Page 584 - Predecessors News Today

Extension of the bush tax cut? >> sure. >> so obviously its going to be another issue. so why not agree on extending it right now. >> shouldnt the president own the tax cuts instead of saying the bush tax cuts are his? >> hes willing to take responsibility for it. because he is willing to go with the majority of americans who want the taxes raised on the top 2%. >> but they always go back to saying its the bush tax cuts. so he can always go back and blame his predecessors. >> heres the thing. wh...

>> its time for it to expire. wait a minute. republicans can come to this the table, and everyone agrees, right, that the bush tax cuts for people who make less than $250,000 a year should be extended. they wont because -- >> but didnt the president -- didnt the president and the democrats give the republicans what they wanted in the lame duck session of the congress when they hit a two-year extension of the bush tax cut? >> sure. >> so obviously its going to be another issue. so why not agree o...

Start as its predecessors. everyone clearly making their money off this franchise here. spiderman is living large and well. >> he is cute. andy garfield. >> oh, so glad you said that.

Medicare, not passing popular -- not passing very popular, correct? >> very correct and i think the point to be made here is that president obama didnt really lay the groundwork for the passage of such monumental legislation as predecessors of significance in the presidential realm have done. >> what do you mean? i mean, he ran on it. he said he wanted to do it in his first year as a campaigner. how did he not prepare the groundwork? >> consider lyndon johnson, for example, when lyndon johnson p...

With bigger numbers than his predecessors did. lets go back to this. this is an extension of executive privilege by the president of the united states. thats normally reserved for interaction with the president. the president has consistently said nobody at the white house knew about it, there was no white house involvement, and yet he has now exerted executive privilege over the activities and the papers and the considerations at a cabinet department. this is pretty -- this is pretty big stretc...

Overrated. >> overrated, yeah. we shall see. >> im go dg to do all of those instituti institutions, jon. >> thats right. >> he constructs them all for our children. the new cover of "time," the revolution that wasnt. a fascinating story. coming up next, how the recent presidents stack up against their predecessors. a full ranking of the author and editor of the national interest, robert merry. looking forward to that. thats going to be fun straight ahead on "morning joe."

General did not tell the truth to congress. >> and darryl issa was asked to testify, and he invoked special privilege. >> but im talking about the attorney general. >> but this is, you know, people are -- people watching are entitled to invoking privilege. this is the first time president obama has done it. his predecessors, both of his predecessors, a democrat and a republican did it a lot more. >> hes not president anymore. >> and president clinton. >> its funny, too, hes trying to say that th...

Them is how politically focused nixon was, and how much there was a lack of policy focus. take a listen. >> one of the things that comes through like thunder is that nixon misunderstood the presidency. that the presidency is an opportunity for a leader to do good. you think of -- whats the job definition? of being president? and it is essentially to define the next stage of good for a majority of people in the country, develop a plan, and get there. you listen to these tapes, and theres no such ...

One another rasmussen poll. own 18 percent are happy with their candidates. >> 65 percent say they wish there were another candidate. >> this has never happened i. >> unprecedented legal of dissatisfaction. >>gregg: put up the poll, 19 percent are happy with the two-party nominee. look at that. incredibly low number. >> we have nominees locked in. and this is a harbinger of ill for obama because referendums are elections on incumbents. >>gregg: the president is about to play the 100th round of g...

$2.5 trillion per year for bush. good years and bad. $3.4 trillion for president obama. that bottom line right there, average annual deficit for president bush, $309 billion. $1.3 trillion for president obama. to make it a little more relatable to fat cats liberals like bob, joy and rosie, i broke it down using doughnuts. if each doughnut represents $10 billion. each one. here is what president bush racked up per year. here is what president obama racked up. per year. >> eric: bob, can you see t...