Chris Matthews Trashes Tea Partiers: They Want to Cut Medicaid Because It Helps the 'Poor' and 'Minorities'
For the second day in a row, MSNBC's Chris Matthews excoriated the Tea Party, trashing them as supporting cuts in Medicaid because that's a program for "poor people." On Thursday's Hardball, however, he added a new attack, asserting that Tea Partiers don't like Medicaid because it's used by "minorities."
Talking to Newsweek's Richard Wolffe, Matthews cited a Marist poll showing little appetite for cuts to the program. After noticing that the highest level of support for reductions comes from self-identified Tea Partiers, the host smeared, "And the only one the Tea Party people want to cut is Medicaid because it's for poor people and minorities."
Speaking for these Americans, he added, "That's how they see it at least." On Wednesday, Matthews made the same point, attacking, "...The only cuts that [Tea Partiers] seem to want are the cuts for the poor people."
The cable anchor complained, "Strong, zealous Tea Party people have brought themselves to willingness to cut poor people. That doesn't surprise me..."
A transcript of the April 21 exchange, which occurred at 5:41pm EDT, follows:
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Here's a Marist poll we showed yesterday. Let's take a look at it. Nobody wants to cut Medicare or Medicaid. Now, look at these care numbers. I find it fascinating. Hold that first number up there. [Graph onscreen: Democrat support to cut Medicare at 5% Tea party support: 28%.] If you are the President of the United States and you are a Democrat, you are protecting Democrats here. Look, five percent say no Medicaid deal on the deficit. None at all though. You go to the Republican side and they don't want it. And- To me, Richard Wolffe, I just don't see the numbers here for any kind of dramatic cuts in these programs. People love Medicare. And the only one the Tea Party people want to cut is Medicaid because it's for poor people and minorities. That's how they see it at least.
RICHARD WOLFFE: You do not have to be a high paid strategist to figure out where a politician running for election needs to be on this issue. And that does sort of raise, sort of, questions about how serious people are when they say they want to cut spending. But the bigger issue, the sort of meta issue here, is are the voters ready for sort of another big change to the system? After two wars, after an economic collapse, after health care, are they ready for this debate about the social safety net and Medicare. Obviously, Paul Ryan is banking big time that they are. But, all the evidence is that people want things to calm down. That's why the voted for divided government. A big plan like this really opens you up to a big threat.
MATTHEWS: It sounds radical.
- Scott Whitlock's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
My deepest Wish
Submitted by zenman1661 on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 6:58pm.
I wish we could divide the country into two parts. One run with principles and ideas of the far left and the other side with conservative ones. It would be fun to watch how badly the far left side falls apart. Then maybe idiots like Chris Matthews would realize how much much nonsense he and other far left liberals spout when exposed to reality.
I do not think so
Submitted by richb313 on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 7:05pm.
Instead the part of the country run by liberals would blame the other part of the country for taking all the money. What makes you think that they would change?
Divided Country
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 8:05pm.
We already have what you suggest. It's called Blue State / Red State.
Which group is doing better?
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
I luv watch'n
Submitted by donabernathy on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 7:40pm.
Chrissy meltdown....... Last month it was like watch'n a 2 year old play'n with his poopy diaper.... now he is nothing more that the poopy diaper itself..... I can't wait to see what the summer brings.
http://shootingfromthelip.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/306194.jpg
More popcorn please
roflmao
Summer
Submitted by Joe W. on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:16pm.
The summer will bring flies to the diaper.
Yea
Submitted by GregE on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:28pm.
http://wickedglee.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/flybutt002.jpg
Demagogic Pity Party of Woe-Is-Me
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 8:07pm.
Wealth is finite. Spend it and it's gone. One time -- that's all you get. Because you've eaten the seed corn.
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
Yea, us Tea Partiers love to screw the poor...
Submitted by Red Jeep on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 8:59pm.
...kick homeless people and trash the environment.
We have all sent our mothers and grandmothers can openers, the manual kind, not the electric ones, to open dog food cans for their supper. The manual openers are murder to operate if you have arthritis.
So you got our number Chris. Now why don't you stick a carrot in your ear and disappear?
"Throw out a third of the poll results"
Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:04pm.
"After noticing that the highest level of support for reductions comes from self-identified Tea Partie
That's handy. By identifying sub-sets of respondents in a poll, like "tea partiers" (do they identify "move on-ers" or "Kos-sacks"?), the libs, like Matthews, can dismiss poll results, because, as we all know, the opinions of "tea partiers" don't count because they're all "racists".
How things change*
Submitted by cajun2 on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:24pm.
During the Great Depression the government created jobs for millions due to the economic crisis
Some of these agencies are still in existence today and growing. Odd that the government created jobs for people as a form of assistance.. Today we just give them a house, cash, and food stamps and ask nothing in return. If you dont "work" for something then it has no value to you. After a time, that person feels they themselves have no value. It is a downward spiral that is being continued by DC politics rather than what is best for society and our economy.
If you consider the growing number of people on the "dole", increasing crime rate, increasing number of people who pay no taxes,increasing the number of illegals with entitlements, then you must ask, Do we need to make some drastic changes in our society that truly benefits people, grows the economy and causes less need for big government?
Chris Matthews = Tip O Neil and WC Fields.....
Submitted by thescoots on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:16pm.
Chris has a pork problem....maybe not so much high blood pressure...but moreso.....He has absolutely no problem with a liberal politician getting into your pocket and fishing around for money. Are you poor? Well then....your giving is particularly noble......are you rich? You simply cannot give enough.........We, the liberal and empowered will spend.....and spend.......and spend......(but only on our union friends :))
That's right, Chrissie...you
Submitted by motherbelt on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:24pm.
That's right, Chrissie...you just keep believing Obama....all will be well if we just tax those rich people more!
Got your checkbook ready?
He's ready
Submitted by GregE on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 10:29pm.
He wants to pay more, so he would tell you. All people who are rich who actually say they want to pay more, might want to, so why aren't their checks arriving at the Dept of Treasury by the bags? Because they don't JUST want to...............no, they only want to, if daddy government says they HAVE to. Then they're fine with it. They just don't want to take the initiative themselves. They want to be told to do it and put under a law that tells them to and they only want to do it if everyone who doesn't is also forced to do it. So really, do they want to? I don't even know how to classify such nonsense.
There are many "rich" people out there who want higher taxes. Fine, send in your checks, and leave alone those "rich" people who don't want to pay more. And for those who pay nothing, and clamor for the rich to pay more.......I say sit down, shut up, and pick a non-monetary issue to whine about, you have no skin in the game that the rest of us have to play in. If you are able-bodied, but live off of me, you should have your voting rights revoked until you are not living off of me. No freakin way should anyone be able to vote themselves the money right out of the pockets of their neighbors and continue to vote while living from that pocket.
Could Not Agree More!
Submitted by okiehawk44 on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 6:54am.
Here's the address for all of you leftist rich folks out there who just feel so guilty about your success:
Attn: Dept G
Bureau of the Public Debt
PO Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188
Or go to:
The Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt and reference Gift Contributions to Reduce Debt Held by the Public @ www.pay.gov
Rich folks there is a way to put your money where your mouth is -- that is what you really want to do right? Then you can preach to all the rest of us about how wonderful you are and not have to look around for the lightning bolts.
Why Bother?
Submitted by IrateNate on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 9:51pm.
I don't understand why people get so upset over this idiot and his maniacal rantings? I must confess that there was a time when this loser would keep me awake at night. But I realize that this is his job; being a complete dickless moron is what they pay him to do. Getting sane people upset while attempting to rally the lunatic fringe that is MSNBC's audience is how he earns his living.
Ignore this dumbass, and he will go away....
Actually
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 10:10pm.
most of the time watching Tingles go off the deep end is amusing. I know that sometimes he finds some button to push, but if we keep it in context, I mean it's Tingles talking...
Remember, the louder Tingles rants,
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 10:09pm.
the more scared he is that his world of arrogant pseudo intellectuals is collapsing.
In general, I think the more these rats realize their ship is sinking the more nasty and violent they will become.
Matthews doesn't have a clue
Submitted by pbthinker on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 10:15pm.
All of this from someone who has no clue what to do about our debt, has no clue what a typical member of the tea party believes, and no clue what a conservative things about. He's a political hack who, long ago lost whatever objectivity he might have had.
I like to think on the bright
Submitted by Chris Norman on Thu, 04/21/2011 - 11:04pm.
I like to think on the bright side of things. Has anyone else savored not having to read many posts regarding any of the once daily insufferable lies of keith olbermann? I knew something felt better. This makes me endure any news of Chris Matthews' yammerings in a much more cheerful frame of mind. Ahhhhhhh....
Standard response
Submitted by Scrap Iron in Texas on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 2:17am.
I hear this type of response often from liberals.
"Conservatives care only for the rich (or big business)"
When I attempt to explain that the conservatives I know are in favor of INDIVIDUAL rights and responsibilities, they accuse me of hating the poor.
I don't know how to respond to them.
But then again, these people are usually taking government money on one form or another so a big government that absolves them of responsibility is their idea of heaven.
Scrap,
Submitted by Ashrak on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 2:11pm.
This is why the Founders and Framers knew that taxation had to be uniform. Only when everyone pays taxes uniformly does the class warfare card become obsolete and personal responsibility and accountability fill that void.
I did an experiment with my three kids a while back. I put money, change, in each of their hands, explaining that the difference in amount was because some learned while another played. Some worked overtime while another worked part time. I then took some away from who had the most, and "redistributed" it - out of "fairness" of course.
It is amazing how even elementary school agers understand the simplicity of the idiocy that this "redistribution is "fair".
When at a loss trying to explain it, try using a handful of coins and the KISS principle. You might find some success.
"That's how they see it at
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 7:00am.
"That's how they see it at least."
Right, Chrissie, because YOU KNOW what they're thinking.
Just like YOU KNOW they don't like black people; just use them.
And YOU KNOW conservatives don't like Barack Obama because they're TRIBAL (your new word for "racist")
The sad part about Chrissy
Submitted by GONAVY on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 9:20am.
is that he really believes he is relevant. This type of hyperbole passes through most Americans without credence. It's actually quite pathetic to watch, America is tired of this type of BS and wants to see solutions. (Wasserman-Schultz doesn't get it either) His schtick is fodder for only the most extreme of the left. When he spouts this tripe it really makes me wonder where his paycheck comes from.
Sigh
Submitted by Forbin001 on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 9:31am.
This guy and his show I swear....is it news? Information? Psychosis? sheesh
Matthews needs a rubber room like Tiger needs bimbos.....get him what needs pronto.
Imagine the plight of Prissy's precious 'poor' and 'minorities'
Submitted by Dave. on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 9:43am.
...should er, I mean when this country tips over and there will be no money whatsoever for Medicaid, Welfare, Social Security, or any other of Prissy's pet government programs.
And while we're at it, Prissy, let's make the above occur sooner and go right ahead and tax the shiite out of the very people who provide the bulk of the jobs in this country, which will cause many of them to either quit or leave the country, and the jobs they help create here in America will just go up in smoke.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
What an idiot!!
Submitted by Patriot II on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 11:06am.
Someone stuff a pair of coveralls in that A.H.'s big mouth!!!
OMG, that's EXACTLY what I was thinking.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 11:11am.
/s
Listen Panama Tingles,
Submitted by Ashrak on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 2:04pm.
I am struggling to pay for my own health insurance and care plus that for the rest of my family. How can you expect me to pay also for those things for another and others, often times seeing them pay ZERO for their own or for mine?
Fair? Hardly.
My psychology teacher has a saying - "There is no free lunch in room 118". I can only wish you, Mr. Mathews, had Mr. Evans as a teacher, Maybe you wouldn't be so oblivious.
You mean like the Medicade recipients in that McDonalds inTN?
Submitted by Master-of-Disaster on Fri, 04/22/2011 - 2:13pm.
Yes then I think we should take away Medicaid, food stamps and welfare. If you have perpetrated a crime then no benefits for you. If you have an asset list that is valued at over $30,000, including gold chains, vehicles, computers, gaming machines, flat screen TVs, homes, etc, etc, etc, no benefits for you. If you are only buying Doritos and pork rinds, booze and cigs, no benefits for you. You get $200 a month for food stamps and it doesn't matter how many illegitimate kids you pump out. You get $800 for rent. That's it, that is all and no exceptions.
Liberal provocation of the day: Since on average most Libs are haters of freedom and personal responsibility, they are devout almost militant anti-smoking, how about if you smoke, no Medicare for you!