I know we debated. You decided. No wonder we have no deal.
That tit-for-tat with Democratic Texas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson...confirming for many of you, why we are not veering off this fiscal cliff.
Few are willing to give a negotiating inch.
For others, it confirmed I'm not willing to give them a chance to explain…
Al in Naples, Fla.
"She blustered. You bullied. I just switched the channel."
Michael via Comcast.
"You were arrogant, rude, sarcastic and a bully...how despicable."
Kayleigh in Sioux City, Iowa.
"Why did you come back to apologize for your behavior? The congresswoman wouldn't answer your questions, didn't offer so much as one program she would cut, and then told you to shut up. If I were you, I'd have told her to stick it where the sun don't shine."
Kim via MSN.
"Neil, the only thing you had to apologize for was that vein popping out of your neck. I haven't seen you this angry since the Hostess bankruptcy."
Totally unnecessary. Totally unnecessary.
Anita e-mails.
"You might have been overbearing, but she was over the top...talk about a dim wit."
Well, careful, Anita, "dogmatic," maybe..."dimwit," no.
My problem with the congresswoman, like many of her colleagues, when it comes to spelling out how they'll control spending...they can't, and they won't. I offered her every opportunity I could to state just one program she would cut...just one...nothing. Not a one. No one is addressing this spending problem."
Ken in West Palm Beach, Fla.
"Rarely do I enjoy your interviews when you interrupt. However, this time I wish you had completely shut her off."
John in Frisco, Texas.
"She should be a poster child for what is wrong with Congress."
Marcia in Two Harbors, Minn.
"You are my super hero! You are the only one who insists the questions asked get answered. When you get snarky, they deserve it!"
Pauline e-mails.
"Neil, please stop being so rude!! You make me ashamed to call myself a conservative."
Well Pauline, you make me ashamed to think as a conservative, you'd accept the congresswoman's constant dodges.
Ted via Comcast.
"Wow, you deserve a raise...she was more difficult than the I-man."
No, Ted, no one is as difficult as the I-man.
Jack in NYC.
"Johnson's an idiot for blathering, but you're an even bigger idiot for inviting her in the first place to do so."
Eddie e-mails.
"Right after that exchange, I had a double shot of scotch, then for the rest of the show, you were just a blur. You look better blurred, by the way. Everything does."
Well you know Eddie; I can well understand you're reaching for the bottle. Sometimes with guests like that so do I. Not during the show... anyway the problem is we've got politicians who are drunk on spending.
And all I'm saying, perhaps rudely to some of you, is that they've got to sober up, otherwise this whole country is going down.
Now that doesn't mean I'm saying we shouldn't see taxes as part of a deal...far from it
As I've said many times, elections "do" have consequences. And one of the consequences of this election is that voters clearly favoring the rich paying more taxes.
Now I'm not for that...I think we'll likely see nothing from that...but let's move on and accept that, so we can do "this"...cut spending. It must be part of an overall deal that finally addresses our overall propensity to spend far more than we taking in.
The congresswoman isn't the problem. Her insistence that spending isn't even an issue...is.
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