Originally posted by whodey
I agree that the debt ceiling agreement was a joke as well as the fact that had they attained cuts at the $4 trillion mark and avoided the downgrade the country would still be on an unsustainable path. I also agree that Big Government and Big Business are in bed together. Of course, these things are not hard to figure out even with half a brain.

Is this ...[text shortened]... taunchly defend either party and think that their party actually has solutions and wants change.

Maybe "insightful" was the wrong word; maybe "refreshing" would have been better.

You don't hear elected politicians talking about trade deficits very often, nor do you ever hear them talk about tax and finance reforms in a legitimate, nonpartisan manner. So if nothing else I appreciated hearing from somebody who actually seemed to possess a bit of perspective and sincerity.

And for what it's worth, I don't think this was intended as a "ratings rant." Certainly after the video went viral, it probably served as a ratings boost, but I strongly doubt he intended it to be before going live on the show. "Ratings rants" are what O'Reilly, O'Donnell, and Olbermann have on their shows.

Originally posted by wittywonka
Maybe "insightful" was the wrong word; maybe "refreshing" would have been better.

You don't hear elected politicians talking about trade deficits very often, nor do you ever hear them talk about tax and finance reforms in a legitimate, nonpartisan manner. So if nothing else I appreciated hearing from somebody who actually seemed to possess a bit of pe . "Ratings rants" are what O'Reilly, O'Donnell, and Olbermann have on their shows.

If you found it refreshing you might also want to check out the 70's classic film "Network". In it we here the famous lines, "I'm mad as hell and I"m not gonna take it anymore!!" Great drama and it made the film famous.

As for being nonpartisan, I got the feeling he leaned more toward the Dems. After all, his exact words were that the GOP was going to burn down America while the Dems were simply postponing the event.

As for the ratings, we know all know who he is at RHP and may be inclined to check him out. In addition, my guess is that you are also interested in reading his book, no?

Originally posted by whodey

As for being nonpartisan, I got the feeling...

Of course he "leaned" towards the Democrats; his specialty is economics, so he's going to speak harshly of a party that has a nonnegligible number of members who wouldn't flinch if the U.S. defaulted on some of its payments. But the whole point of the discussion was to say that Democrats and Republicans are equally short-sighted in the long-term.

you are also interested in reading his book

Probably. It's called Greedy Bastards, after all--and yes, I'll grant you that the title, at the least, is meant to grab attention. Hopefully the substance will carry the same weight.