Video: White House Explains the Spending Freeze

[Clio the Leo]

(From Rachel's show last night, they FINALLY uploaded the clip)

It is VERY important that you listen to Jared and NOT just Rachel. I'll include the bullet points for you...

Video Aqui
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#35069615

"We're talking about a freeze that would take place in 2011" (not in the middle of a recession)

"We are NOT talking an across the board freeze!"

"This will entitle the President to comb through the budget and find policies that will help the middle class LIKE the policies that we announced today." (that DU virtually ignored)

"It will allow him to pull back on wasteful spending that Congress has a hard time pulling back on, that lobbyists love."

"We are talking about BOOSTING the spending that helps the middle class."

"It's an aggregate freeze, not an across the board freeze."

"The Recovery act will be in effect for this year and in 2011 as well. This freeze wont affect that at all. NEW job intiatives will be accomodated under this program."

"There's going to be no 'stupid Hooverism' around here."

"McCain's was an across the board freeze. Ours is NOT."

[Cha]

1. Thanks, Clio..

"It will allow him to pull back on wasteful spending that Congress has a hard time pulling back on, that lobbyists love."

[TheKentuckian]

2. No explaination of not repurposing the funds.

We need every possible spec of demand in the system. Taking it out of waste or duplicated services is GREAT but taking it out of circulation is nonsense.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

3. +1

[impik]

4. Nobody cares. Nobody.

The Left lost its collective mind and is about to commit suicide by jumping from the fucking Overton window.

[Jennicut]

5. Slitting wrists yet, anyone?

[mkultra]

6. wow, its like her brain fell out.

im freaking shocked. I understood what he was saying. good programs will go up, bad ones will go down. She stuck to some talking point that wasnt true. I wonder what happened there.

[johan helge]

7. I appreciate your loyalty, but:

A spending freeze when unemployment is around 10 % (it will probably around that level also next year)

IS

"stupid Hooverism".

[JoePhilly]

8. I agree with you ... I love Rachel, but I think she ran amock on this ...

I listened to that guy describe the approach on her show, watched the whole thing ... and Rachel seemed to ignore what he said.

I'm a huge fan of Rachel ... all the way back to her morning show on Air America, which was great too. I thought back then that she was better than almost any other voice out there. I still think so.

But in this instance ... she gave in to the knee-jerk reaction that we on the left seem so quick to embrace.

And I think that when the left gets overly upset, the elected Dems more to the RIGHT ... not the left, because they think they can not count on us.

[democracy1st]

10. the spending freeze is the same proposal John McCain made during the election!

[Number23]

9. Interesting. Thanks, Clio.

[Juche]

11. I don't want to come across as a mindless opponent

But I think part of the anger comes from the fact that Obama is trying to move to the right by proposing a 'spending freeze' on everything but entitlement and defense.

I'm for using the funds and redirecting them to middle class policies like elder care and child care tax credits, or helping kids with student loans.

Obama, back in his first state of the union address proposed 2 trillion in cuts to wasteful programs. I"m all for that if he redirects the money into more useful programs.

However, it sounds like he is now trying to run as a right winger. The way this program was marketed was disappointing.

But if Obama wants to take money that he feels is being wasted and redirect it to programs that create jobs or help the middle class, I'm all for that. But he shouldn't advertise it using right wing frames (ie: I'm cutting spending on everything but defense and entitlements).