Matthew Dowd, a career Republican, said this on This week

[question everything]

It think this all boils down, we can debate all the words, this boils down in a choice, a fundamental choice. The choice is this. The choice is do you take $1 trillion and help the poor, and vulnerable, and working class in the country in their health care, subsidized by the federal government. or do you take the $1 trillion and return it to basically the wealthy of the country? That's the really the fundamental choice there.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-25-17-kellyanne-conway-sen-chuck/story?id=48254926

Perhaps he is no longer a Republican..

[MineralMan]

1. Yes, that is the choice, isn't it?

[spanone]

2. K&R...

[blue-wave]

3. K&R

[TimeToGo]

4. Agree, but with this

It wasn't necessarily theirs in the first place -- they took it (in a lot of cases) from us.

[erronis]

6. +100 - they did not get it by working hard

They got it through investments and loopholes and now they want what WE worked hard for.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Or Inherited It

Always remember that with the money the resident inherited, had he done nothing but let it accumulate returns in broad based investments he would have had 50% more than he actually had. (And that's before he just took the $800 million hit on the diminished value of his real estate holdings.)

To put a finer point: He would have had an extra $2.3 billion by doing NOTHING.

[Dustlawyer]

19. They got it through keeping 100% of the gains in productivity while keeping

wages flat for 40 years. Also, Bush tax cuts and offshore tax free days to bring their trillions in to create jobs that never happened because they sent them overseas!

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. Plus it was subsidized, invested in, by the government with infrastructure & EDUCATION. . . . nt

[Honeycombe8]

5. Wikipedia says Dowd is an Independent, before then was Repub, before then was Dem.

So I think he really is an Independent. In the middle somewhere, so he agrees with the ideology of both parties depending on the issue and the timing.

For Republicans, saying this is the choice is not a given that spending $1T for the poor is the correct answer. The key is "return." Returning the money means it's their money in the first place, is how they see it. So if YOU want to help others, do so. But not with THEIR money.

To Democrats, the correct answer is obviously to help the vulnerable. That's what a government does. We are all taxed, but the wealthy are progressively taxed because they can afford more. They have much more expendable income.

Greed is at the highest it's ever been in our country, I think. I would have thought that the past recession, brought on by deregulation, fraud, and greed would have been a lesson. The movie Wall Street ("Greed is good&quot would have been lesson, when Gordon Gecko was vilified for representing greed. I guess not.

[luvtheGWN]

14. Many Republicans, for many years, have believed

that charity is the answer to poor folks' problems. This was re-iterated by some people I know during the ACA debate, and I've heard it said by many, ever since then. This is their stock answer to the supposed "evils" of the welfare state. My answer to them is that they have no real understanding of government, nor of their own Constitution which created the government for the benefit of all the people. I believe there is something in the Constitution about protecting the welfare of citizens, and certainly that the US stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- not just for the able-bodied, the educated and the already wealthy, but for every citizen. The government, with all its regulations, its laws and its rules, is in place to do just that.

[question everything]

16. Yes, they look at taxes as "their" money

Unless one lives in a cabin in Montana, everyone benefits from government programs. Clearly Trump benefited form zoning regulations that allowed him to build whenever and wherever he wanted. He clearly benefited from bankruptcy laws. He benefits from trade, yes, that allowed him to import cheap steel for his buildings.

He, like everyone else, benefits from safe roads and skies, from safe food and water.

But for them, they should benefit, everyone else, should not.

[Honeycombe8]

17. Yes. Like India...where you have the wealthy...

looking out picture windows as they dine in luxury, with a view of begging children in the streets. They close the drapes so they don't have to see, sometimes. The children are "relying on charity."

We have a different view of government. It involves govt's responsibility to aid the most vulnerable among us, to ease suffering and provide the basic of most basics, so that people can have "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Some things are necessities to life, liberty, and happiness. Basic health care is one of those things. The govt should provide SOME sort of basic level of living to the most vulnerable, for humanity's sake, and so that the citizens can keep some sort of dignity.

[riversedge]

7. sad but true.

[Hamlette]

9. notice he said "return" it to the wealthy rather than "give"

doesn't sound so liberal to me.

[Lyricalinklines]

10. Words matter - "return it to basically the wealthy of the county"...

...words matter.

This also assumes those who will be profiting also paid into the "purse" to begin with. JS.

[Honeycombe8]

11. HE'S AN INDEPENDENT, not Republican. He was Republican before, and a Democrat for most of his life.

However he is labeled politically, he is clearly a moderate, sometimes swinging left, sometimes swinging right of center. He's neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

[Blue_Adept]

13. He's a very solid and interesting person to listen to

While his analogies and the like sometimes bother me when I see him on GMA in the mornings, he's one person that I'll pause and listen to while skimming the show when they get him on the politics. Same with Dan Abrams on anything legal. I'll fast forward intensely when Nancy Grace is on screen, however.

[zentrum]

15. "Return" it to the wealthy?

"Return" is such a strange word. It wasn't theirs to begin with.

Dowd's unconscious Republican phrasing makes it sound like we took the money from the wealthy and the choice is now whether we'll keep it or give it back to its rightful owners.

[RestoreAmerica2020]

18. God bless them all..

Last edited Mon Jun 26, 2017, 09:42 PM - Edit history (1)

But the brown and black people, you know the zillions of them that are here illegally that are criminals and rapists and thugs; that are all lazy and unemployed. And, the million and millions of 'them' that are on welfare, food stamps, having more babies so they can get get more free stuff. And, lets not forget those Muslims, Asians, Koreans Vietnamese refugees that fled their war torn countries coming here to get free housing, free everything -- now, honestly, we can't have that not in our Christian Amerikka. Its not all hate propaganda as liberals state, so it must be true because iChristian programming, kkkFox, kkkLimbaugh, kkkolter, and of course the kkk repubs congress and white kkking president of white Amerikka all say its true, so it must be true. Right? They would never lie to the American people ? Right? Of course not, not these good, kind, honest hardworking, law abiding white Christian folk ( of course satirical sarcasm). Please, if I may...

Somewhere someplace in the confederate South (even though its year 2017, the civil war ended some 100 yrs or so ago, where confederate army surrendered, well lost the war really, and slavery ended, so they say) a very nice and kind evangelical Christian woman, a stridently loyal MAGAtrump voter (hanging on wall in her kitchen area are pictures of white Jesus and of her recently deceased husband, the confederate flag protruding from the corner where it hangs slightly swaying with the breeze coming through the torn screen door that badly needs repair) also an autographed picture of her favorite white president that he signed personally at one of his rallies.)) she finally has time to sit down at her kitchen table write a letter to president trump and her republican senators....

To my very white awsome, bigly smart, above-the-law kkking in chief and to my very white kkkrepublicans senators, I'm writing this letter to beg you to 'repeal' my health insurance take away my healthcare welfare and medicaid/food stamps. My daughter and her 3 kids from three different men (kind of like you Mr president wiith three wives and all but in the reverse) get welfare too and a housing voucher, so take our free housing to. Just please take away that black Obamacare, not helping me anyhow, never used it anyway. I had emergency apedectomy and hysterectomy complications and not too my surprise, a miracle happened, my white Jesus heard my prayers and my bill is all paid up, some white Christian group with the initials A.C.A., the hospital bill was 15000 dollars and it's all paid up. So...I don't need that Obama thing, nor goverment help.

Praise be, I'm blessed to have SSDI since I can't work since my surgery they tell me that I now have a pre-existing condition, not sure what that rmeans, but because I qualify for SSDI I also get food stamps, I can't tell a lie, I was using them already cuz my daughter has three kids, she gets 400 a month in food stsmps.. My daughter lives with me since my husband passed, she so also gets a housing voucher from the government, say about 700 dollars a month. She has a lazy husband, he just sells marijuana and crack in the broad in broad daylight he makes a few bucks say 1000 a month, all cash he's says, so he doesn't have to pay taxes, he says-- she (fictious woman writing this letter) stops writing in midsentence - - now now that remindes me of some fellow not paying 800 million dollars in taxes, now who was that, now that would be criminal. Hmmm. I wonder why he's not locked up; must have been a damn liberal! Oh my, his name will come to me later, I'm just having a senior moment is all, so she tells herself. She continues letter where she left off, now about that lazy son in law, what was it, you know what Mr president and senators this white lazy good for nothing son in law of mine has never been stopped by a police officer, not once and he drives drunk or high, doesn't have insurance or even vehicle registration, and he drivea a banged up truck no lights or turn signals, he dont need them he says any how police never stopa him cuz he white, he says. So, I really dont know what those black and brown people are screeming crying about getting all hysterical and all. Fox news is always showing them upset about something.

So, my very white Mr president and my very white senators, me and mine will be alright we do okay since my husband died last year of black lung disease working in the coal mines since he was 16, thank you Mr president for saving those jobs for the minors so they can continue working in the mines. Bless your heart Mr.president! Since his passing, I get social social security widows benefit for myself and my youngest son like that very nice young white man what's his name l? Thsts right, Paul Ryan. He got social security when his father passed, his mom and he got monthly government checks just like me, and as I mentioned before when you're on government benefit you get food stamps and free medicaid that's free government healthcare. I suppose he and his mom got all those benefitsto . And, just look at Mr ryan now a senator and all, he probably went to a government funded college: now has a nice cushy government job with the best government health insurance and he will have a nice government pension, like all my white srenators. He such a nice and kind Christian man. Bless his heart!

Sorry, Mr president and senators, I went off on a tangent, now lost my train of thought-- where was I, so Mr president and my senators we'll be okay you just make sure all "those" black and Brown, and Muslims don't get any more free stuff, it's okay by me if you repeal Obama care, Mr president because promised me and othervshite roll that you wouldn't take My/our medicare or cut MY/our Medicaid benefits which includes foodstamps also called SNAP. I'm white (wink wink ) so I know you''ll take care of me and mine right and all the other white Amerikkans, right? So, in closing, mr. president, Im okay if you taking one trillion dollars ,,,1,000,000,000 how many more zeros is that, go ahead take all that money you're going to save by cutting all those free programs for "those" people and you go ahead and give all that money to all yourself, your family, and your very white cabinet friends, and to that nice guy ryan and his besty friend mcconnel, and all those kind hearted white Christian senators, they work so hard for us white folk.. God bless them all! Sincerely, from a ficticous southernwhite kind hearted Christian woman.... ps. Mr president since your taking your precious time to read this letter, can you please tell the new white supreme, wait that kkksuprem....sorry that title is reserved for my very nice neighbor. I meant the new supreme court judge guy you just hired to work for you, can please tell him to stop the gays from getting married..we just can't have that in our Christian amerikka, now can we? Ps best wishes to your wife, my very Christian father by accident saw her nude. photos in a tabloid magazine he almost had a heart attack so I told him what you said ,that she was a professional model so he was okay after that . Ps sorry Mr president I didnt have time to spell or grammar check, my moonshine is cooked, gotta go.

[Nitram]

20. Well said!

That's it in a nutshell.

[summer_in_TX]

21. Definitely an independent

Just finished his book, A New Way. Interesting guy. He's worked on Democratic and Republican election campaigns over the years.

Dowd seems to look for and decide on those to support who he thinks will bring people together and work to lessen the partisan divide. (He broke with W. in a public op-ed in the New York Times during Bush's second term, and Bush's failure to lessen partisanship was the big theme of that piece.) He supported Obama first go-around, but not for re-election after seeing him do things that increased partisanship (so he says in the book).

I follow him on Twitter and like much of what he has to say.