Last updated on March 24th, 2013 at 06:55 pm
Bill Maher used video interviews of Republicans demanding spending cuts, but refusing to cut anything they like to demonstrate the right’s hypocrisy on spending and cuts.
Alexandra Pelosi went to a part of New Jersey that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy to interview Republicans who are demanding spending cuts. Pelosi asked them what should specifically be cut. Their answers revealed the root Republican hypocrisy on the issue.
Video:
New Jersey Republican #1, “What we need here is the government’s help…I am a staunch Republican, and I think the government needs to make cuts. There’s gotta be cuts in Washington where it’s not going to hurt us.” The staunch Republican said no to cuts for veterans’ benefits, Social Security, education, Sandy relief, Medicare, healthcare, military, unemployment benefits. Republican # 2 turned all the list of the same cuts, and said, “We should cut their pay in Washington, D.C.” Republican # 3, “We can’t cut Medicare. We can’t cut veterans’ benefits. I’m probably all pro for that because I was in the military.” Republican #4, “The federal government should cut spending on stupid stuff that we don’t really need.” He then said we should cut foreign aid. Republican # 5 said she was for spending cuts, but admitted that she didn’t know what should be cut.
After the video, Bill Maher said, “It’s hopeless here, because the people are morons. They don’t know what to tell the politicians. They are complete idiots, and whenever I hear we need a government as good as the people, the people are worse. The people don’t know anything. How much is salaries? What percentage? If I drew a chart, you couldn’t see it without a jeweler’s eye, or foreign aid. Two things they want to cut.”
The reason why Republicans keep losing national elections is because they believe the polling about Americans wanting spending cuts. The American people love the abstract concept of spending cuts, but the reality is that they don’t want to cut anything that might impact their own lives. This is an extension of Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) problem. Everybody wants the cuts to come out of somebody else’s pocket. This is nothing new, but it is a gigantic problem for the Republican Party.
Rank and file Republicans believe in preaching an extremist ideology that they don’t want to actually practice. They are hypocrites, and this basic hypocrisy is why the Republican Party keeps driving in circles.
It isn’t that these people are stupid. It’s more likely that they are being misinformed by right wing media outlets. They call Obama a big spender, but demand that their Medicare not be touched.
Many of those following along on the right are clueless to their own hypocrisy, and they don’t understand that the agenda they are pushing is not their own.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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