Nothing illustrates the utter disconnect between conservatives and liberals better than this exchange. It begins politely enough, with Cavuto giving Rep. Johnson about 30 seconds to talk before he simply interrupts her with the flat statement that "we're broke".
From there on, that's all he says. Over, and over, and over again. Screw the poor, we're broke. Screw the sick folks, we're broke. Not only does he repeat it over and over, but he bullies her with it until she finally lets him have it right back.
Transcript via Huffpost:
"But Congresswoman, we're broke," Cavuto responded, adding that it might be time to "dig out." Johnson said that the country needed to invest in the future through education. Cavuto cut in again. "If I die and leave to my kids just a lot of bills and debt...I've screwed their future."
"You're screwing the future now," Johnson shot back. "...I hate to break it to you, but all I do is follow numbers," he said. I am Fox's nerd here, and we are broke...broke broke broke broke broke."
As the two argued more, Johnson lost patience with Cavuto. "You know what?" she said. "Your problem is, is that you just don't listen; you just scream and you're screaming the same thing these fools are screaming here," she said.
"But ma'am, you're saying the same thing," Cavuto said. "I'm just asking you to say something different."
The interview ended with acrimony on both sides. "You can sit there and be as ignorant as you'd like to be, but it's not going to solve it," Johnson said to Cavuto. "...We're going to hell in a handbasket," he replied.
"I think you're already there," she said. "When you refuse to have vision, you're already in hell."
That's it in a nutshell, that glaring difference between conservatives and liberals. Today's conservative message is the equivalent of a parent turning down a job offer for the sole purpose of telling their children there's no money and they're broke, so no, they can't have whatever it is they want. Really, it is.
In the President's speech the other day he said this:
These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can’t afford the America we believe in. And they paint a vision of our future that’s deeply pessimistic.
It’s a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can’t afford to fix them. If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can’t afford to send them.
Isn't that what Cavuto is telling Rep. Johnson in this clip? Sorry, too bad. No money for the bright poor kids to attend college, we have to reserve that for those who can pay. No money for roads, we'll just sell them off and let private companies maintain those roads they think are worth it, leave the rest to crumble away.
Sorry, country, but people don't matter here. Only making sure no person earning over $250,000 per year is not put upon to contribute one extra penny to the well-being of the nation that gave them their opportunity for prosperity.
The scorched-earth conservative writ large. Give me my opportunity so I can block you from yours.
