Hugh Hewitt felt educated by a recent interview with current MSNBC omnipresence Joy-Ann Reid, the managing editor of the NBC-owned website TheGrio.com. He told his fans Reid was "very candid about what she wants from the lame duck Congress and from the president going forward. Sometimes the best thing a conservative can do is to let a lefty just state their objectives and their beliefs. Joy did that admirably well, and the reaction among many callers and emailers was disbelief."
Reid's policy agenda was clear. Eliminate all Bush tax cuts, "infuse more demand" with more "stimulus" spending, legalize marijuana, and implement Obamacare:
She began, "I actually want what I wanted in 2010, although I made some adjustments for reality, is that I think they should just let all the Bush tax cuts expire. And the reason I say that is that if both sides agree they care about deficits, the Bush tax cuts are one of the most egregious sort of things that were done in the last several years that really exploded the deficit."
Then what?
Like we want energy independence? Well, let’s invest in the technologies China’s going to beat our behinds in, meaning new sources of energy. Let’s invest in that. Let’s fix our roads and bridges. Let’s do infrastructure spending and put Americans to work. So I want to see non-outsourcable jobs increase so that Americans can work. So I think both sides agree that that is job one.
After that, I’d love to see marijuana legalization. I think the libertarians are with me on that. We should peel back the stupid drug war, get the heck out of Afghanistan so that we can start working on home. I think those are the big priorities, including, obviously, implementing Obamacare.
Reid said don't touch Social Security (other than playing with cost-of-living adjustments), but she could bend a little on Medicare. She doesn't want to give any power to red states. But she also said this:
REID: I actually think in the short term, deficits don’t matter. The United States still has the greatest borrowing power of any country on Earth. We can still borrow at incredibly low interest rates around the world. So I am not that concerned, frankly, about short-term deficits. I think we can run a $1-1.5 trillion dollar deficit in the short run and still be able to borrow money at low rates.
HEWITT: For how long do you think we can keep that up, Joy Reid?
REID: I wouldn’t worry, to be honest with you, about the deficit until we get to a targeted employment number. When we get down around 7, 6-7% unemployment, then I would say let’s start doing deficit reduction. But I don’t think it’s a number of years. I think it’s an employment number.
PS: If this didn't sound weird enough, of course there's this:
HEWITT: Now tell me, is MSNBC fairer or less fair than Fox?
REID: I think MSNBC is far more fair than Fox, way more fair. And it actually, you know, my problem with Fox News is that you know, for all the sort of pretensions that during the day they’re just doing news, the slant that exists in prime time taints their daytime programming. You know, every so often I think Chris Wallace will impress me with his questioning of guests. But for the most part, they’re doing Rupert Murdoch’s bidding. They’re doing conservative slanted news all day.
PPS: Hewitt compared Reid to Sen-elect Ted Cruz, who he says "is likely to be a fixture in national politics for at least three decades." (The full transcript is here.)
