Smith and Merkley battle over the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations

[dhpgetsit]

Smith and Merkley battle over the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations
Kari Chisholm

Cruising around the net, I came across a bunch of reactions to the debate tonight between Gordon Smith and Jeff Merkley -- in particular to the hot exchange they had over the Bush tax cuts and Smith's support for big corporations.

Randy Stapilus at the Ridenbaugh Press introduces us to the moment of high drama in the debate:

As the topic morphed into the national debate and the bailout, Merkley asked - directly of Smith - “Do you understand that our children are going to have to pay” for the debt being amassed?
It was a direct comment, candidate to candidate, something the rules didn’t contemplate, but no one objected when Smith replied back - directly - “So what would you have me do, Jeff?” The alternatives, he warned, could be economically devastating.

Then - again, rules be damned - Merkley directly shot back: Smith should say no, “the next time that powerful international corporations” want tax cuts: That money should be used for health care and other needs of working people. In the meantime, “This economy has been run into the ground.”

At the Oregonian, Jeff Mapes - one of the debate panelists - notes how tired Smith's rhetoric is on the Bush tax cuts:

With all of his time, Smith went on at some length defending the Bush tax cuts (although he certainly didn't mention them as being the president's) and why tax-cutting is good for the economy. It's been a cornerstone of Republican philosophy and one that has helped the party politically for many years.
I'll be curious to see how voters react to that this year. What are they looking for in the face of economic crisis?

Over at MOMocrats, Debbie Gorman liveblogs about the moment:

Gordon sounds like a pompous, disconnected, self-important country-club entitlement fella; his answers mimic Bush's. He still thinks trickle-down economics works. "We'll encourage growth through shopping!, and, uh, more shopping!. Also, the regular Republican threat of corporations leaving if they don't get massive social welfare, er, "tax breaks," I. hate. that. The whole "we can't attract trade if we don't give it away" bullshit? Is TIRED. "Outsourcing works for us! It does! Jobs created! Etc." So. tired. He plays up the idea that Jeff doesn't know what he's talking about, too, in his exchanges with him, kind of a you-just-fell-off-the-turnip-truck-didncha attitude. It's so condescending.

Smith's defense of the Bush tax cuts was also featured by the Portland Mercury's Amy Ruiz:

Smith, meanwhile, had the sort of blustery attitude McCain displayed during Tuesday's debate. While Smith didn't say "my friends" ad nauseum, he came across as the cornered, at-fault, out of touch Republican, the guy who's saddled with the weight of all that's gone wrong with the country in recent years, months, and weeks, and doesn't have a good explanation. ...
While talking about corporate tax cuts, Smith got highly defensive and exasperated--waving his arms and pounding the podium--while Merkley cleaned up by pointing out that Smith voted for the Dick Cheney energy plan that put money in oil companies' pockets, while gas prices went up.

That really was the big exchange in the debate. And Jeff Merkley gave no quarter. He stood up for middle-class tax cuts, but rejected the tired old Republican trickle-down mantra that Gordon Smith so ably represents.

http://www.blueoregon.com/2008/10/surfing-the-tub.html