Charlie Rose did his best to forward liberals' talking points about
Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal on Wednesday's CBS This Morning, during
an interview of House Speaker John Boehner. Rose played up Mitt
Romney's endorsement of the Ryan plan and how the former governor "talked about, perhaps, abolishing H.E.W. [sic]- I mean, HUD, as well as Department of Education."
The anchor even went so far to tout how "Catholic bishops today
said that the Ryan budget fails to meet moral criteria and
disproportionately cuts programs that serve the poor and the vulnerable,
which sounds like the President." By contrast, Rose didn't
even bring up Nancy Pelosi's notorious dissent from Catholic doctrine
during a recent interview of Boehner's immediate predecessor on PBS.
Rose brought up the economy midway through the first segment of the interview. When Boehner stated that the "the election's going to be about economics, economics, economics,"
the journalist replied with his H.E.W. gaffe (the name of HHS before
1979). The Republican insisted that "we've got to make choices, and we
shouldn't criticize candidates because they're talking about the big
choices that we have to make. When you have $1.3 trillion budget
deficit, have you to do something."
The CBS anchor continued by forwarding a liberal talking point against
Romney and the GOP for the upcoming election: "The President would say
to you...this is going to be a referendum on the Ryan budget, because the Speaker has even said, it's a vision of what we want to do."
The Speaker replied, "The President's going to try to make the election
about anything other than his failed economic policies, because he
can't run on his record. And so, they're going to pull out every
boogieman they can."
Rose then pushed ahead on the topic of the Ryan plan, and referenced the Tuesday statement [1] from two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
ROSE: Do you think the Ryan plan is the way to do that, because Governor Romney has clearly made it- at one with him?
BOEHNER: Somebody in this town has to own up to the problems that we face-
ROSE: And your budget does it?
BOENHER: And that budget does it. Now, if the President doesn't like
that budget, where's his budget? His budget failed on the floor of the
House, zero to 414. Not one Democrat or one Republican voted for the
President's budget. Why? Because he wasn't serious about dealing with
America's problem.
ROSE: The Catholic bishops today said that the Ryan budget fails to
meet moral criteria and disproportionately cuts programs that serve the
poor and the vulnerable, which sounds like the President.
BOEHNER: I understand. Listen, when you look at the budget choices that
we have to make, it's time that Congress and Washington and the
President quit kicking the can down the road and address our challenges.
I don't believe that our budget will hurt the poor in any way. I don't
think it will hurt the safety net in any way. But we can't continue to
spend money that we do not have.
Over two weeks earlier, on the April 2, 2012 edition [2]
of his PBS program, Rose interviewed Pelosi and not once mentioned how
the same bishops' conference has been outspoken on the issue of
religious liberty, in the wake of the Obama administration's
abortifacient/contraception mandate (something the far-left politician vocally supported [3]). The closest the journalist came was when he asked the Democrat, "So you are saying this coming election should be a battle of values?"
CBS's morning and evening newscasts haven't mention the HHS mandate
controversy since February 11, 2012, according to a Nexis search. On
that note, the bishops' conference issued [4] a "call to action to defend religious liberty and urged laity to work to protect the First Freedom of the Bill of Rights"
on April 12, but the document hasn't received any attention as of yet
from the network. This difference is just the latest manifestation of
what the MRC documented in our special report, "Secular Snobs [5]":
Journalists have a love-hate relationship with Vatican City. They love when the Pope is opposing capital punishment or U.S. wars, but when it comes to social issues and Catholic church governance, they portray the church hierarchy as a group of white male celibate authoritarians viciously enforcing a "rigid" and ancient orthodoxy.
Earlier in the interview, Rose channeled another liberal talking point about Romney supposedly being out of touch with ordinary Americans:
ROSE: No one doubts you're not in touch [sic], not only with the
constituents you have Ohio, but generally, you're that kind of guy. Is Mitt Romney that kind of guy? He's had a very different lifestyle from you.
BOEHNER: Listen, we're all different. You know, we have different personalities-
ROSE: But can he be in touch? Does he need to figure out a way to have the same kind of visceral appeal?
BOEHNER: I think he's done a good job in a Republican primary, under
some very difficult circumstances, and I think he's prepared for this
general election and will appeal to more than half of America. But after
any primary, there's always a little retooling; always some
adjustments, in terms of now, you have a different opponent. And so, I
think you'll see some new things out of this campaign.
The transcript of the first segment of Charlie Rose's interview of House Speaker John Boehner, which aired three minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour of Wednesday's CBS This Morning:
CHARLIE ROSE: For the first time, the top two Republicans in Congress
are officially backing Mitt Romney's presidential campaign.
ERICA HILL: Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell endorsed Romney on Tuesday, more than a year
after the 2012 campaign began.
[CBS News Graphic: "The Speaker Speaks Out: Boehner On Race For White House"]
ROSE: And after that announcement, Speaker Boehner sat down with us at
the Capitol for his first national interview since Romney became the
presumptive GOP nominee.
ROSE (from pre-recorded interview): You endorsed Mitt Romney today. How
much damage did the primary campaign do to his- election that he faces?
BOEHNER: I don't think there was any real damage done. It got messy,
just like the race four years ago between Barack Obama and Hillary
Clinton. It went on until June of 2008. Charlie, this election's going
to be a referendum on the President's economic policies. They've, not
only- not help the economy, but actually made it worse.
ROSE: What's the debate going to be? What we've just been talking about?
BOEHNER: No. It's going to be over the President's economic policies-
pure and simple. They've made matters worse. America should be doing a
lot better today, but when you look at his calls for higher taxes, his
refusal to deal with the debt- the regulatory regime here in Washington
out of control- they've scared every businessperson and investor in
America. That's why you see record amounts of cash in these businesses-
in banks- because they don't know what tomorrow's going to look like.
ROSE: No one doubts you're not in touch [sic], not only with the
constituents you have Ohio, but generally, you're that kind of guy. Is
Mitt Romney that kind of guy? He's had a very different lifestyle from
you.
BOEHNER: Listen, we're all different. You know, we have different personalities-
ROSE: But can he be in touch? Does he need to figure out a way to have the same kind of visceral appeal?
BOEHNER: I think he's done a good job in a Republican primary, under
some very difficult circumstances, and I think he's prepared for this
general election and will appeal to more than half of America. But after
any primary, there's always a little retooling; always some
adjustments, in terms of now, you have a different opponent. And so, I
think you'll see some new things out of this campaign.
ROSE: Like what?
BOEHNER: A real focus on what the election's going to be about-
ROSE: Well, you know, he's-
BOEHNER: Economics, economics, economics-
ROSE: Well, he's pulled back from this the other day in a closed
meeting. He talked about, perhaps, abolishing H.E.W. [sic]- I mean, HUD,
as well as Department of Education, and talked about eliminating the
mortgage deduction for second homes.
BOEHNER: Well, there were a lot of things said there, all right? We've
got to make choices, and we shouldn't criticize candidates because
they're talking about the big choices that we have to make. When you
have $1.3 trillion budget deficit, have you to do something.
ROSE: The President would say to you, if you said that to him- and
you're friends- this is going to be a referendum on the [Rep. Paul] Ryan
budget, because the Speaker has even said, it's a vision of what we
want to do.
BOEHNER: The President's going to try to make the election about
anything other than his failed economic policies, because he can't run
on his record. And so, they're going to pull out every boogieman they
can. The fact is, is that we've got a serious problem. That's why
Republicans have a plan, for America's job creators, to put Americans
back to work.
ROSE: Do you think the Ryan plan is the way to do that, because Governor Romney has clearly made it- at one with him.
BOEHNER: Somebody in this town has to own up to the problems that we face-
ROSE: And your budget does it?
BOENHER: And that budget does it. Now, if the President doesn't like
that budget, where's his budget? His budget failed on the floor of the
House, zero to 414. Not one Democrat or one Republican voted for the
President's budget. Why? Because he wasn't serious about dealing with
America's problem.
ROSE: The Catholic bishops today said that the Ryan budget fails to
meet moral criteria and disproportionately cuts programs that serve the
poor and the vulnerable, which sounds like the President.
BOEHNER: I understand. Listen, when you look at the budget choices that
we have to make, it's time that Congress and Washington and the
President quit kicking the can down the road and address our challenges.
I don't believe that our budget will hurt the poor in any way. I don't
think it will hurt the safety net in any way. But we can't continue to
spend money that we do not have.
ROSE: Why cannot two people, who are friends, come to some
understanding on this grand bargain and make it happen because the
American people want it to happen?
BOEHNER: I sat for months with the President. He wanted revenue. I
said, Mr. President, I'll put revenue on the table that we can achieve
out of fixing our tax code. But the only way I'll do that is if you're
willing to have real, fundamental reform of our entitlement programs.
And the fact is, we have an agreement. Then, two days later, the
President decided he wanted $400 billion of more revenue, which was, in
effect, $400 billion-
ROSE: But at the same time, the two of you came to an agreement, in your mind, that was acceptable.
BOEHNER: Until he lost his courage.
ROSE: Lost his courage?
ROSE: He lost his courage.
BOEHNER: He couldn't face what?
BOEHNER: Why did he blow the deal up?
ROSE: What did he tell you?
BOEHNER: That he needed more revenue- needed more revenue. He lost his courage.
ROSE: Will anything happen between now and the election?
BOEHNER: I would hope so, but I'm not optimistic. The President checked
out last Labor Day. All he's done is campaign full time for the last
six months. He's not been engaged in the legislative process at all.
There have been no effort at trying to work with Democrats and
Republicans to address this issue at all. And it's shameful.
ROSE: He's able to change the emphasis to the future or to the Ryan plan or to Governor Romney-
BOEHNER: The American people-
ROSE: If he prevents it from being a referendum-
BOEHNER: The American people vote with their wallets. They have for the history of our country and it's not going to change.
ROSE: Sounds like Ohio wisdom to me.
BOEHNER: That's it.