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    Rett fra levra: Alan Simpson om “the third rail of politics”

    Alan Simpson intervjuet på CNNs «State of the Union», 6. februar 2011 (skjermbilde).

    På CNNs søndagstalkshow “State of the Union” snakket i går tidligere Sentaor Alan K. Simpson (R-WY) – nå co-chair av den Obama oppnevnte National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform – rett fra levra om «the third rail of politics«, for å si det mildt:

    CROWLEY: How optimistic are you that anything close to the kinds of cuts and revenue enhancements that you’d like to make are going to become a reality?

    SIMPSON: Well, the reality will come very soon and will come when the debt limit extension comes up, and that will be before April 1st.

    But the next time you hear … a career politician get up and say, «I know we can get this done; we’re going to get rid of all earmarks, all waste, fraud, and abuse, all foreign aid, Air Force one, all congressional pensions,» that’s a sparrow’s belch in the midst of a typhoon. That’s about six, eight, 10 percent of where we are.

    So I’m waiting for the politician to get up and say, there’s only one way to do this, you dig into the big four, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and defense.

    And anybody giving you anything different than that, you want to walk out the door, stick your finger down your throat and give them the green weenie (phhhh).

    CROWLEY: Isn’t there a big selling job to be done here before you can get these politicians, who, after all, owe their jobs to the American people, to move?

    SIMPSON: Well, the god here in Washington is the god of re- election. And I think that god is a little tarnished. I think the feet are crumbling.

    CROWLEY: Senator Alan Simpson, rare and real, we could use a little more of that in Washington.

    SIMPSON: Well, but there are people, let me tell you, that commission, I respect every one of them completely and we all agree that deficit denial is dead as a dodo bird. And if they want to keep playing the violin, well, deficits mean nothing, well, I’ll buy the drinks.

    Rett fra levra.

    Are Tågvold Flaten
    Are Tågvold Flaten
    Statsviter og redaktør av AmerikanskPolitikk.no. Programleder av podkastene "Valgkampsirkuset" og "Amerikansk politikk". Forfatter av "Sirkuset - Clinton, Trump og tidenes valgkamp".

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