Former President George H.W. Bush was elected into office on his famous promise of “read my lips: no new taxes”. It was a promise he would come to break and many attribute it to why he became a one-term president. As Sunday’s Meet the Press was nearing the end of its hour, NBC chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell praised the former President for breaking his promise to the public and raising taxes.
“He broke the pledge in 1990. Four years later, Newt Gingrich is speaker of the House … It is the seminal moment, you could argue, in the shift of the Republican Party from where it was then to where it is today,” declared moderator Chuck Todd after playing the soundbite of the President making the promise in August of 1988.
Mitchell, a longtime Clinton fangirl, agreed wholeheartedly on the importance of that moment and suggested that “breaking that pledge showed the character and resolve of a man to do what he was persuaded was the right thing to do economically, even though he knew at the time that it might guarantee that he would be a one-term president.”
She followed that up by touting how Bush breaking that promise helped Bill Clinton politically by allowing him to get the credit for a booming economy:
And in fact, the budget restrictions, the so-called pay-go-rules that required if you're going to spend money, you have to shows where you're going to raise it in the budget. That created the momentum, economically, that Bill Clinton inherited, built upon with his '93 brave votes without a Republican vote and even into the George W. Bush presidency we had economic growth.
Continuing to harp on the broken promise, Todd turned for former North Carolina governor Pat McCrory (R) to blast the GOP for no longer being willing to raise taxes. “Before then Republicans regularly would raise taxes when necessary. Ronald Reagan did it. But that moment made it – your party can't do it without probably total political loss, right,” Todd wondered.
“He was a one-term president, but he may have made the right decision called compromise, but it might have stopped compromise for generations to come,” McCrory lamented citing the Republican backlash and Democratic Party efforts to unseat him.
Radical leftist Heather McGhee wanted to use the former President’s death to “reflect on the soul of the Republican Party” by praising him for his liberal positions. “You know, this is a man who started out one of the first supporters of Planned Parenthood. This is a man who very famously resigned from the NRA when they started having that anti-government rhetoric,” she boasted.
“He actually moved family planning across the globe and then ended up having to reverse it,” McGhee touted, blaming George W. Bush for the restrictions. On a side note, McGhee almost slipped and called it by its true name: population control. “Is this still a party that can allow for moderates, who think that population -- family planning, as he did in his U.N. service,” she caught herself.
McGhee also continued to propagate the lie that the Bush campaign was responsible for the Willie Horton ad. She insisted it as “the most famous dog whistle ad until this cycle”.
This is not how they would treat a Democratic president. Just look at how they treated Obama when he left office. They downplayed his lies and broken promises with some even asserting he had no scandals.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Meet the Press
December 2, 2018
11:21:51 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: Back now with end game and discussing the legacy of President Bush. You can't talk about Bush 41 politically without talking about the most famous campaign promise— broken campaign promise perhaps in modern American history. Here it is.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no, and they'll push and I'll say no, and they'll push again and I'll say to them, read my lips: no new taxes.
TODD: He broke the pledge in 1990. Four years later Newt Gingrich is speaker of the House the Republican Party – It is the seminal moment, you could argue, in the shift of the Republican Party from where it was then to where it is today.
ANDREA MITCHELL: But, economically breaking that pledge showed the character and resolve of a man to do what he was persuaded was the right thing to do economically, even though he knew at the time that it might guarantee that he would be a one-term president.
And having covered those budget negotiations at Andrews Air Force Base, you had Bob Dole and George Mitchell and everyone arguing that you needed to do it. And in fact, the budget restrictions, the so-called pay-go-rules that required if you're going to spend money, you have to shows where you're going to raise it in the budget. That created the momentum, economically, that Bill Clinton inherited, built upon with his '93 brave votes without a Republican vote and even into the George W. Bush presidency we had economic growth.
TODD: That was the last time a Republican would get away with raising—before then Republicans regularly would raise taxes when necessary. Ronald Reagan did it. But that moment made it – your party can't do it without probably total political loss, right?
PAT MCCRORY: I'm not sure either party can do it at this point in time. Everyone is now saying why can't they compromise in Washington. Maybe it goes back to this president, who compromised, did what people said, get along, work out a deal among Republicans and Democrats and what happened to him? The Republicans turned on him and the Democrats did everything they could to get him out of office. He was a one-term president, but he may have made the right decision called compromise, but it might have stopped compromise for generations to come.
HEATHER MCGHEE: I think the passing of President Bush is a time for us to reflect on the soul of the Republican Party. You know, this is a man who started out one of the first supporters of Planned Parenthood. This is a man who very famously resigned from the NRA when they started having that anti-government rhetoric. You know, the jackbooted thugs in Waco and in Oklahoma City.
And so -- and this is also a president whose campaign, you know, included the Willie Horton ad, the most famous dog whistle ad until this cycle. And so I think we can look -- and this no new taxes pledge. We can look at this and say what has happened to the Republican Party? Is this still a party that can allow for moderates, who think that population -- family planning, as he did in his U.N. service. He actually moved family planning across the globe and then ended up having to reverse it. Have his son make it even more restrictive. Is this still a party that allows for that nuanced view of the world or is this the party of the dog whistling and fiscal irresponsibility that we see now with the deficit and the debt mushrooming under Republican control? Where is the soul of the Republican party?
(…)
