The pundits over at MSNBC have it all figured out: Republicans don’t care about the millions struggling in the Obama economy. At least that was what a left-wing panel on Sunday’s The Ed Show decided, with Salon’s Joan Walsh declaring that Republicans “don’t care” about people who have lost their jobs.
Walsh’s ridiculous comments came after guest host Joy Reid preposterously worried that the Obama White House may be “a victim of the economy’s own success.” Reid fretted over the president’s agenda, asking:
So is it actually more difficult for the president to go out and mention on jobs, because people sort of see it happening?
Walsh inadvertently handicapped Reid’s fawning over the president by admitting the economic recovery has been “really weak.” But she restored her liberal bona fides by then delivering the exact type of character assault on Republicans we’re used to seeing at the Lean Forward network:
So many people are still reporting that they or a loved one has lost a job, that someone is in foreclosure. So I think there is still a lot of pain. It’s just that the Republicans – they don't care about those people.
Jonathan Alter, who has been feverishly supporting his Obama-flattering book “The Center Holds” on the Lean Forward Network, quickly agreed. Walsh then continued, snapping:
That is not their constituency. So, Jonathan’s right – they are more amenable to maybe doing something on immigration reform. But even there, you are seeing the far right of the caucus pull them back.
After the Republican-bashing that’s now ritual on The Ed Show, the panel convened a strategy session for their political darling on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:
But the panel wasn’t done vilifying conservatives. Alter doubled down on his Friday PoliticsNation fret over a Mitt Romney presidency, exclaiming that America “dodged a bullet once” and “can dodge a bullet again.”
If Alter’s “bullets” include a prosperous economy and less burdensome government regulations, then yes – I guess we did dodge that with an Obama reelection.
See the relevant transcript below:
MSNBC
The Ed Show
06/11/13
5:07 p.m. Eastern
REID: But Joan, in a sense is the White House sort of a victim of the economy's own success? Right, you do have job creation. We showed that [unintelligible] graph that showed that, under President Obama, we have seen a rebound in jobs. It may not be great but the economy is growing. So Republicans are less interested in sort of talking about that issue. So is it actually more difficult for the president to go out and mention on jobs, because people sort of see it happening?
JOAN WALSH: Well, I don’t know if people see it happening. I mean, it’s a really weak recovery. And so many people in polls, so many people still care with the economy. So many people are still reporting that they or a loved one has lost a job, that someone is in foreclosure. So I think there is still a lot of pain. It’s just that the Republicans – they don't care about those people.
ALTER: They don't.
WALSH: That is not their constituency. So, Jonathan’s right – they are more amenable to maybe doing something on immigration reform. But even there, you are seeing the far right of the caucus pull them back. Rand Paul comes out today and says I am the conduit through which a deal must be made, because they just love that idea.
REID [laughing]: Right. While he’s going to be also suing on the NSA. He’s got a lot on his plate.
WALSH [sarcastically]: He is very busy. He’s very pleased with himself. He’s really puffed up about this stuff. But when Rand Paul is pretending that he is the voice of reason and perhaps conciliation on immigration control, you know – on immigration reform – you know this bill is in some trouble.
REID: And probably trouble in the House, too. Ari, we do have this situation where you have the Rand Pauls who are probably looking to run for president. You have a lot of pre-presidential 2016 politics mixed in with 2014 politics. It does seems like we have a recipe for absolutely nothing getting done. We’re just going to talk about the IRS and Benghazi or whatever the next faux-scandal is.
ARI MELBER: I think the challenge for the White House is to try to build penalties into the system. Jonathan was talking about what moves, in terms of the pressure. I went and counted all the House votes that have been held this year. 211 votes. By my count, there was only one related to jobs at all – sort of a returning veterans jobs program. So one out of 211 is really bad. Really, really bad. A failing grade. So what I think the White House has to do is really build that message and basically say: we see you. We see what you are up to. We see that you can't get anything on the floor. I'm not talking about what they have to pass or not. But you can't even get the floor votes. And then in the Senate, you have a shadow filibuster and everything. So I think that the messaging has to be stronger for those who want to criticize and make some pressure.
REID: Right and I mean, the idea that the president is having a conversation with the American people. He did that Affordable Health Care Act press conference the other day, which of course got big-footed by the NSA stuff. He is trying to constantly talk about jobs in his jobs bill. Republicans are having a totally separate conversation that’s all about Barack Obama being an authoritarian monster. This doesn't sound like there’s going to be a lot of forward movement on the most important issue to Americans, which is the economy. Jobs.
(...)
ALTER: They have to get traction on certain things. At a certain point, you can bring some pressure to bear. The other thing that’s really important to remember when progressives get depressed is to look at the glass a little half full. Imagine if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan had been elected.
REID: OK, now you’re just scaring me.
ALTER: That’s why I think the story that I'm telling in my book is a compelling one. We dodged a bullet once. We can dodge a bullet again.
