Ben Ferguson vs. Thom Hartmann on unemployment this morning on CNN

[alp227]

Thom Hartmann debated conservative radio host Ben Ferguson about how the economy will influence voting in 2012. (Transcript .)

Ferguson began:

CHRISTINE ROMANS: At the same time jobs are a problem and big deficit cuts to programs could be more public sector job losses. What are people saying about that conundrum?

BEN FERGUSON: People are really concerned about the economy mainly because they saw unemployment numbers go up. They're not feeling the relief. The government programs that this president has been advocating for the last two years, really aren't working for the average American.

I mean, we just saw even people looking for summer work, young people, 24 percent unemployment with those between the ages of 16 and 19. I had a summer job every summer and most kids are used to that now, so they're feeling it and therefore the parents are seeing morality of this.

But I think one of the things people really get frustrated with is, you have a president that goes out last week and champions the car dealerships and says the big three are making money again.

At the same time they're seeing a report that says we're not going to get paid back billions of dollars we lent them. Why are they making money?

Then Ferguson and Hartmann mixed it up regarding Hartmann's claim that Republicans planned to crash the economy and wreck Obama's re-election chances: (CNN.com misspelled his name as "Tom Hartman")

ROMANS: You look at fixing jobs from a liberal perspective and you got people saying we need more stimulus. We need more spending. We need more juice to the economy at this very moment. Otherwise, it's like 1937 when we pulled our foot of the gas and went into another big letdown in the economy?

THOM HARTMANN: Yes. Absolutely. What we're seeing right now is the Republican plan for the 2012 election, which is basically starve the economy until then, keep jobs down like they did with the stimulus bill.

They took a third and turned it into tax cuts and no stimulus at all and Obama basically had to go with that to get anything. Crash the economy and then blame it on Obama seems to be the Republican plan here.

FERGUSON: Not the plan at all, Tom. It's not.

HARTMANN: It is absolutely the Republican plan.

FERGUSON: They want -- let me finish. I'm a conservative. I'm a Republican.

HARTMANN: Pretty up front about it actually.

FERGUSON: So I'll answer for my side if that's OK. We've never had a policy of actually crashing the economy on purpose. That may be the most ridiculous --

HARTMANN: Answer for yourself, but if you look at what Republicans in House and the Senate are saying, they're saying they're not going to allow this president to grow us out of this economy.

And Mitch McConnell said right up front his main political goal is not jobs. It was to make Obama a one-term president.

[mother earth]

1. The GOP got us into this chaos to begin with, I guess they want

to finish what they started...and they won't be satisfied until everything is privatized and profits are freely available to stuff in their greedy little fists. The big push to privatize is getting us nothing but more of the same. It's time gov't protects certain sectors because things like education and health care should be available to all...nonprofit, that's the way to better the masses and our country.

Let's cut the benefits for the elected officials BEFORE they cut what little we the people have. Let them wrap their deficit cutting minds around that, and then stop the tax cuts for the uber-wealthy...there was a chart showing exactly what the deficit would be if it weren't for continuing GW's tax cuts for the wealthy. Why they hell do we continue with that failure's policies in any shape or form? It's beyond comprehension and one thing I cannot fathom with everything I had hoped for with Obama. Count me as one of the angry dems....but I'll be damned if we should let the GOP finish what they started.

[rurallib]

2. Crashing the economy has so many benefits for the rich.

[AC_Mem]

3. Ferguson is an obnoxious bully

He had a show in Memphis - two of them actually and doesn't have either of them now... I've been on the phone with him when he SCREAMED at me and called me names. He is, in my opinion, unhinged.

Annette