MRC’s Notable Quotables: We Need the ‘Courage’ to Raise Taxes

It’s Memorial Day, but the MRC is out with its latest edition of Notable Quotables, a re-cap of the most outrageous, sometimes humorous, quotes from the liberal media over the past two weeks.

This edition: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell insists that Republicans just lack the “guts” to raise taxes; David Gregory suggests it’s “racially-tinged” for Newt Gingrich to try and spotlight President Obama’s poor economic record, and CNN’s Fareed Zakaria first admits to advising the President on foreign policy, then hails Obama’s speech on Middle East policy a few days later. Oh, and Ed Schultz.

The entire package is posted at www.MRC.org; here are some of the highlights.

What’s Needed Is “Courage” to Raise Taxes

“Paul Ryan has shown considerable guts, but you’re [Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen] correct that nobody on the Republican side is showing any courage on the tax front. And unless taxes are part of the mix, every grown-up knows it can’t reach a solution.”
— Correspondent Andrea Mitchell on NBC’s Meet the Press, May 22.

“What about raising taxes?...At some point, do you have to look at raising taxes, and do people have to pay more for what’s needed in this country?”
— Co-host Erica Hill to GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty on CBS’s The Early Show, May 23.


“Racially-Tinged” to Point Out Obama’s Horrible Economic Record?

Clip of Newt Gingrich: “You want to be a country that creates food stamps, in which case, frankly, Obama is an enormous success — the most successful food stamp President in American history. Or do you want to be a country that creates paychecks?”
Host David Gregory, to Gingrich: “First of all, you gave a speech in Georgia with language a lot of people think could be coded racially-tinged language, calling the President, the first black President, a ‘food stamp President.’...What did you mean? What was the point?”
— NBC’s Meet the Press, May 15.


“Destroying Medicare” = “New Litmus Test” for GOP

“My favorite detail though of the whole Gingrich-Paul Ryan kerfluffle was not even two days had gone by before a White House aide sat up and said, ‘Well this just proves that destroying Medicare is the new litmus test for the Republican Party primary.’ So they see an opportunity here to just drive that whole debate further and further to the right toward the Tea Party, away from the center, and that’s why they were happy about what happened.”
— Time Washington Bureau Chief Michael Duffy on PBS’s Washington Week, May 20.


Tea Party: Nothing but a Bunch of Obama-Haters

“The marriage between the Republicans and the Tea Party is based on hatred, hatred of government, hatred of the Democrats, hatred of Barack Obama. What’s love got to do with it? Zip....Republicans will not say what the Tea Parties live for, the hatred of government, of the Democrats, of President Obama. They have to hear he doesn’t simply disagree with them, but that he’s not one of them. It’s evil, it’s hatred of what works over there. And it’s over there that spells political death for the Republicans.”
— MSNBC’s Chris Matthews on Hardball, May 16.
 

CNN Host Converses with “Thoughtful” Obama...

Host Eliot Spitzer: “I read something in the paper this week a couple of days ago that actually made me — you know brought a smile to my face. It said the President of the United States calls you for wisdom and advice about issues around the world. So first, when he calls you, what does he say? ‘Hi, Barack calling for Fareed?’ What does he do?”
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria: “Mostly it’s been face-to-face meetings, you know, it’s usually organized by Tom Donilon, the national security adviser. What I’m struck by, though, honestly, Eliot, is how much time he’s spending thinking about the issues of the Arab Spring.... It’s been a very thoughtful conversation.”
— CNN’s In the Arena, May 12.


...Then Lauds “Good” Speech from Our “Educator-in-Chief”

“It was his role as educator-in-chief that came out today....It was a good speech....He also gave a speech that I would be surprised if anyone in Israel would object to, because he was very clear that Israel’s legitimate security interests have to be taken care of....He was quite even-handed while calling for a Palestinian state on ’67 borders, plus-or-minus land slots.”
— Zakaria commenting on CNN immediately after President Obama’s speech on Middle East policy, May 19.


Another Day, Another Display of Liberal Civility

“[Republicans are] not thinking about their next-door neighbor. They’re just thinking about how much this is going to cost. President Obama is going to be visiting Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday, but you know what they’re talking about? Like this right-wing slut, what’s her name, Laura Ingraham? Yeah, she’s a talk slut. You see, she was, back in the day, praising President Reagan when he was drinking a beer overseas. But now that Obama’s doing it, they’re working him over.”
— Ed Schultz on his radio program, May 24. [MP3 audio (0:54)] The next night, Schultz appeared on his 10pm ET MSNBC show to apologize: “I used vile and inappropriate language when talking about talk show host Laura Ingraham. I am deeply sorry, and I apologize.”