Pfotenhauer on McCain MSNBC: 10/20/08

Nancy Pfotenhauer on John McCain
"MSNBC Live" 11:27am
Interview:

TOPIC: Tax Plans, Bailout

TRANSCRIPT: CONTESSA BREWER: John McCain has supported this $700B government bailout of the banking system. Isn't that spreading the wealth?

NANCY PFOTENHAUER: [W]hat we're focusing on is the fact that Barack Obama is proposing to increase income taxes on hundreds of thousands, [of which] almost half [are] small business owners and, in order to give a tax cut to people who don't pay income taxes. Now that's very different from, for example, the rescue package that went through where he wants to devote about $300B of that dollars [sic] towards the purchasing of home mortgages that are failing in order to prop up the values of the homes for all Americans.

BREWER: [T]he point is, though, that you have John McCain and Sarah Palin and they are out there pushing this--it's almost an argument that Barack Obama is a socialist. We know yesterday Barack Obama was being yelled, 'Socialist, socialist,' down at a barbecue joint and John McCain says, 'Look. Spreading the wealth, taking from the rich, giving to the poor. That's one of the tenets of socialism. My question is, if he's proposing some of the same government spending, I mean--the bailout is the government taking taxpayer money and choosing to spend it the way politicians think it should be spent. Isn't that spreading the wealth? Isn't this people who live in glass houses throwing stones?

PFOTENHAUER: Contessa, Senator McCain is not proposing to increase anyone's taxes, which, of course, is economic insanity when you're in an economic downturn and that's precisely what Barack Obama is proposing to do and he specifically decided that it was okay to raise taxes if you raise taxes on people making, or businesses making, over a certain amount of money, and it was very revealing when he said his goal was to "spread the wealth around", it's overly, he's overly advocating and embracing a philosophy that confiscates the money from some people in order to dole it back out again to other people. [...]

BREWER: My question is, Is Barack Obama being honest about it, and John McCain simply isn't being opague. I mean, he's being opague, and Barack Obama's being honest about what he thinks should happen.

PFOTENHAUER: Well, Contessa, Senator McCain has been out front and direct about the whole financial crisis been so out front, in fact when he's been very solution oriented, he's been attacked by Senator Obama's campaign for having shown his leadership. So I can't think you can make the argument that he's not being out front and direct about it, but Senator McCain is not advocating raising anyone's taxes at this time, when Senator Obama is, and he's overtly said, you've got his vice presidential candidate saying that paying higher taxes is patriotic, I mean, I think that they've really been kind of smoked out, if you will, and it's now become clear to the AMerican people, that their philosophy is fundamentally redistributionist, Senator McCain's is fundamentally one of opportunity and one of wealth creation saying "If you work hard you get to keep the fruits of your labors", that's what this country was built on.

CLIP LABEL: NP JM MSNBC 10-20-08 11.27 (LAD#36) GI

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Taxes
• Bailout
• Socialism
• Obama
• McCain

[awmartin1970]

I feel sorry for all these McCain advisors who are really fighting the tide, trying to justify the dispicable tactics of the McCain campaign, and having no real strategy for winning. Sad. Just plain sad.

[crispiva1]

Who will pay for the bailout? Does McCain have any idea? The country has already a huge deficit.

Well, he probably thinks he is a wizard maverick that can turn scary haloween pumpkins into gold with his magic wand - they are both "yellowish"!

[237769356]

Another b*tch who's unable to answer a question...

Doe we really want people like her and Palin running this country?

[SwimCharSwim]

I forgive you, Nancy Pfotenhauer. I forgive you for skirting EVERY question, while answering your own. I forgive you for your lies. I forgive you for flirting with cheats, thieves, and fear mongerers.

I forgive you.

OBAMA '08!!

[USNARox2008]

Senior advisor, what a divisive, irresponsible bitch.

[Cashmakessense]

Well, hats off to McCain's surrogates. They are willing to go down with the ship, but regardless of how they try to spin it, it's clear that Obama is the choice of change, the choice we need.

Obama aka the community organizer aka "That One" 08!