Par for the course, if it's Sunday, we're going to be treated to another interview by either John McCain or his BFF here, Lindsey Graham. Heaven forbid any actual progressive Democrats are allowed on the air to voice their opinions on this debt
July 31, 2011

Par for the course, if it's Sunday, we're going to be treated to another interview by either John McCain or his BFF here, Lindsey Graham. Heaven forbid any actual progressive Democrats are allowed on the air to voice their opinions on this debt ceiling debacle.

Apparently Sen. Lindsey Graham isn't ready to get behind these compromises being offered during the debt ceiling negotiations because they didn't get Democrats to just dismantle all of our social safety nets immediately. Heaven forbid it appears these guys already got concessions on just about everything they wanted and that still isn't good enough for them.

They should have raised the debt ceiling before this new House of Representatives got into office so they weren't put in the position of negotiating with these hostage takers in the first place because it looks like Lindsey Graham and the Republicans' idea of "winning" is the complete destruction of our middle class in America, which has been obvious to a lot of us for a long time now.

Transcript via This Week:

AMANPOUR: Every Republican congressman from your own state voted against Speaker Boehner's plan...

GRAHAM: They did.

AMANPOUR: ... even though it did contain the balanced budget amendment.

GRAHAM: Yeah.

AMANPOUR: Do you think they'll get behind this current framework that we've been describing?

GRAHAM: You know, I don't see many conservatives getting behind this, quite frankly, because you don't overall. I've learned in politics the hard way, don't oversell, and don't tell people they should feel good when they have a reason not to feel that great.

AMANPOUR: Will it pass? Will enough get behind it?

GRAHAM: I think half the conference in the Republican House must vote for this. To President Obama, to David...

STEPHANOPOULOS: Only half?

GRAHAM: I think that's the minimum, because I like John Boehner. Maybe he can get more, but it's a $3 trillion package that will allow $7 trillion to be added to the debt over the next decade.

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you know the politics as well as I do...

GRAHAM: So how much celebrating can you do about that?

STEPHANOPOULOS: In order to get something like this through that does not include -- it looks like this will not include revenue increases...

GRAHAM: No revenue. That's a win.

STEPHANOPOULOS: I know where you stand on that.

GRAHAM: That's a win.

STEPHANOPOULOS: That is a win. It would only get half?

GRAHAM: My belief is, what do I tell people at home who say, what did you do about getting us out of debt? I slowed down how much debt you add. Instead of adding $10 trillion, we're going to add $7 trillion. I slowed down the growth of government, but it still grows every year. For those who came out to vote in 2010 to say, get the size and scope of Washington changed in the new direction...

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: If you only get half, this could go...

(CROSSTALK)

GRAHAM: It doesn't go in the new direction.

STEPHANOPOULOS: With only half the Republican conference, this could go down.

GRAHAM: Well, I'll tell you, our Democratic friends provided no votes to John. There's no plan by the president. Harry Reid's plan is going nowhere.

AMANPOUR: But you say there's no plan, sir, but he's moved so far, in fact, entirely to your side.

GRAHAM: His -- his -- his rhetoric has moved. The reason everybody's moved in town...

AMANPOUR: But this is all spending cuts.

GRAHAM: Well, let me tell you. There's people in my party moved. There are people in my party who really are not that excited about cutting government...

STEPHANOPOULOS: You're not ready to vote for this, are you?

GRAHAM: I can't -- from -- from a big picture, I'm not ready to vote for this. And let me tell you why -- excuse me, George -- the bottom line here is, the people who got elected are not excited about being Republicans or Democrats, particularly on the Republican side. They're excited about results.

And it is fair to say, we've achieved a significant change in the way Washington works by paying for the debt ceiling increase and not passing it onto the credit card. We have not achieved entitlement change. We have not reduced the size and scope of government. We're going in the wrong direction at a slower pace, and for a lot of people, that is not winning.

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