Stephanie Ruhle took shots at Republicans in their Congressional struggle between a government shutdown and raising spending during her segment on Thursday during The 11th Hour. Claiming their tactics of running the government like a business as incomplete, Ruhle made digs towards the party’s choice in cutting programs. Though David Drucker provided pushback explaining the eventual need for government cuts, Ruhle replied with petty insinuations, including the cartoonish claim they’re fine with kids dying of cancer.
As the news focuses on the potential of another government shutdown, the blame has been thrown especially at the Republican Party. Yet Drucker points out the impossible balance of cutting the Government's spending in relation to constituent sentiments:
It’s because voters don't want to touch spending. They want to cut spending that goes to other people, but they don't think it's necessary. And those other people, Stephanie, want to cut spending that goes to other people that they don't think is necessary. And you have 435 members of congress plus the 100 senators, and they all have constituents, they were all elected, they all feel like they have whatever mandate they feel they have to continue spending the money that they either promised to spend, not cut the money they said they wouldn’t cut(...)
Though Drucker provided a fairer view of the situation, Stephanie did not leave without just one more complaint against the Republican Party.
As discussed previously, Ruhle complained about the cut from pediatric cancer research, one of many changes made following the first failed bill. Yet following Drucker’s explanation, which Ruhle seemed to ignore entirely, she finished her segment with an unfair conclusion for the Republicans:
DRUCKER: We have entitlement programs that keep going up every single year on a formula, and eventually, a president is going to go on the air one day and say, “Unless we make emergency cuts, nobody gets checks next week.” But until the American people are willing to embrace cuts rather than wait for that day, nothing will happen.
RUHLE: So whose program doesn’t get protected? Children with cancer, children with cancer. I guess they don’t vote.
With this, Ruhle headed for the break, leaving viewers with an incomplete understanding, yet again, as to what the real conversation referred to, and to what part the Republican Party played in it.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle
11/19/2024
11:13:35 PM EST
STEPHANIE RUHLE: David, isn’t this a prime example of why people love this idea of, “Get business guys in there and let's run the government like a business.” But government isn’t business ,right? Many years ago I actually did this entitlement — I went on — I was the moderator of this entitlement reform tour that a few guys did when they were going to college campuses and they were trying to say to young people, “look, you need to do this because there's going to be no money left when you get older.” And college kids kind of listened, but not really. They just wanted to give these guys their resumes, but no one can ever touch entitlements. Because they know they cannot get — even if the Social Security system is completely bust, you cannot get elected if you touch them, so isn’t that what we are going to find ourselves in here? You know, we have been so excited, we are going to get business guys in there. Business guys don't realize what you need to protect in order to satisfy your constituents.
DAVID DRUCKER: Yeah, well Trump realizes it, which is why he’s been four square against touching entitlement programs, unlike Republican leaders before him. Look. there’s a reason why spending has continued to go up year after year. It’s because voters don't want to touch spending. They want to cut spending that goes to other people, but they don't think it's necessary. And those other people, Stephanie, want to cut spending that goes to other people that they don't think is necessary. And you have 435 members of congress plus the 100 senators, and they all have constituents, they were all elected, they all feel like they have whatever mandate they feel they have to continue spending the money that they either promised to spend, not cut the money they said they wouldn’t cut, and, unless the two sides are willing to get together, unless the American people, the voters are willing to say. “You can cut something I cherish because I think the debt bomb is that big of a problem,” this issue is never going to be solved. And it’s why, in particular, members of Congress love to turn to unelected, powerless advisory committees to come up with cuts. Because they think maybe if somebody who's job isn’t on the line, or maybe if we get together in committee but it’s not binding, we can hoodwink everybody into liking the spending cuts they never liked, and it will throw us out of office for — for legislating. And of course, it never works. And that’s why the department of whatever — [SAM STEIN LAUGHS] — is not going to work. It’s not — I'm not even arguing with the sentiment. Sure, there is debt. There is a deficit. It is a huge problem. We have entitlement programs that keep going up every single year on a formula, and eventually, a president is going to go on the air one day and say, “Unless we make emergency cuts, nobody gets checks next week.” But until the American people are willing to embrace cuts —
RUHLE: Yeah.
DRUCKER: — rather than wait for that day, nothing will happen.
RUHLE: So whose program doesn’t get protected? Children with cancer, children with cancer. I guess they don’t vote.
