AlterPolitics

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex, who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee) cannot name a single issue on how the Republican Party today differs from the Republican Party during the Bush administration:

Gregory: What does distinguish the Republican Party of today from the Republican Party under President Bush’s rule with regards to spending — which is where it got out of control under Republican rule, that now Conservatives are so upset about?

Cornyn: Well let’s look at a few facts — and I thank you for the opportunity — because I want to respond to what Chris said, the last year that President Bush was in office, 2008, the deficit was 3.2% of the gross domestic product.  Today it’s 10%.  We just hit the 13 trillion debt on national debt.

Gregory: Well, let me just stop you Senator.  Where did some of that debt come from?  The President of the United States was George Bush when they passed a huge TARP just to bail out the banks.  I mean that’s what ran up a lot of debt as well.  Are you saying a Republican was somehow different?

Cornyn: Well, you’re ignoring the stimulus that was, ah, failed according to the President’s own standards.  He said he was supposed to keep unemployment to 8%.  A 2.6 trillion dollar health care bill that — I agree with Pete — will bankrupt not only the private sector, but the states and the federal government creating a new entitlement program.  My point is that unemployment was roughly 6.9% when President Obama was elected, now it’s 9.5%.  The deficit was 3.2% the last year President Bush was in office, now it’s 10%.  The debt was 2.3 trillion dollars lower in 2008 than it is now, because of runaway spending and debt so …

Gregory: So my question is still: What is the distinction of the Republican Party of today versus the Bush record that you’re defending.

Cornyn: Well, I think what people are looking for, David, are checks and balances.  They’ve had single party government, and it’s scaring the living daylights out of them, and it’s keeping ‘job creators’ on the sidelines rather than investing and creating jobs.  That’s why the private sector isn’t creating jobs.

Gregory: Well, are you concerned people will see that as a strategy of saying ‘no’ rather than saying ‘yes’ to something?

Cornyn: Well, my constituents in Texas — I have to tell ya — to all the bad ideas they hear coming out of Washington these days, ah — ‘no’ is a good start, and then they want us to replace it with common sense policies that actually make sense.  But the problem is our friends on the Democratic side, including the President have passed one unpopular policy measure after another and told the American people “we don’t care what you think.  We know what’s better than you do what’s good for you,” and I think the birds are coming home to roost.

In other words, they intend to resume Bush’s policies of increasing the national debt to pay for deeper tax cuts for the rich, to bail out Wall Street fat cats, and to wage more endless and unnecessary wars.  Sounds like a winning strategy, John … 😯

WATCH:  [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykzbg33Pq9E[/youtube]