Ali Velshi Calls Out Alex Castellanos for Comparing the US to Greece and Claiming We're Broke
Republican operative and (unfortunately for the rest of us) regular CNN contributor, Alex Castellanos tried repeating the standard Republican lie that the United States is somehow "just like Greece" and that we're going broke. Thankfully, Your Money host, Ali Velshi was there to call him out for it.
If he'd treat his regular guest, Stephen Moore this way when he has him on during his weekend show, I might almost be willing to forgive him for subjecting us to that Wall Street Journal hack week after week in the first place -- almost.
Naturally host, Don Lemon had to break things up when Velshi was just getting started making his points. Heaven forbid we can't be uncivil to one of their regular propagandists when they get called out for the lies in their talking points.
Transcript via CNN.
LEMON: Yes, and Donna -- and Wolf is going to jump in here, but just real quickly, I have to say, you know, Alex, you heard what Donna had to say, yet in the final hours, the House speaker was concerned about defense spending. And we didn't hear some of the points that Donna just brought up.
CASTELLANOS: Well, I don't think there's a great danger of civility breaking out in Washington any time soon...
(LAUGHTER)
CASTELLANOS: ... despite Senators McCain and Durbin's effort. But no, you know, something good has happened in all of this, and that is that we are talking not only about a serious issue like spending and the debt and are we going to spend ourselves along the path of Greece, but we're also talking about jobs and taxes, as I think these senators were just talking about.
I take exception a little bit to something Ali said, that we're not talking about jobs. That's all this debate has been about. No one's going to invest and create jobs in a country that's spending itself into insolvency. So the first thing you have to do is get some fiscal discipline. You know, if, Don, say some nice news network like CNN were going to hire you but you knew they were going bankrupt, it might affect your decision.
VELSHI: Alex! Alex! Alex!
CASTELLANOS: Spending and jobs and taxes...
VELSHI: We're not...
CASTELLANOS: ... we're now seeing a preview...
VELSHI: Alex!
CASTELLANOS: ... of the next...
VELSHI: Alex!
BLITZER: Go ahead, Ali.
VELSHI: Alex...
BRAZILE: There you go. Cut in.
VELSHI: ... what are you talking about? We're going bankrupt?
CASTELLANOS: Yes.
VELSHI: What are you -- come on! What are you talking about, Alex? We're not going bankrupt. America's never gone bankrupt. Greece can't issue bonds. America can. There was no question -- we have a AAA credit rating, Alex! We weren't close to bankrupt.
CASTELLANOS: Right.
VELSHI: This was an invention of fiscal conservatives.
CASTELLANOS: Absolutely true.
VELSHI: Jobs is the issue, Alex!
CASTELLANOS: And Greece -- and as you know, Ali, Greece had this decision 10 years ago, and they chose to keep on going along the same path. You know, everybody keeps saying, Gosh, we've raised the debt ceiling automatically here 60 times. There's no problem. That's the problem. We keep going up to the bar like it's routine. We're now having a debate that says we cannot continue spending more money than we take in...
VELSHI: Alex...
CASTELLANOS: ... and we have to do something about it.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Ali and Alex, both hang on. Do you agree, Alex, that what Ali said, that this was an invention? This was an invention to get to this point by connecting the debt ceiling to the...
BRAZILE: Yes, this is manufactured.
LEMON: ... deficit?
CASTELLANOS: No, no, no, no.
VELSHI: We all agree on one thing...
CASTELLANOS: Economic stability...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Let him answer, Ali, and then...
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: No, Alex, this was manufactured.
LEMON: Go ahead, Alex.
CASTELLANOS: Ali -- Ali, here's something we can agree on. This is money.
VELSHI: Yes.
CASTELLANOS: The federal government can't spend any of this that it doesn't first take from someone else. We're now spending -- what, we're $14 trillion in the hole. The Democrats say the way to grow this economy is to keep doing that, keep stimulating the economy by...
BRAZILE: That's not what Democrats are saying, Alex.
CASTELLANOS: ... taking this money and sending it to Washington...
(CROSSTALK)
BRAZILE: That's not what we're saying.
CASTELLANOS: We're going to send it to Washington and then it's going to send it back to us.
LEMON: OK, Ali, go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
CASTELLANOS: The way to grow this economy is to leave it in our pockets.
VELSHI: I think -- we're fully on the same side about the fact that jobs -- everybody has to have a job. Everybody doesn't have to have a house and everybody doesn't have to have a 401(k), but everybody has to have a job. I am not sure, Alex -- I would love for you to connect for me how this creates a job in America. You know, when we talk about companies staying on this sidelines, conservatives have been saying the reason companies don't hire is because there's uncertainty about taxes, there's uncertainty about health care. So now -- now I'm hearing that it was uncertainty about the debt ceiling. Companies will just use any excuse...
CASTELLANOS: No, no, no!
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I want to bring Donna in.
Call these liars out!
This is their "permanent majority" they said they would bring about. They did it to Clinton too. They make it impoossible for a Democratic President to govern. They are trying to destroy Democracy and destroy the government so they can rape and pillage the American people and steal the natural resources of our country that belong to us and our children. We are doomed if we drop out and throw our hands up blame the President and let them win.
I'm not giving up, I'm fighting them and when I'm dead my kids and grandkids will fight them. Because there ain't no Knight in Shining Armour coming. "We are the ones we've been waiting for." "Real change comes from the bottom up."-- Barack Obama We have to save ourselves.
Replace him with a new show called "Ali Velshi Calls You Out On Your BS". I don't always agree with him, but Velshi is CNN's best anchor at the moment; I've actually started watching a morning news show for the first time in years because of him.
As in 'detained at her pleasure.' We'll see, but he's up to his arsehole in phone hacking, whether or not he claims 'plausible deniability.' These guys' denial on that score just is not plausible anymore.
Piers Morgan. What a bad joke.
me-oww!
Whoops, double post.
where would anyone get that idea? just because we are $14.5 trillion in debt? i know we have some infrastructure to sell off somewhere. how about the interstate highways? maybe GE has some cash. we could sell the federal parks to Monsanto, the gulf of Mexico to BP.
we're not using them anymore.
me-oww!
how rare this still is in today's current media environment.
!
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
Everybody knows that Reslugs are rotten, born liars.
It's cheap . . . unless the banks want money. Then it's lavish, and trillions of dollars can magically appear. Or unless Obama wants to start another war. Then money isn't a consideration and doesn't even need to be appropriated.
But when it comes to spending money to fix an economy destroyed by bankers and endless war, then we need to cut back.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
because the thieving corporations AKA The "Job Creators" and the greedy 2%'ers are hoarding trillions, plus all of the other shit our so-called leaders decide to waste money on in endless military misadventures.
This country is screwed but it's not broke by a long shot.
Still voting for Obama?
First they ignore us..then they ridicule us..now they are feeding us chicken crap- sign my petition:
http://www.change.org/petitions/fda-stop-feed...
www.ickenittlepost.com
Absolutely. I would never vote for Romney. I wouldn't even give Romney a half vote by not voting. The republican candidates are a menace to society. I don't take that lightly.
"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-
Pains me to say it as pathetic as Obama is as a politician and as a supposed Democrat , but the fact remains that you vote Obama or you vote Republican , if you don't vote you're voting Republican , if you vote Independent you're voting Republican ( wasting your vote ) . If you think there would be little or no difference , better think again . Tired of
this shithaving to chose between bad and even worse ? Me too but they have us over a barrel and they know it . Best we can do is to put actual Democrats , real liberals , in Congress and get rid of the Republi-dems , clean house ."The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
Clinton passed NAFTA, screwing working people. Gotta vote for a Republican. WTO? Financial deregulation? The numerous other "free trade" deals since? The current privatization of education? The three pending "free trade" deals that Obama is pushing for and that WILL be signed? The Bush tax cuts? The Patriot Act? The Obama administration working with other countries to destroy the Copenhagen environmental conference? The surrounding of himself with Clinton's right wing economic team? The mocking of and attacks against the left by Obama's advisers, after all, where is the left going to go? The reactionary foreign policy? Expanding wars in the Mid East? The horrible record (some say even worse than Bush) on whistle blowers? On and on and on...
While the Democrats move steadily to the right the so called "liberals" make excuses and warn that the other side is even worse. The Democrats had all three branches of government and all the public behind them, tons of momentum? What, on a grand scale, was done?
Did we re-think our horrible trade policies? Did we do ANYTHING, ANYTHING about wealth inequality? Did we reverse the financialization of the economy? Did we stop bailing out banks and socializing THEIR losses?
The liberals in this country are pathetic. They have no guts or imagination. They think there is one option, vote for the lesser of two evils for president then vote more Democrats into office on the national level, cause that has worked in recent decades. Hasn't it?
The fact is that the Democratic Party does not have an alternative economic program. They just don't, same as the Socialist Parties in Europe. They agree with the neo liberals, they just want a more moderate anti-worker economic program. The Democrats will ship your job overseas, but they will fight hard to make sure you have training when that happens. They won't do a damn thing about wealth inequality, but they will give wonderful speeches on the subject.
Forming alternative institutions, forming another party, creating a coherent economic program that is fundamentally different than the right wing? That takes too much time, imagination, intellectual energy and guts. That will result in short term losses. I prefer long term decline because the left refuses to let go of the Democratic Party. Better that we have long term decline and stagnation than short term losses.
A liberal is a right winger once a Democrat is in office. They are just like the Tea Party folk, useful idiots for financial interests. Their leaders just give wonderful speeches and have gay friends, and they aren't worse than the other team.
Honest question: Is there anything the Democrats can do that would cause you to leave the party and to try another strategy? Is there ANYTHING that the Democrats can do for you to move in another direction? If so, explain where that line is. It seems that so called liberals don't have one. If you ask me, they are the reason this country and working people are in such horrible shape. There are always going to be reactionary right wingers, it is what the opposition does that determines whether or not they will succeed. Only one strategy has been tried by the left for decades, vote for Democrats, and we have nothing but decline and economic ruin to show for it. I don't blame people for turning towards liberals (even though supporting the right makes less sense). The liberals don't have any other ideas than vote for the Democrats and the Democrats haven't delivered for working people in decades. So if that is the only option, if that is the only thing the liberals have to offer, then people will pass.
The left's IDEAS are popular and have been for some time with the general public. It is really pathetic and telling that the general public support the left on vital issue after issue and still can't turn that into policy. Could it be that other strategies should be developed and tried?
bwahahaha
many posters here will concede that, blasted!, they have no other choice. for, what else could they do? i mean, the tea party/GOP are sooo insane, they just must vote for the democrats no matter what the dems do, or don't do.
of course, they act shocked when the elected dems don't give a flying fuck what the progressives/liberals/left think, care about, nor support. and why should they? with people declaring that, no matter what, they will vote for democrats, why on god's green earth would the dems care about progs/liberals opinions? if the left is guaranteed the only thing to do is concentrate on catering to the rightwing/conservatives
the weakness of the democratic base will lead us ever further to the right.
we have primaries? Wake the fuck up people. The primaries are for you and others who are dissatisfied to elect a new nominee for the office.
are you trying to tell me that the democratic party is going to put up a primary challenge to obama?
president who writes the bills. He can only sign it into law if it gets passed in bboth houses.
The Pesident not only can write the bills, he shall recommend them to Congress when he judges it "necessary and expedient."
Is there anything necessary or expedient that needed to be done recently? Or maybe in the past two and a half years? Anything at all?
Corruption favors the wealthy.
"The primaries are for you and others who are dissatisfied to elect a new nominee for the office."
don't dodge the question: for people no longer willing to support obama, what should they do? how does this primary thing you mentioned factor in to people wanting a new president when the party won't put up a challenger?
i suppose you would say that they have no choice, and must vote for whoever --the party puts on the ticket? [enter all the reasons the GOP is so scary--which, they are]
. . . from addressing that question.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
"the weakness of the democratic base will lead us ever further to the right."
No, there are structural problems with capitalism that are decades old. Most of the Democrats don't seem to realize this (or don't want to fundamentally change the system, even if it is the only thing that will solve our economic problems) and don't have an alternative economic program. The Democrats, and the Social Democrats in Europe, used to have an alternative economic policy but gave it up decades ago. It hasn't even been attempted in the West since Mitterrand in the early 80's. At some point Social Democracy ran into a wall, it had to be willing to implement more fundamental, radical changes to the economy to move forward. It knew the fundamental problems of the capitalist system and was at least rhetorically for the gradual replacement of capitalism. When push came to shove though, when that moment came when the left had to chose between backing the capitalist system or to moving the reforms in a more radical direction, the left for the most part chose the former.
Since Mitterrand was attacked by the financial markets and retreated on his program we haven't seen even fundamental critiques of the capitalist system in the West by the organized left, forget actual policy. Instead, the parties have moved to the right, backed a more moderate neo liberal economic program and began to focus on non-economic issues, like gay rights and abortion.
Until the left does create and rally around a coherent alternative, until it creates alternative institutions and creates a more participatory democracy, this decline will continue. None of this will come from the Democratic Party. There is NO chance of that happening. Even if they wake up once the final collapse happens, they will be counted on (as usual) to funnel the populist anger away from radical critiques and to try and bring those elements into the establishment. They will change only to the point that it fends off calls for more radical change and they will protest the best they can the current power structure. Like usual, it will mean that these problems won't be solved, since that radical change is the only thing that will solve these problems and we will force future generations to fight the same fight.
If anyone disagrees, articulate what you see as the fundamental problems of the capitalist system, or at least the economy as it is currently structured, and explain where you think these problems first emerged. If moderate solutions are possible, explain what those solutions are and how they will solve our economic problems.
but this country is going bankrupt. One county at a time.
Just because the village idiot is the one to say so doesn't make it any less true.
Numbers don't lie.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
. . . numbers don't lie.
But our 30 Year Treasury Bond interest rate is currently at 4.12%. The U.S. can borrow pretty much all it likes, long term, at a historically very low rate.
That number represents some of the most powerful borrowing ability in the history of the world. America is not broke.
But county by county, family by family, person by person, Americans certainly are going broke - except for the very few who are getting even wealthier and more powerful. And the millions of foreclosures verses the millions in banker bonuses tell that story.
Numbers don't lie.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
are not the United States Government. Of course they're not bankrupt. But "We the People" are bankrupt. "We the people" cannot repay our debt, individually or collectively.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
To be fair, this interest rate does not tell how much you can lend at which rate.
Remember, interest rates like this reflect the price for the cheapest lender.
When that one has lent to you as much as he wanted, you gotta go to the next one, and he might expect a better rate.
It's similar to how auctions lead to the price the highest bidder is willing to pa (not everyone in the auction, not the 2nd highest bidder).
. . . but they haven't for quite a while. And these rates are historically quite low.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
Well, the Fed gives out money at almost no interest, and banks just buy bonds with the money. That's free profit for Wall Street, but it won't work like this any more once the Fed raises the interest rate from practically zero to something meaningful.
Unfortunately, even if the Fed funds rate rises, so will the US bond rate, and the same scam continues on.
It's good to be a bank
Corruption favors the wealthy.
I have been saying for about 20 years now that the destruction of the United States will come not from a big bang or any screams of pain or sadness. The end will come with cheers and smiles all around. A thunderous standing ovation from those who will be hurt the most. Dancing in the streets from millions who will never understand that they have been voting and cheering for their own destruction for years. They will get what they wanted but when things in their world keep going badly they will have to find someone to blame, but the last place they will look are the truly guilty.
...why the screaming about the debt ceiling didn't start until obama got in?
right wing conspiracy? Nah, couldn't be.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
If for no other reason, thank the original tea party (not the new and unimproved, corporate-funded one) for opening peoples eyes to the magnitude of gov't spending.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
the original tea party was an attempt by smugglers to break a monopoly by violence, while trying to blame it on the native Americans. I don't think the spending habits of the English crown was one of their main concerns...
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
. . . pretty drunk at the time.
Corruption favors the wealthy.
You know which "originals" I was talking about. I don't give a fuck about Boston Harbor.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
of saint santelli?
I knew damn well you were referring to the "originals" who are kept right next to the true scotsmen...
CTHULHU 2012 "Why vote for a lesser evil?"
.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
"America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit." -- Sen. Barack Obama, March 16, 2006
The credit rating means little, though.
The significant differences are
* % GDP public debt
* own currency and thus ability to surprise inflate out of the problem
* low interest rates on bonds (only a fraction of what corporations pay for credit)
The significant similarities are
* inflated military spending
* dysfunctional legislative
* high % GDP new debt p.a.
* high and sustained trade balance deficit
Unlike CNN's darling Cooper who never questions or confronts any of the lairs but lets them do their thing ,Velshi will call them on their bull shit once in a while .
"The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all."
obviously we aren't greece, and comparing our economy to greece's is quite absurd.
but, in the economic realm, we do have a strong similarity: that being the elected leaders prescription for "solving" the crisis--through austerity. obama, like papandreou, helped support contractionary economic policies, favoring the wealthy, worked against the middleclass, and sided with those that would just as soon like to see obama in an unemployment line.
so, obama and the rest of the duopoly have happily screwed us with belt-tightening, as we are still in an economic glut. i wonder, when have austerity measures worked in the past?
He means we're broke when it comes to social programs, education, infrastructure, etc. As far as military spending goes, on the other hand, the coffers are always full.
He was a wise man who invented beer.
---Plato
Space shuttles we're not using them anymore
They should have been kept as government surplus housing, in case of the next flood.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
How hurricane-resistant are they?
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
I am so tired of this "government spending out of control" crap. IF you think thats true and i do. Then lets go back to the last point where we had a budget surplus and start there to see what went wrong and begin to fix those problems.
First the bush tax cuts should should have been let to fade ALL OF THEM not just on the rich. So that should be first. They didn't create jobs. They didn't help build the middle class. They helped Rich people get richer so they are not needed. done.
second. 2 unfunded wars. Every other time this country has gone to war the president at the time told the country we need to sacrifice. We need to raise taxes a bit to make sure we can fund and win this war. But the Bushies knew that the country would need more facts if they were really going to have to pay. So what does Bush do right before he starts his second war ??? Tax cuts !!! yes thats right a second round of tax cuts........ So whats do we do to fix this problem. We cut the Military budget in half. We concentrate our force her ein america so we can watch out own borders and protect our selves. 1/3 of the soilders we have over seas that arn't even in war theaters or going to one any time soon could cover almost the entire border and secure all ports in this country. We need to go through the private military contracts and void the ones where they are not needed, redundant, or just plain give aways to corporate intrests, some how i think the last will be most of them.
Third. We abolish the SEC and in its place a new agency opens this agency will be part of the DOJ directly and will be given power to hold accountable the Board memebers of all banks big and small. And not just with Fines. From now if your company is breaking the law The board can be held accountable. The right would call that personal responcibility! The Board memebers will serve time in jail for breaking the law. We'll see how much housing fraud there is when the rich people can go to jail. Also we reform the stock market. No more of this casino in New York. We reform the stock market to what it supposed ot be a place where people can go to centrally invest in different companies that you have faith will make money mostly in the long run.
4rth. Medicare and health reform. And i mean real reform. Full government run single payer innsurance. We will use the power of 350 million people bargaining at once for what will be a FAIR price for all services. The drug comapnies will also have to bargain with 350 million at once thus lowering drugs prices. Also Government Regulation and auditing of Big pharma. IMO they have cures they hold back to make money off of treatment. Well no more, if a drug company has a cure and they don't put it out because they are making money off of treatment. As soon as people die from said disease then the CEO's and board memebers will go to jail for murder period. Along with the fact that medical cost will come down but not so much that doctors will still make good money, we will also now a dedicated court system for healthcare suits and tort reform so that we can get rid of the many frivolous lawsuits.
5th Any all Tax breaks will be gone all of them period. Also if you send a job over seas that an american can do and then try to sell that product here in america we will levy a tax that equals what a worker would have made if that job were here. We will make so it is point less to move you factories over seas. Also Capitals gains which is how much of the rich make their money will now pay the same effective tax rate as the rest of us.
6th We put back in place the Anti-trust laws this country once had that allowed an equal shot at doing what you want. Major corporations that take advantage of this country like Wal-mart or News Corp or GE will be made to break up.
With just doing those 6 things, not only will this country not be in debt in ten years our government will have a surplus allowing us to do things stopping the silly made for TV drug war and instead open fre clincs to get clean. We can invest in completely Green power grid and invest in RandDinto transportaion of the future. Hck maybe at that point we will have enough extra to make sure everyone who wants to go to college can go, maybe not for free but maybe we can do it with no cost loans.
None of this can be done with the starting point though. Thats election and government reform. We must set short term limits. We must in act serious campaign reforms as well. Publicly funded elections is start. OR how bout no donation can be made from a single person for more than ten dollars. Also then in that case no more corporate donations at all. Because it is clear that the wayit is now it is the corporations job to do whats in the best interest of making money, so obviously they will only support things that make them more money not whats good for the country. Since WE own the airwaves both TV and Radio I believe the TV stations should owe us time during election season to equally doll out TV and radio time to canidates running for all offices. And if they don't like it they can go find 350 million customers elsewhere I am sure there is ten other ocmpanies that would take over their stations. And the most important thing we can do is after we reform the process the SCOTUS must be publicly elected. It has to be that way. It is just not working now.
If congress and the president cared about anything but themselves this is what they woud be doing. But tthey won't because of greed and selfishness. Maybe i should just move to Canada or Germany. Whos with me !
But I guess technically it's not broke. And they are still collecting taxes, so they also have an income. But in order to pay the obligations they've agreed to pay, they have to borrow at least 40 cents for each dollar of spending.
This is not a Republican or Democratic problem, it's an American problem. We CANNOT keep a monetary system in place that strives to keep the economic status quo. We CANNOT have a system that is so hopeless our central bank has to buy most of our own bonds.
The Democrats are as worthless as the GOP when it comes to addressing the economic problems our country faces because they take their bribes and marching orders from the very same financial elite.
US per capita debt $45,000
Greece per capita debt $44,000
There's that clock showing over $14 trillion in debt. The government is creating more debt to fix the debt. The criminal banker Bernanke keeps printing US$ to pay of the debt that creates hyperinflation. Wait till gasoline is $10-12 / gallon and your Big Mac is $20, then the doubters might see the real picture. Get out of paper bonds, stocks and US$ cause the whole mess is crumbling down. Maybe then we can hope for some peace in the world. PS. buy silver.
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