Fareed Zakaria made Grover Norquist look silly

[Coexist]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/09/02/788091/cnn-host-dismantles-grover-norquists-anti-tax-argument-this-is-a-wish-not-a-plan/

ZAKARIA: Are you telling me that you believe you can get all, you can close that gap entirely by cutting spending, that is by taking something on the range of 7% or 8% of GDP out of government spending? That is cutting $800 billion out of government spending every year?
NORQUIST: You do two things. You reduce spending, and you have stronger economic growth. This is one of the weakest recoveries we’ve had –
ZAKARIA: You can as a practical matter, this is a wish, not a plan. I would like stronger economic growth, too….This is all rhetoric, Grover. You’ve got a plan as a practical matter. As I said, Clinton raised taxes, he got growth. Bush had the biggest tax cuts in a generation, and he got the weakest growth in 30 years. All I’m saying is as a matter of practical planning for the fiscal future of the United States your answer can’t be, well we’ll have stronger growth. Yeah, if we grow at 6%, we don’t need to do anything. Everything is solvent, right? But I can’t wish for that. We’ve got to plan realistically.

On edit: Hanauer, Venture Capitalist vs. Ed Conrad, (former) Bain Capital was fascinating. Hanauer FTW in my opinion.

[Kolesar]

1. "This is all rhetoric, Grover"

Fareed sewed him up pretty good.

Did you see Moyer & Company this week where they revisited the Norquist-Abramoff-Ralph Reed story? That scum Reed is back in the lobbying business.

[Coexist]

2. Yes - I saw that and was disgusted

[snappyturtle]

4. Thank you for mentioning this Moyer's program:

"The Resurrection of Ralph Reed"

http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-the-resurrection-of-ralph-reed/

[tomm2thumbs]

12. glad you are calling attention to that -- it was A MUST WATCH -- highly recommended

I wish a CBS '48 hours' or ABC's '20/20' could do as good

[Overseas]

13. Excellent show. Norquist, Abramoff, Reed, etc. GOP "ethics"

[loudsue]

3. Norquist's type of BS needs to be called "a fantasy w/out a plan" over and over

in the media until the sheeple finally begin to see that faux snooze is full of propaganda.

[lastlib]

5. No, Grover just IS silly. Zakarias only put it on public display.

Seriously, where does that clown get the idea that cutting federal spending and revenue will boost growth? It doesn't automatically translate to more spending by private sector. In fact, it takes revenue out of private-sector hands, and will give them less to spend, so it will have a contractionary effect. Norquist is indeed an idjit of the highest order!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Great charts! Norquist should be made to look the fool he is as frequently as possible.

Now, even the Republicans are turning against him. The Ts and the islamophobes have long been against him for his close relations with some muslims.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

7. He could do that just by letting him talk

[chuckstevens]

8. The Pledge

Plan and simple: any member of Congress who signed Grover's pledge should be removed from office for taking an oath to something other than the US Constitution. Last time I checked the constitution is the highest law of the land.

[wake.up.america]

9. Grover, like many, gets away with utter stupidity because many don't take the time to analyze ...

It's all a ploy to bull**** the masses and gain power for themselves.

[garthranzz]

10. My tolerance for B.S. gets less as i get older...

and it was pretty miniscule to begin with. After 2 minutes, I stopped listening. Reading the excerpt said it all. Norquist ignores facts and proves Twain's point about statistics. Never saw him speak before. Vomit-inducing. Ask those affected by Isaac if they want reduced government services. Curse-word.

[tomm2thumbs]

11. Grover is a circus side-show for the GOP

just goes to show you who fills the void when people like Jim & Tammy Faye aren't around any longer and the cable is on the fritz