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This week’s show opens with Mike and Jay taking a look at the current state of the Republican tax reform bills in both the House and the Senate. Mike points out – once again – that it’s a horrible idea to ram a huge, complex tax bill through only weeks after it was introduced, and that the measure is essentially a big tax cut for businesses and the rich that will be paid for by future generations of Americans. Jay believes that in the end the cuts will result in enough growth to make them worthwhile.
After that, the Guys turn to the recent wave of sexual harassment revelations, specifically more women coming forward to accuse Alabama Republican Roy Moore, who maintains his innocence, and Democratic Senator Al Franken, who has admitted his guilt. Mike also shares a personal story, in the hope that it might encourage others to speak out.
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Mike,
Thank you for taking the time to share your story. It is very unfortunate that the culture of sexual misconduct has been swept under the rug for way too long. Hopefully, due to the courage of yourself and many others, we can finally start having true conversation beginning at young ages about proper treatment of other humans.
Outside of that, I also wanted to thank you for fighting the good fight on hitting back on the Hannity talking points. The biggest Hannity shoutout Jay gave in this episode was at the end when he asked about if HRC won the presidency. The amount of time that the right brings up HRC hypotheticals is sickening. YOU WON (not by vote), just move on already. It doesn’t matter how many time you and Jay talk about Tax reform, and how many credible people (“on many sides”) you have on to discuss the economic returns for tax reform, Jay is unable to internalize the idea that tax cuts do not, and will not, pay for themselves. I do not understand the mindset of the vast majority republicans when it comes to that. Many democrats give the right the benefit of the doubt and suggest (based on evidence, both empirical and theoretical) that a portion of tax cuts will help decrease, yet not eliminate the deficit caused by tax cuts. However, the right can’t take that for what it is worth (i.e. the truth). Inside of arguing over just how much it will help decrease the deficit, they feel the need to go way overboard and assert that it will actually pay for itself and even lead to a surplus.
Jay, what is it with you and the republican party as a whole for the inability to process facts and adjust away from personal belief to factual evidence? There is no better example of this than climate change. The republican party, Jay included (as he mentions it many times each episode) loves to toss out the word “principle” whenever they are in a corner. The very definition of principle is, “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.” Whereas the definition of a fact is, “a thing that is indisputably the case.” I know it is hard to understand the difference between a ‘belief’ and ‘fact’, but it is time to realize that the past should stay in the past and we need to start moving towards fact-based evidence, and not something that you heard your great-grandfather say that his grandfather told him over 100 years ago.