George Will on <I>This Week</I>: Who Are You Gonna Believe? Me Or Your Lying Bank Account?
By Nicole Belle Saturday Jun 14, 2008 5:00pm
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Don't listen to the Federal Reserve or economists, dagnabit! You're better off now than you were eight years ago. George Will thinks so, and he's never wrong, correct? The problem--as Will sees it--has nothing to do with economic indicators but with people like Robert Reich pointing out that the economy is benefiting the very wealthy and those in the middle class aren't seeing any improvement for them.
So for all you who haven't been able to find a job for months because yours has been outsourced and you've fallen off the unemployment rolls, or you purchased your home through companies like Countrywide, which used predatory lending tactics and are now facing foreclosure, whose IRAs and investment portfolios still haven't recovered from 2001, who have felt the pinch and had to make hard choices in your standard of living due to the higher cost of groceries and oil, quit yer whining!
Transcripts below the fold:
REICH: I don’t think you can separate economic security from national security. This is why I find John McCain’s position so interesting, because he wants to and needs to separate himself from Bush, a failed presidency, particularly if you look at the polls. And yet, on Iraq and on the economy, he is going beyond what George Bush has done. I mean, his tax cuts are beyond anything that –particularly for the wealthy—beyond anything that George Bush has proposed or did implement.
WILL: But Bob, today we have a bifurcated economy. The export sector is doing wonderfully, it’s pulling the country along, and the Democratic Party is raising doubts about its commitment—indeed, it’s affirming its lack of commitment—to free trade.
Now it is true that I think there is a disjunction in the public mind without precedent in 200 years of American history. We’ve always assumed that the very process—the dynamic market capitalism—produces increased national wealth simultaneously produced increased family and individual security. Now the doubt is that today’s capitalism on steroids, if you will, globalized capitalism increases national wealth, but undermines family and individual security which will produce a great flinch from free economics.
REICH: That’s exactly the point. That’s exactly the problem, George. Americans now have lost their faith in free trade; they’ve lost their faith in economic growth because they haven’t seen the benefits of it. It’s all gone to the top. That’s why Obama’s tax cuts for the middle class and for the poor are so critical for this campaign.
WILL: Because friends like you are misinforming the country by saying that they have not seen benefits. Even housing, Bob, housing today after the big decline, the average American house is worth a third more than it was in 2000.
REICH: George Will, you tell average Americans that they are better off today than they were in 2000-2001…
WILL: I will.
REICH: …and they will not believe you.
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George Will is better off today than he was eight years ago. Rain or shine, recession or boom, he gets paid well. In fact, most of the folks you see on these TV news shows _ commentators and guests, for the most part _ do very well salary-wise. They are addressing an issue that really doesn't affect their bottom line as much as it does "average" Americans.
I think there should be a show asking these folks how much money they make, how much they spend a day on items, what expenses are covered by their companies, if the economy has affected them. It would be nice to see where they are in the pecking order before commenting on other less-economically well off folks, like myself.
George Will, what do you make?
The only way I'm better off this year is that I don't have to look forward to George Bush being in office in 2009.
I can't stand when people who have never even met an "average American" have the balls to go up on their podium and tell us that we should be delighted with how well things are going, thanks to 'free trade' (read, 'union busting' and 'selling out America's once-great industrial sector') and 'tax cuts (for the wealthy)'.
If you think Bush's presidency was bad, McCain's economic and fiscal proposals are insanity in comparison.
At the very end Sam Donaldson starts saying "we met some average Americans last week on vacation in Italy." Yup, those were very "avarage" Americans, Sam. Why I remember my last vacation in Italy. Oh wait, that's a racial memory from my gradparents. No one in my family has been able to afford to go back since they came over. So I guess we're below avarage?
Erik_Da_Red @ 4:
those average americans you met in italy now have a larger credit card balance
any member of the military industrial congressional meidatainement big pharma complex is doing just fine.
look at Halliburton's stock performance!!!! blood=money for George "Goebbels" Will and his pack of opinion manufacturers!!
If there is a hell, George Will has got secure reservations for it.
I'll keep it short: FU George Will!
Same goes for the other George.
George Will has not credibility after what he has been saying for the past few years.
Some average americans in st. paul mn and tampa fl:
http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com/2008/06/st-paultampa.html
Britney Hume made some dumbass comment about how well people are doing despite how they actually feel and Juan Williams took him to task and just laughed in his face, I have a feeling Juan will be replaced soon.
George Will And Britney Hume are the same kind of condescending hacks who have no idea how real people live.
somebody ought to ask sam donaldson, for a guy that makes your salary why would you buy a hairpiece at walmart?
[Deleted. Off topic. Malcolm, the site monitors saw as much of the same ugliness regarding Russert's death as we saw when it was announced Ted Kennedy suffered from a brain tumor. Forgive us if we don't want to be associated with the ghoulishness of those comments. Thank you. Site Monitor]
[And, upon further review, knock it off with the sock-puppetry, Malcolm Y/Dread Pirate Wesley/David Bowman. It's a good way to get yourself banned. Site Monitor]
WILL: blah blah blah...bifurcated economy...export sector....blah blah blah...free trade...blah blah blah...disjunction...blah blah blah...dynamic market capitalism...increased national wealth...blah blah...
One of our greatest living thesaurians and bovine fecalists.
;-}
Captain Obama’s Bitter Half Husein Kangaroo @ 9:
he knows his party is in trouble they're barely hanging on...the republicans can no longer claim to be fiscally responsible and that's killing them..they are big government,weak dollar,war and big spending....it's obvious that the divide between rich and poor is too great..this is a different conservative philosophy that george will doesn't agree with...the NEOCON philosophy
redcat @ 12:
now that... is cold blooded dawg.....
George H.W.Bush lost to Clinton in 1992 because he couldn't see what the problem was - from his opaque bubble mansion view.
George Will, and friends, are having identical time-share experiences from that same window.
The natural consequences of too many overpaid corporate media whores competing for so few real issues.
BTW, George(Will); the main reason our exports are lookin up is because our dollar is in the toilet.
and it has taken george will how many years to become this stupid?
I'd like to bifurcate George Will's economy.
The condescending pundit class has not only done well during the past seven years, they've contributed to global warming with all their hot air.
Time for a Bill Maher-esque New Rule:
New Rule - rich people who claim that the economy has never been better must forfeit 90% of their wealth, which will then be shared equally amongst the rest of the country.
Hey, George, tell us again about that off-shore drilling by China.....come on, tell us once more....we need a litmus test for your "credibility".
Okay Republicans please tell me one thing that you people have not screwed up beyond recognition in the last 8 years, Just one thing, only one thing theres nothin You can say is there, Thats why you people can never run on your record and you always have to come up with some smeer tactics, If you ran on your record none of you could win an election for dog catcher
Proud2bHumble @ 13:
William Safire could talk circles around George Will.
The show should be called "5 out of touch windbags discuss the topics of the day"
Actually, the whole show was embarrassing--George is getting good at that. National sleeping pill and constipation advocate, Fred Thompson, was counter point to John Edwards in the first segment. I will give it to Fred, he is the nation's leading dullard, after George "p-Fuddy" Will.
karl @ 15:
What? the hairpiece?
Captain Obama’s Bitter Half Husein Kangaroo @ 22:
Whereas Georgie Williar is just circling the drain these days...
Captain Obama’s Bitter Half Husein Kangaroo @ 26:
that was frickin funny
Would it surprise anyone if I said that Will is a liar?
I havent read his book (and have no intention of doing so), but he himself quoted his book by saying - republicans are willing to accept inequality of outcome in order to protect freedom - while democrats limit freedom in order to achieve equality of outcome.
You see - its a lie. Republicans have done more to limit (destroy) freedoms than literally any other group in US history - Will knows this, yet claims republicans want to preserve freedom. He is a social darwinist that will say whatever is needed to get a 'win'.
What becomes apparent is that not only was Will lying about republicans interest in preserving freedom - he was lying about being willing to 'accept' unequal outcomes to protect freedom. It is clear that unequal outcome is the point to a republican NOT freedom.
If you understand this one point - his comments make perfect sense.
He is a liar and a singular enemy of civil community.
Dr. (terrorist fist jab) Matt @ 21:
i had forgotten about that.. did he ever explain himself?
http://mediamatters.org/items/200806130008
George Will is Ayn Rand with a bad hair piece and glasses.
LOL, I will take my "cash in the safe"! Thank you very much!
www.an0n.mirrorz.com
Ruthless People @ 31:
...and larger cup size...
We are better off today than we were 8 years ago. Mainly because Bush is finally leaving, but that's it.
Erik_Da_Red @ 4:
Lprd Donaldson passed those average Americans on their way to meet David Brooks at the Applebee's salad bar.
Will:
Whaddaya mean "we," White Man?
Oh, George, it's not capitalism on steroids. It's capitalism without sensible regulations to make it work. Free trade and globalization are not evil per se. They require the similar kinds of sensible regulations and safety nets that the economies of nations do.
Every time things seem to be going well, you laissez faire folks come along to argue that everything would be just that much better if we abandoned all the human-made rules of the game -- that overall wealth would increase and trickle down, people would all earn more and pay less taxes, and that government-regulated or -run programs would work even better than they are working if private people ran it in pursuit of profit. And like a gambling addict who doesn't know to quit when he's ahead, people fall for it, and vote you guys into office.
Thereupon, you dismantle everyone's benefits and concentrate wealth in the hands of a few who already had more than enough and who proceed to steal everything in sight and maximize their own profits at the expense of everything around them -- human rights, national security, and even their own long-run best interests. Which then leads those who have been hurt to contemplate whether the French Revolutionaries had the right idea about rich people, prompting someone on the left to try to figure out a way to balance the powers that be against the people's best interests, reinstall regulations, add one or two new government programs, and save the country from itself.
Lather, rinse repeat.
why didn't somebody ask will why he didn't serve in the military during the vietnam era?
How is it that people like Will are brought back time and time and time again - and every time it's nothing but lies. He can't even pretend to know what he's talking about. Why do they let him get away with this?
He opens his mouth and the sound that spews forth is an unending, pitiful, unintelligible whine. How can people stand it? I don't know if there's a bigger crybaby out there.
Why is the American public subjected to the same CRAP from this brain-dead partisan asshole every single frickin' week?
*
redcat @ 37:
couldn't see to well through those rose colored glasses
Another BAD Hairpiece guy with another BAD piece of information skewed into some kind of reasonable (only to Republicans) explanation to bolster the view from the rich of how GOOD we normal folks have it.
Dr. (terrorist fist jab) Matt @ 21:
He must have gotten his "facts" from the Green Monster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-7JN7z2cUg
And they pay George Will to spread his swill. George has been disassociated from reality for years. That's what happens when you live in a bubble. Our economy doing well, what universe are these people from? The comment on our dollar should be a clue, of course we can sell our products overseas, those poor countries have vaults full of worthless greenbacks that they are trying to dump. This is an exact case of why I have stopped watching these supposed Sunday morning news programs. I have not seen a real American on one for years. Think the scum would invite me? Nah, I might embarrass them by pointing out some of the inconvenient facts that they always leave out. Doing better now than 2000, how the hell can we get these people off the air. I already don't buy products from their advertisers.
The Sheep better look up soon and quit following the asshole in front of them, case in point, George Will's asshole.
35 Articles of Impeachment on the Table. Pick one up read it aloud. 34 Articles of Impeachment on the Table.................
Trittydi @ 38:
Corporate network execs love providing an outlet for rich-man's propaganda. They figure it it's parroted enough the working-class neanderthals will fall in line and treat scumbag politicians that cater to the rich and corporations as friends of the little folk.
Take that silver spoon out of your ass Georgy boy. I've had enough of this "it will pass" attitude.
Karen @ 36:
A comment:
Will is a predator - much like Reagan and Arnold. Earlier I quoted him as having said republicans would accept unequal outcome to protect freedom. The truth is they are predators and with the 'freedom' to predate they can all but guarantee unequal outcome - which is in the end the point to these people.
You are lecturing a predator - breath you will never get back.
I think a good question to ask anyone running for public office is What's the average household income of your constituents, or the country? (I don't expect any candidate to give an answer that's bang-on; the question is just intended to gauge how "in touch" with reality the candidate is. If he/she says the average household is pulling in $120,000 annually, and you're in Marshall, Minn., then he/she fails.)
It's also a good question to ask George Will of those "average Americans" he pretends to know so well.
Ruthless People @ 41:
All the little reich-wing twits lined up to spew out that same factless rant....no one is surprised,
Thanks for the clip. I haven't seen that one yet,
Vincennes @ 1:
George Willl, another member of the "I got mine, fuck you" class.
If you ever go to the ball park this year, you might be one of the suckers paying 80 dollars for a rotten seat, but the majority go on a Corp junket. In others words they are the real freeloaders they just call them perks.
HEAVEN is a BLUE STATE
HELL is a RED STATE
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25106423/
CEO pay climbs higher despite slow economy
Median compensation package in 2007 was almost $8.4 million
Interesting reading.
And I did find this very interesting.
Here's a look at the 10 highest-paid CEOs for 2007 at Standard & Poor’s 500 companies based on calculations by The Associated Press.
1. John Thain, Merrill Lynch, $83.1 million
2. Leslie Moonves, CBS Corp., $67.6 million
3. Richard Adkerson, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc., $65.3 million
4. Bob Simpson, XTO Energy Inc., $56.6 million
5. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., $53.9 million
6. Kenneth Chenault, American Express Co., $51.7 million
7. Eugene Isenberg, Nabors Industries Ltd., $44.6 million
8. John Mack, Morgan Stanley, $41.7 million
9. Glenn Murphy, Gap Inc., $39.1 million
10. Ray Irani, Occidental Petroleum Corp., $34.2 million
— The Associated Press
George Will couldn't even keep a straight face when he said "...the rich will INVESTS and...er...create jobs..."
That old saw doesn't work anymore.
I wonder what the pinched, constipated facial expression of George Will would look like if he somehow managed to extract that stick up his ass?
exports have risen???
americans are better off now than 8 years ago??
will hasnt spoken to any of my clients....they are all hurting, and as a result, i am hurting
it was voodoo economics in 80, its voodoo economics 28 years later
we are witnessing the end results of the reagan revolution
Here is the world according to George Will: You don't really have cancer, that pain in your lungs is just your imagination. You are better off today than you were 8 years ago because I said so.
Uncle Joe Hussein Mccarthy @ 55:
i hope your right if i hear his name come out of romneys or mccains mouth any more i will puke
Uncle Joe Hussein Mccarthy @ 55:
Correct. I predicted the record deficits when I learned of George Bush's tax plans. How you may ask, since I am not a economist? Simple. I remember my history from 20 years ago. "Trickle down" "Supply side" "Voodoo" economics is a smokescreen for rich people to get tax cuts and put more and more of the burden on the ever shrinking middle class. If you believe in this philosophy and you are not rich, it's like committing slow suicide.
Vincennes @ 1:
You can't ask that question. That's class warfare....how dare you!!
Eat the rich.
Long Tooth @ 54:
That's it - you've nailed it! The single most perfect word in the WORLD to describe George Will.
CONSTIPATED.
Thanks!!
*
BennyP @ 60:
Yummy!
#20
I agree with you. What we need is redistribution of wealth.
The american worker's productivity has increased every year, but wages have barely risen in the last 35 tears. Where does the benefit go?
"According to a recent report from United for a Fair Economy, the average executive made 40 times as much as a worker in 1980, but by 2005 made more than 400 times as much as a worker."
This means that the executive makes considerably more in one day than a worker makes in an entire year.
So, going back to my opening statement, we need to redistribute wealth according to whoever earned it. But it seems like all the increase in productivity benefits go to the top, and that reflects exactly what Democrats are saying.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=woe_is_the_american_worker
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3583/1/180?TopicID=1
Exports are doing well, Yes, yes they are because the FED has turned up the printing press devaluing our dollar. It is causing countries who depend on our importation of their goods to have a difficult time. When those countries turn up the printing presses on their currency to become more competitive with the US, you can expect Bernanke to open the throttle on printing money and then we can say hello to hyperinflation. We will be in a new great depression.
George Will is short sighted
Proud2bHumble @ 62:
Too fatty. Bad for my cholesterol. And there's no good wine to match.
I've never been able to stand that creepy, asexual little toad.
Ruthless People @ 31:
Good one. Will is a pompous pseudo-intellectual. His 4th year poli-sci demeanour is laughable. Oh, he's pretentious and a toady.
PassedPawn @ 43:
"I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little had changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you
I may be vile and pernicious
But you cant look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your TV set.."
"I'm the Slime", Over-Nite Sensation, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention @1973
If Democrats had any kind of brains for the most important part of contemporary politics - electioneering, of course - they would run videotape of George Will's infuriatingly pompous claim that he will tell the "average American" that he's better off now than he was eight years ago on its own 24/7 network. If elitism has a face, it is George Will's self-satisfied mug with a wide-open mouth full of foaming diarrhea. Is there anything more elitist than somebody who comes on national tv and tells a large group of people he's never met that their dissatisfaction with the economy and their place in it is simply a work of their imaginations? Here's what George Will actually said, courtesy of Elitist Bullshit Translator: "The average American is better off than he was eight years ago, he's just too stupid to realize it." That is the one and only thing that can be construed from Will's closing statement in that clip.
If Barack Obama is elitist for identifying - some would say misidentifying - the average small-town American's dissatisfaction with and knee-jerk reactions to the faultering economy, how elitist is George Will for telling the average American that he doesn't even have the right to his dissatisfaction in the first place because he just doesn't understand that he's better off than he was eight years ago? There is simply nothing more elitist than this type of statetment, and the Democrats would be wise to point out this type of elitism as often as possible.
Peter G @ 65:
They come with their own whine...
Watched a similar discussion on CNN the other day. A White House economist was saying practically the same thing. He said that the biggest help would be to make Bush's tax cuts permanent, because if they go away it will be a terrible burden on everyone. Keeping them will fix everything.
Problem is, they don't expire until 2011 and the help is needed now. The interviewer didn't seem to know this...at least he didn't correct the WH eco guy.
This just pisses me off. I'm trying to make it and some guy living comfortably tells me I'm better off than I was 8 years ago. If I told him what I'd been through he'd walk away because I was confusing the issue.
What's trickling down our backs aint supply-side theory George.
" Biff " Will theeeeee so called " Intellectual " is nothing but a fountain of bullshit. Incredible how far out of touch these " high society " bubble boys are . I am no fan of Stalin but I find myself fantasizing more and more these days about a purge in this country , if only I were the decider ! Oh well , one can dream .
Which ever world George Will lives in it is not the real one.
George Will is lying, he knows he is lying, and he cares not in the least that the average American knows he is lying. He is the type of person who will tell the barista who is making his coffee that the working poor is a myth, and smiles smugly as he walks away with his coffee after not giving he a tip. If he knew what was good for himself, George Will should hope Barack Obama is elected president, because America couldn't ender a 3rd Bush term.
Ghostwolf @ 76:
Without giving her a tip.
What a fatuous, willfully ignorant bastard. Case in point: Will's statement that houses are worth an average of 1/3 more than they were 10 years ago.
EVEN IF TRUE, that's misleading as hell:
1) It ignores inflation. An asset that has only increased in value by 33% in 10 years has risen at a compound rate of about 2%. That's about equal to the official, understated rate of inflation (CPI). AT BEST, that means the real value of housing has gone nowhere.
2) It ignores how much equity homeowners hold in their houses. It's LESS than it was 10 years ago, because of refinancing incentives, years of artificially low interest rates, subprime loans, reduced or eliminated lending standards, and all the other scandalous gimmicks that Will damned well knows about but chooses to ignore.
3) It ignores rising mortgage rates, it ignores rates resetting from cheapo teaser rates to market rates (destroying equity instantly), it ignores the millions of foreclosures that are happening right now.
I'd love to hear Will tell someone whose equity has gone negative that he should be happy his house is worth more than it was 10 years ago. Asshole.
My 401K lost 5,700 last quarter. Man, I SO feel great about the state of the economy.
ronhohn @ 63:
I would be wealthy on bizarro world as my big lump of coal is quite valuable there.
In reality world though, I throw my lump of coal at G. Will.
Doug @ 2:
Amen to that!