"Militantly non-partisan" [1] Major Garrett sounded more like an Obama administration flack on Thursday's CBS This Morning
as he spotlighted the President's latest P.R. stunt. Garrett noted
Obama's plan to visit a northern Virginia middle-class family and
claimed that the Democrat was underlining the "self-evident
point that if the there is a deal and their taxes aren't raised by about
$2,000, they'll be happier and spend more money."
The correspondent also uncritically pointed out how Treasury Secretary
Tim Geithner signaled that the White House was willing to go over the
fiscal cliff if their demand for higher taxes isn't satisfied.
Garrett
led his report with his "self-evident" line about President Obama's
planned photo-op trip across the Potomac. Moments later, he played the
clip of Geithner's "oh, absolutely" reply to CNBC's Steve Liesman
question about the possibility of the administration taking the country
over the fiscal cliff.
Besides failing to include any criticism of this vow from the White
House, the CBS journalist omitted didn't dwell long on the President's
uncompromising position on a higher debt ceiling. He merely stated that
the possibility of a deal on the budget "looks a bit more complicated after Mr. Obama...demanded Republicans raise the debt ceiling this month without any spending cut strings attached."
Since Garrett raised no possible objection to the Democrat asking to
overstep his constitutional authority, one might conclude that he
tacitly approves this move. The journalist did end up playing a clip of
Senator Mitch McConnell ripping the President for his demand - something
he didn't do early with the tax issue earlier in the report.
The CBS correspondent's slant towards the President emerged one more
time near the end of the segment when he highlighted that "public opinion, generally, is on the President's side." This continues a trend that began [2] at the end of November, when he joined CBS as chief White House correspondent.
The full transcript of Major Garrett's report from Thursday's CBS This Morning:
NORAH O'DONNELL: In Washington this morning, there are just 26 days
left before the fiscal cliff deadline. President Obama spoke on the
phone with House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday, while his treasury
secretary said the White House is, in fact, ready to go straight over
the fiscal cliff.
Major Garrett is at the White House. Major, good morning.
[CBS News Graphic: "Fiscal Cliff Fight: White House Warning As Deadline Nears"]
MAJOR GARRETT: Well, good morning, Norah and Charlie. Later on this
afternoon, the President will travel across the Potomac River to
northern Virginia to meet a middle-class family, to make the
self-evident point that if the there is a deal and their taxes aren't
raised by about $2,000, they'll be happier and spend more money. That's
the P.R. side of all this. Much more importantly, for a deal, the two
key players yesterday picked up the phone.
GARRETT (voice-over): The phone call relatively brief and substantive,
though details remain elusive. It was shorter, sources say, than last
week's 28-minute conversation, described then as curt, direct, and
frank. No one familiar with this call used such barbed words. It also
occurred before Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid down this harsh
fiscal cliff marker.
LIESMAN: Is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff?
GEITHNER: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, again, there's no prospect to an
agreement that doesn't involve those rates going on the top two percent
of the wealthiest Americans. Remember, it's only two percent.
GARRETT: That danger? Not enough to keep Congress in session. It's
already quit for the week, as most lawmakers assume - correctly - they
are bit players until there's a deal. And that looks a bit more
complicated after Mr. Obama, in a meeting with leaders of some of the
country's largest corporations, demanded Republicans raise the debt
ceiling this month without any spending cut strings attached.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: If Congress, in any way, suggests that they're
going to tie negotiations to debt ceiling votes, and take us to the
brink of default once again, as part of a budget negotiation, I will not
play that game, because we've got to – we've got to break that habit
before it starts.
GARRETT: The President sees the fiscal cliff showdown as an opportunity
to break that linkage for good. Republicans say they will not increase
the debt ceiling - now $16 trillion, and due to expire in February -
without more deficit reduction.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R), KENTUCKY (from speech on the floor of the
U.S. Senate): History shows that the only major deficit-cutting deals we
ever do around here - ever - comes after debates over the debt ceiling.
It may be a good idea if you don't care about the debt, but it's a
non-starter for those of us who do.
GARRETT (on-camera): Public opinion, generally, is on the President's
side, but Republicans in the House are not paralyzed or perilous. In
fact, they're more unified behind Speaker Boehner than they were a year
ago. Why is this important? Well, the White House is beginning to
notice, and they now believe that there is a deal Boehner can find the
votes to pass it. Charlie and Norah?
CHARLIE ROSE: Major Garrett, thanks.