CBS's Bob Schieffer got a much-needed lesson in recent history Sunday.
During a Face the Nation discussion with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh.), after the host wrongly claimed sequester was "the creation of Congress," Boehner interrupted him saying, "That's wrong. Who insisted on the sequester? The President of the United States" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST: Any way you cut it, and whoever's fault it is, you have presided over what is perhaps the least productive and certainly one of the least popular Congresses in history. How do you feel about that?
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JOHN BOEHNER (R-OHIO): Well, Bob, we should not be judged on how many new laws we create. We ought to be judged on how many laws that we repeal. We've got more laws than the administration could ever enforce. And so we don't do commemorative bills on the floor. We don't do all that nonsense. We deal with what the American people want us to deal with. Unpopular? Yes. Why? We're in a divided government. We're fighting for what we believe in. Sometimes, you know, the American people don't like this mess.
SCHIEFFER: But it's not the case, Mr. Speaker, of just passing or not passing new laws. You've got the government in gridlock. You're laying off people in the defense department. They're working four days a week. You've got the sequester that is the creation of Congress. This is not something that was foisted…
BOEHNER: Now Bob, that's wrong.
SCHIEFFER: upon Washington by...
BOEHNER: That’s wrong.
SCHIEFFER: …somebody from Mars.
BOEHNER: Who insisted on the sequester? The President of the United States.
SCHIEFFER: Well, I'm talking about Washington.
BOEHNER: He insisted on it. Understand something, Bob: the government has spent more than it has brought in for 55 of the last 60 years. I made it clear two and a half years ago when I was about to become Speaker that we were not going to kick this can down the road again. And so the President insisted on the sequester. I said the sequester would be in effect until the President would agree to cut some reforms that will put us on a path to balance the budget over the next ten years.
Of course, Boehner was right.
This was even confirmed in Bob Woodward's 2012 book "The Price of Politics" and PolitiFact.
But why should we expect the host of the most-watched Sunday political talk show in the country to know that?
