At about 1:50 in this video, Donnie Deutsch, the token, occasional liberal in the CNBC “Power Lunch” gang asks Sen. Jeff Session (R-Ala.) to be specific about the budget cuts he would call for. His answer begins with, “Well, ah” and goes downhill from there.
Note how co-anchor Sue Herrera rescues Sessions.
Kudos to any interviewer who asks for specificity when pols mouth vague talking points with no substance behind them. Sessions finally retreats to the “the president presents a budget, not us” defense.
But in the tax cut debate, that question – what would you cut in the budget? – is often ignored by too many journalists who don’t bother to listen to answers.
Maybe the public has caught on to the disingenuousness of this argument. But I’m not particularly optimistic. It may be that now, people want jobs and would be happy to be taxed. Once they are flush again, they may be susceptible to this false argument once again.