krugman was talking about. How could the budget deficit not be the most important issue facing the nation when everyone Joe knows thinks it is?!

You think I’m kidding? After the show, Scarborough took to Politico to write a column, Paul Krugman Vs. the World. In it, he wrote:

But maintaining calm was not as easy for Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass, who agrees with former Joint Chief chairman Michael Mullen, that longterm debt poses the greatest threat to America ‘s national security.

In other words: “I’ve talked to other people who know nothing about economics and they agree with me!”

Yesterday, Jonathan Chait took Scarborough to task for his most recent rant, Wow, Joe Scarborough Doesn’t Understand Economics at All. In this case, Scarborough is attacking Nancy Pelosi for saying two things that are, you know, facts. The first thing is that going forward, we don’t have a Medicare problem, we have a healthcare problem. Unless we get healthcare costs under control, in a few decades, Medicare will be the least of our problems.

But the biggest thing that Scarborough did was good old fashioned Republican deception. He argued that Pelosi was saying that there is no spending problem. And that Eric Cantor is the reasonable one. The truth is exactly the opposite. Pelosi is claiming that we have to deal with our deficit problem through spending cuts and revenue increases. (I disagree with this conclusion, but that’s her claim.) Eric Cantor is claiming that we only have a spending problem and that we must cut the deficit through spending cuts alone.

That’s a Reasonable Republican for you! If a Democrat claims 0 and a Republican claims 10, split it right down the middle: 10. What’s most telling about all of this Joe Scarborough nonsense over the last couple of weeks, is that no facts seem to be able to make it past his protective barrier. Now if only women had that same defense against rapists’ sperm, the Republicans might have something.

Update (13 February 2013 4:41 pm)

Here it is, thanks for commenter LiberalANDProud below, the best smack down of Joe Scarborough ever. You can skip to about 6:45.

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About Frank Moraes

Frank Moraes is a freelance writer and editor online and in print. He is educated as a scientist with a PhD in Atmospheric Physics. He has worked in climate science, remote sensing, throughout the computer industry, and as a college physics instructor. Find out more at About Frank Moraes.

7 thoughts on “Unreasonable Reasonable Republicans

  1. [i]Eric Cantor is claiming that we only have a spending problem and that we must cut the deficit through spending cuts alone.[/i]

    if they cut the annual military budget in half or two thirds to something sane and sufficient for you know, defense instead of imperialism, presto magico no budget problems for as far as the eye can see.

  2. @pluege – Yeah, that’s true. I tend to not think about it because even most of the Democratic Party seems wedded to a big military. However: if we don’t figure out a way to make healthcare more affordable (Nationalize the insurance industry, anyone?) the public [i]and[/i] private sectors are going to go broke.

  3. "You know, you have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of what went on that it’s almost embarrassing to listen to you." – Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski smacks down Joe Scarborough

    Still a classic. Still indicative of how bit a tool and how much a moron that Joe Scarborough is.

  4. Dems & Repubs are "wedded to a big military" through the liberal application of pork. The present structure of the military-industrial complex assures that there are "defense contractors" of some sort in every State and in nearly every congressional district.

    Through the investment of what are really pitifully small amounts of money in campaign contributions, the military-industrial complex insures a very healthy return on its investment via tax funded military spending.

    The return on investment is staggering. For a few tens of millions of dollars (at most) invested they reap a return of over 700 billion a year in spending. A good chunk of that spending is labor costs for military personnel and goes right back into the general economy (stimulating local economies), but the profits for business interests remain massive.

  5. Jaycubed – You are correct. I remember reading sometime last year that analysis shows that military spending is worse at creating jobs than say bridge building or basically any other spending. I assume corporate profits for military equipment manufacturers are really high.

    It is shameful just how little one needs to pay to control a politician. I mean, it is more than I have, but not that much more!

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