TPMDC
Steele: Republicans Didn't Bankrupt Medicare In A Vacuum
RNC Chairman Michael Steele
Share
Send to a friend!
RNC Chairman Michael Steele just appeared on CNN, where he continued to make the case that we can't risk President Obama's health care proposals at a time when Medicare is going bankrupt. And then something funny happened: Suzanne Malveaux asked him about the fact that the Republicans were the ones who bankrupted it.
Malveaux pointed out that in 2003, the Republicans passed a huge expansion of Medicare, the prescription drug benefit, without any method of paying for it through tax increases or other spending cuts. There then followed this exchange:
Steele: The reality of it is, it didn't happen in a vacuum. it wasn't Republicans by themselves, the Democrats were part--
Malveaux: But certainly, Republicans were partly responsible--
Steele: Because you have the White House, and you don't have the Congress. There's a partnership here. My point is now, you've got one party that's got control of the entire process here. So this is an opportunity for us to have an honest discussion about how we're going to address what is fundamentally an important issue to a lot of seniors around the country.
Steele appears to have been mistaken. In fact, Republicans had control of both houses of Congress as well as holding the White House in 2003, albeit by smaller margins than the Democrats do today.
Comments (8) | Join the Conversation!
Leave a comment
Follow us!
Most Popular
TPM Stories Now Surging on Digg.com
TPM Top News
© 2010 TPM Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Mr. Squeezy
August 25, 2009 5:32 PM
Oh, Mikey, Mikey, Mikey...
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
we r all husseins
August 25, 2009 6:03 PM
Hm, in 2003 Republicans had the White house and had held a majority in Congress since 1994. Is it prerequisite for membership in the GOP to have disabled the part of your brain that recalls facts and history?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Indie Tarheel
August 25, 2009 6:51 PM in reply to we r all husseins
Facts? History? Them's larnin' words.
Get a rope.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
JoshQuasimoto
August 25, 2009 7:57 PM in reply to Indie Tarheel
NO they don't care about the facts, just how to spin things in the 24-hour MSM. This is what Rove did so well, who cares about the facts when they can erased/minimized with the right wording and the right friends in the MSM. ( I can just here ol' Karl calling some media person to talk about the upcoming op-ed in some paper for him and the former Bush admin officials to use)
This is not Obama's strong suit and I don't blame him, but rather applaud him, from ignoring the derth of meaningless information pushed by a 24-hour news cycle.
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
JoshQuasimoto
August 25, 2009 7:05 PM
Good for Malveaux to call Steele on this. This is certainly something that the American people should be talking about. Bush passes Medicare Part D at a tune of over 1.3 trillion dollars (which by the way the Bush Admin incorrectly predicted at 1 trillion) and the American people could care less for the most part (except for the left and the Fiscal "conservatives" who disagreed with the Bush admin failure to ensure bargaining for prescription medication).
Michael Steele is going to be on NPR tomorrow morning, I hope they have a call in for his interview. Maybe the caller can point out that the GOP was in control of both Houses from 94-2006).
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
mikedrevguy
August 25, 2009 7:27 PM in reply to JoshQuasimoto
By tomorrow morning, his handlers will have already walked him through the 'new' talking points to spin what he really meant to communicate.
Come watch Fox's newest hit political reality show - "So you think you can dance.!!!!"
that's the shuffle I'd be expecting
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
chimpale
August 25, 2009 8:51 PM
Actually, Michael, you could hardly be more wrong. Let's refresh your memory. When H.R.1 was introduced in the House in June 2003, the vote was as follows:
Republicans - Aye=207, No=19
Democrats - Aye=9, No=195
The Democrats did pretty well trying to keep it from passing, but the vote was held open for 3 hours while the GOP whip browbeat, extorted, threatened, and bribed enough Republican members to narrowly pass it.
And what was it they passed? From Wikipedia:
"One month later, the ten-year cost estimate was boosted to $534 billion, up more than $100 billion over the figure presented by the Bush administration during Congressional debate. The inaccurate figure helped secure support from fiscally conservative Republicans who had promised to vote against the bill if it cost more than $400 billion. It was reported that an administration official, Thomas A. Scully, had concealed the higher estimate and threatened to fire Medicare Chief Actuary Richard Foster if he revealed it. By early 2005, the White House Budget had increased the 10-year estimate to $1.2 trillion."
Steele, you're a goddam moron and as dishonest as the day is long. It's hard to tell which trait is more to blame for the incessant stream of bullshit that comes out of your mouth.
Now how hard would it be for a prominent Democrat to stand up and call him on this crap publicly? Are there any that even care? If they don't get on the stick, they're going to get buried under this bullshit in 2010. And goddamit, we don't deserve to have Republicans fucking up our country again!
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?
Kristin126
August 26, 2009 10:11 AM
WTF? Seriously, how can he not know that the repubs had a majority in congress in 2003? Is he that stupid? Or does he think no one remembers little facts like that?
Reply | Flag Abuse
Are you sure this comment violates TPM's Terms of Service?