Contessa Brewer rips Republicans' phony 'alternative' budget proposal: 'old wine in new bottles'
By John Amato Thursday Mar 26, 2009 12:06pm
The House Republicans made a big deal about their new budget proposal today on the hill. They held a full press conference at the same time President Obama was answering questions during a live streaming web chat format. Rep, John Boehner was holding an 18 page pamphlet in his hands and calling it "The Recovery Road to Recovery. He was accompanied by "Britney" Cantor and pretty boy Paul Ryan to do the honors of getting down to the business of conservative ideas instead of being the "just say no to Obama" party. Well, their plan is not a plan. It has no information in it. The only person that made out today was the printer they used to copy this up. Contessa Brewer got a bit bothered by their ponzi press conference as much as I did. After their presser she ended the segment with this:
Brewer: But again, so far in this news conference, we're not hearing specifics on how the are planning to accomplish that. We'll keep listening. If we find out there are some new details out of this news conference we'll bring them to you.
Later on in the show, NBC's Mike Viqueira joined her to give us the low down on the Republican plan to save us all. It was hilarious.
Brewer: I am very frustrated Mike, because we were waiting for this, we cut away from the President to hear the big build-up. Republicans have a plan, they have ideas, they're not the party of no and all I heard in that news conference was what they don't like about the president's plan.
Viqueira: ...not Nora, Contessa, I'll pass that along. They did hold up this, John Boehner, they did hold up this budget book here and said now we have a plan now here's our budget. What it is, it is a plan and a proposal ... it outlines what the president wants to do ...
...it talks about what Republicans want to do in very broad terms, it does not have in the sense of a traditional budget, numbers with estimates an estimate for how much they can reduce the deficit, things of that nature. That they say will come next week when they take this up on the floor. For example, what would they do? They would undo what they would call the recent reckless and wastefull Democratic spending binge including the so called stimulus and omnibus bills ...Brewer: But Mike, we've heard that before.
Yes
Brewer: We've heard them and today you get us all hyped up and you have our undivided attention and what happens when you get up and repeat the same criticism we've already heard. I didn't hear ideas. I heard the promise of ideas, and we're going to have more on x, y and z, but I didn't hear the ideas.
Viqueira: Right, so you're saying it's old wine in new bottles, that's what you're saying essentially.
Brewer: Well, that was a much pithier way of saying it.
That about sums up the conservatives. "Old wine in new bottles." has a nice ring, even if Boehner is hardly a new bottle any more.
Keep that quote in mind when considering the "budget" House Republicans unveiled this morning.
Stung by their stereotyping as the "party of no," House Republicans eagerly promoted the unveiling of their alternative to President Obama's budget today -- but when they finished speaking, reporters had one big question: Where's the actual budget? You know, the numbers that show deficit projections and discretionary spending?
There certainly was no hard budgetary data in the attractively designed 18-page packet that the House GOP handed out today, its blue cover emblazoned with an ambitious title: "The Republican Road to Recovery." When Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was asked what his goal for deficit reduction would be -- President Obama aims to halve the nation's spending imbalance within five years -- Boehner responded simply: "To do better [than Obama]."
And that's really all we got. House GOP leaders held a press conference this morning to prove a) they could put together a budget; b) that they could be the "party of yes"; and c) that their agenda is about more than just saying the opposite of whatever President Obama wants.
Instead, they unveiled a "budget" with no numbers or even budget estimates, and spent most of the press conference criticizing the president.
Republican leaders posted their "Road to Recovery" report online, and it's more or less a joke. Apparently -- I hope you're sitting down -- the minority party believes the nation will thrive if we cut taxes, stick with Bush's energy policies, and pursue more deregulation. How much would this cost? They don't say. How would this affect the deficit? They don't say.
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Good for Contessa Brewer!
wrong: 'old wine in new bottles'
correct: old whine in empty bottles
Since wine gets better with age. Maybe "crap wine in pretty bottles" would be better.
cutting taxes on the wealthiest 5% of people.
Then the ethical wealthy people will create lotsa high-paying jobs!
(if you live in Mumbai)
Hahahahahahahahahahahhhaaaaa!
Same shit...different bag.
all these fucktards can do is spin the $hit... they wasted peoples' time, energy, and money with nothing new... not one new idea from the frickin' lot of them. Add that to the fact that they have not shame and it's pathetic drum pounding and that's all it is. Boner is Captain Craptastic! What a L O S E R!
For what? The hell with AIG bonuses, get the aids (sp?) off the Rushpuke's congressional payrolls. They have nothing to contribute to these states. Nothing. (Talk about a bread line.)
It doesn't take a lot of space on a piece of paper to write "No" and "Cut Taxs".
the news agencies are so accustomed to sucking GOP dick...that they cut away from the President...the very popular intelligent President who is actually putting forward ideas to solve this clusterfuck...to give free time to more GOP talking points. The same old talking points we've heard for thirty freakin' years.
The GOP really does think we're all just freakin' morons. That we can't see through this facade.
Their arrogance in floating this crap simply reaffirms that they aren't interested in the health of the country nor the well being of the people. They simply want back "in" on power, so they can continue to enrich themselves and their benefactors. So they can suck every last dollar they can from us.
The GOP is the party of parasites.
A pox on all of them.
It is scary that they could possibly be back in power in a couple of years.
then the country deserves what it gets.
And trust me, I'm under no pretensions here. The corporatists and their money have infected everything. The GOP has simply made open corruption an art form.
It's up to the people to FORCE real change. So far, they're sitting on their hands.
Your summation is what's going on... they have nothing to offer and are playing the fools thinking people don't know what they're up to... Seriously, who could possibly think these a$$hats have anything to offer? They didn't offer ANY positive change in the past 8 years, why would anyone expect that would be different now. They're pulling stunts typical of the 3 stooges, except not so funny... they're playing with peoples' livelihoods and futures.
There isn't a rung in hell low enough for the entire Republican Party.
I wish once in my life time they would come out and say what they are really for. They believe in a ruling class. Just eliminate things like Social Security, Medicare, The Department of Education. Turn the functions over to private interests on a for profit basis. If that leaves millions of people out, well that's just too bad. That is what charities are for. After all everyone can not be winners, if your not successful in life then it is most likely your own fault. You should be able to understand the situation you were born into and just except it. The purpose of government it so protect private property from the mob.
They've been throwing a tantrum since Obama was elected that it's the president that is creating class warfare when in reality they want that ruling class. They had it for eight years under Bush and look where it got us, near collapse.
Boehner+Cantor = Whining Wankers
psst...we'll just tell them we've got a new plan and we'll hold a fancy press conference and then we won't let on that all we have is tax cuts to the wealthy. What do they know! They let us bamboozle them with Bush and the media loves us. Plus you know that tomorrow morning all they'll be talking about is American Idol and basketball
The GOP plan, Ciff Notes version:
Shift money from social security to the war profiteers and defense contractors
Make permanent the tax cuts for the rich / roll back the ones for the middle class
Take money away from the EPA and give it the form of corporate welfare to the big polluters
Take money from health and education and use it to start more wars
Take money from renewable energy resources alternatives and give it to Exxon/Mobile
Yep, same old "whine", different bottle. Voters rejected their wine in the last election. The Rethugs either should work with the Dems on the mandate they were given by the American people in the last TWO election cycles or the Dems should "nuke" em!
Nuke 'em...stir the ashes...then nuke 'em again.
really? they don't have any real info! who does anymore. all we hear is crap from people that don't know what they're talking about and make excuses.
Was someone supposed to be impressed with that little blue folder the repug was holding up? They wasted air-time for that? I bet Obama's is bigger.
Now the dems have their problems too. Evan Bayh and his little band of moderate or conservative democratic senators may be going to throw a monkey wrench into things.
FUCK Evan Bayh.
The GOP must have threw a little scratch their way.
Contessa's political capital just went up one hundred-fold! Atta girl and keep flaggint the hypocrisy. They've gotten away with double talk for 8 years and they're beginning to unravel right before our very eyes.
Fact is - they are totally out of solutions, ideas, and anything even remotely resembling governing.
They're going to lose even more seats in the midterms.
... were other MSM outlets looking askance at the GOP's attempt to spin a summary without numbers as an actual plan. Methinks a few Republicans will be working hard this weekend to come up with something that the newly skeptical press crowd will swallow. Or not.
Aside from the fact that the cable news networks cut away from President Obama's Town Hall in the first place, that they did it for the Republican's "There's Nothing In Here" plan, was absolutely appalling. The networks and the GOP should be ashamed of themselves because the depth of ignorance is really getting annoying!
I haven't seen one member of the Republican Party lately who has anything credible and creative to say. All they can say is "No" which is precisely what the voters will say in 2010....and 2012....
NO WAY, Repukes! You're going down the tubes.
G-nO-P
Like a kid doing half his homework, and what he did do was wrong.
It won't be long before we see Boehner crying again. That's about all they have left is to go for sympathy.
It is "whine" when referring to congressional republican obstructing ideologues.
As was said before, wine generally improves with age, if it was good wine to start with, and if it was stored properly.
Perhaps you could say it was Thunderbird in a Dom Perignon bottle.
a turkey in a Dom Perignon bottle!
Bandy about pie-in-the-sky promises, but deliver nothing.
Well, they got YOU to talk about it at length, didn't they? And you can bet that the "story" of them interrupting the online town hall will probably get them as much airplay as Obama. So it doesn't matter if the Republicans are a show about nothing. They'll still be on the TeeVee.
They're completely embarrassed because they keep hearing they have no ideas. They have ideas. They may be from the 80's but they hey, it's an idea. The only people they're fooling is the idiot villagers. Too bad there's so many of them. There's a saying in Texas other than fool me once you don't fooled again. All hat and no cattle.
you nailed it, "all hat no cattle" is exactly what these dimestore cowboys are all about. their plan is to do the exact opposite of what the President wants to do. the repigs motto "Same Shit Differant Day" , same broken record day in day out. I know some die-hard repigs that are even getting sick of it. they need a new Battle Cry.
This is really funny. Hahahahhahahhahahahahaaaaa hahahhahaahahahaaa wiping tears of laughter from my eyes hahahhahahhahahhahahahah hehehehehehehehehe heh heh Oh my.
old shit in new toilets. I'm not a big wine guy but I have enough respect for it to never label anything the Cons do as any kind of wine.
Perhaps they should have read their plan before they published it, all 18 pages of it. Bur I guess they’re too busy running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
"I have a plan!"
"Whats your plan?"
"To have a plan by next week!"
It reminds me of something I heard recently, (I forget who, when, where, etc.), but it was someone from the GOP saying they didn't like Geithner's plan. He claimed to have a superior solution, but when pressed about what the solution actually was, he admitted that his solution amounted to, "Ask Geithner to come up with a different plan."
The Recovery Road to Recovery.
Sounds like lyrics to a Spinal Tap song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTxzvsELdDM
The GOP has been all hat and no horse for 8 years. That's how we got into this mess.
I guess it wasn't her fault but I got angry when she cut in and said we are going to cut away from the president to hear the Rethuglican budget proposal. They can't pass a bill in the house. They are irrelevant. They are not going to do the work it would take to do that. This is all smoke and mirrors. Think about the past eight years. This is what they do.
The Republican Party isn't the party of 'NO', they are the party of 'I DON'T KNOW'
in '68, He had a secret plan to end the Vietnam War. 5 years and 30,000 lives later he told us what it was - the same as LBJ's.
The nut's don't fall far from the stupid tree, you know...
-- remember that John McCain said during his campaign that he could find Osama bin Laden? Whatever happened to that?
MrsPeel pointed it out, but the observation deserves emphasis: they cut away from President Obama for the Republican press conference.
Now, what's that I'm always hearing about the liberal media that are "in the tank" for Obama?
If anyone has an Amazon.com account you'll get this. But first...
Three weeks ago conservatives where going nuts over Geithner's housing plan screaming there was no substance to it. Now the conservatives do they same thing with an 18 page glossy economic plan and they're all giggling saying "oh yeah, in your face"
It's like Amazon.com. You have a shopping cart and a wish list. The shopping cart is what you buy. The wish list is what you want but don't have the means to get. The 18 page budget from the Republicans is the Wish List. It's what the conservatives want but don't have the means to get. they want to cut the deficit but don't know how. Put it in the Wish List. They want to cut unemployment but can't raise the money hire. Put it in the Wish List. They want the market to go up and and banks to start lending to make money from the interest, Problem...No ones buying. Put it in the wish list.
I got an Amazon Wish List. It's got a 42 inch Panasonic Plasma VIERA HDTV. And a $300.00 Blu-Ray DVD player in it BITCH!! I got the goal just not the clue how to reach it.
Cantor and Boehner. what morons.
"Britney" Cantor -- I love it. I can just see him in drag...
It is nothing more than a GOP pamphlet full of right wing talking points and propaganda. It bashes Obama, universal health care and entitlements.
WTF this is the worst excuse for a budget proposal ever written.
A million monkeys typing on a million typewriters could randomly write a better budget proposal than this.
sort of. There really is not a lot there that isn't absolutely absurd, trivial and shameful. I predict, that by the time they submit their "ideas" the budget will be passed.
Shouldn't there be more outrage over the way the media Jumped to suck GOP dick like that. I mean here is the President of the United States talking and they skip him to go to a Gop Bs press conference.
They could of done what they used to do record the press convence and play it after the President stops talking.
I saw this on MSNBC when it aired. It was absolutely funny. Contessa does try to cut to the chase. Sometimes I like her for that and sometimes she is annoying. By and large though, she is a pretty good newsperson.
the Repub trolls? I am heading over to a economic website to see if they do a dissection of this fiasco....
Oh, for fun, I went over to Red State to see how they could possibly spin this.... Don't bother the crazies are in full swing over there - trying to stay relevant in their own minds I suppose.
This is really really pathetic.
It seems that the Republicans, out of desperation I suppose, have given up on any serious attampts at governance or politics and turned to comedy as their primary activity. Undoubtedly, they have taken notice of the huge success of Stephen Colbert and John Daley and determined there was room at the top for additional individual practicioners like Boehner, Palin, and Steele, supported by a troupe of neo-con comics to compete with SNL and Second City. These clowns are certainly providing me with some humorous moments. If that's their intention, they just may have a future. Break a Leg!
The Republican Party has shown NO signs of accepting their place in in Congress as the Minority party.
They seem to be going through the motions but the arrogance, relentless demonizing and Bill ORielly intelligence is agonizing.!
When will they take their rightful place?
The loonie tunes party never ceases to amaze me , Jack Nicholson should consider doing "one flew over the cuckoos nest two" with cry baby Boehner and his pals co stars .
They truly think the philosophy that got us here is still the thing to do. I have no idea why they think this other than they just hate so much being wrong they find it impossible to face themselves or the truth. Maybe they are embarassed about their failure so they are trying to cover it up by saying..who? me worry? Or maybe they are just so dogmatic that nothing else pierces their brain.
What do you guys think? How do they convince people(other than the sheeple) that watched it fail with their own eyes that it is still a good idea. That job is almost as big as the one they left for us to do.
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