There was absolutely nothing laissez faire about Hoover. In fact he tried some price controls and stimulus spending of his own. FDR did much the same as Obama in insisting that Hoover’s deficit spending wasn’t aggressive enough.

Heftyjo on October 19, 2009 at 11:34 AM

Not to mention smoot-hawley.

I just watched this, I know, very late in the game. I have to say, Mr. Dennis had it together, and that got Chrissy bothered. Like many of the other posters, I noticed how Chrissy focused on the “Do Nothing” theme and stuck with it, even though that’s way off from what Dennis said. Chrissy was too flustered by the logical thoughts to go off DNC talking points and it showed.

Torch on October 19, 2009 at 10:13 AM

My thoughts exactly. Almost word for word.

Dennis (and most fiscal conservatives) never said that doing nothing would help the economy (although I contend “doing nothing” would be better than borrowing and wasting a trillion dollars). The action we propose is tax cuts, reduced spending, and smaller government.

Spittle boy might as well just have covered his ears and went, “la la la la la, I can’t hear you.”

“I’d cut taxes significantly and reduce the size of the government.”

“Oh so you’d do nothing?”

Look how many times Mathews says that.

For a progressive leftist, the whole point of getting in charge of government is to DO THINGS with it.

Why, if you were in charge of the government and you cut taxes and reduce the governments size, you’re not DOING ANYTHING with it. So that = ‘nothing’.

Mr. Dennis could sit there all day and say “I’d cut taxes and reduce the government” and all Chrissy will hear is “I’d do nothing.”

The Texas man is brave; I don’t think I could have been grilled like he was and remained so calm. MSNBC is going into the “belly of the beast” Great job!

Do you guys realize that not one of the hundreds of points raised here are covered by the media?

I used to feel bad that 1/10 of what I thought wasn’t being considered.

Of course the left has their tidy faked, forced intelligence reports for Iraq, predatory lending for the mortgage meltdown, the health insurance pirates and now those awfull halloween costumes that TARGET was going to sell.

Guess which will be discussed?

Chris was demonizing Bush for spending like a mad woman with her husband’s credit card….

then Chris praised Obama for spending like a mad woman with her husband’s credit card.

Seriously…obviously, BOTH ARE WRONG!!!! because both are exactly the same thing!!!

Leave it to a Liberal to complain and attack Republican spending and growth of government and then turn around and praise Democratic party spending and government growth.

I think their hypocrisy is lost on them. they are too hyper-partisan to realize this.

I have always said…

Clinton started us down the path of Socialism, Bush continued it and Obama has put it on steroids!

This is a feral government, now – a government reverted to wild as it broke with the domesticating constraints of the Constitution.

1) Chris was not comfortable at all!!

2) Chris lost this debate

3) The Tea Party guy should have mentioned the FACT that Herbert Hoover did not go down the cutting taxes route and cutting government spending. Hoover went down the road of increasing government spending with government project. Hmmm….anyone hear of Hooever Dam? duh, duh, duh!!! and that government spending got the USA deeper into a recession that led to a depression. It is a Liberal canard, a lie that Hoover cut government spending!!!! a huge lie that Liberals love to tell and too many Conservatives do not know how to answer it because teachers and professors don’t teach facts!

4) The Tea Party guy did well answering Chris’ silly FDR crap. However, I would have added, “Chris, Truman left with the worst approval rating in American history. People chose not to elect him again. Today historians consider him a great President. Plus Democrats like you hold him as a great President too.So, shall we believe voter reactions at the time or history, eh?” and as everyone agrees, it was WWII that pulled the USA out of the economic crisis. FDR’s policies worked for a few years, but by the time WWII began the country was slipping back into economic chaos.

The Tea party owned Chris!!!! Chris was very unconfortable. Love the Tea party’s guy comment about redneck comment. Poor Chris was clueless. and talk about making every effor to bait the Tea party guy.

I would have asked Chris if he agreed with the Liberals and Democrats who compared Bush to Hitler. Or those that claim Bush was not our legitimate President. Or those Liberals who used racial slurs against Dr. Rice.

The fake outrage from the left after 8 years of hateful attacks on Bush is pathetic.

Chris asks where were we when Bush was spending like crazy, I ask him, where was Chris when Liberals were using radical, racial slurs, hateful, virulant, disgraceful, unpatriotic attacks on Bush and his administration? Where were you Chris? why do you condemn attacks on Obama, but you were silent when Bush was attacked with much more hate and a lot worst than anything that has been said about Obama?

I can tell you Chris, when Bush was spending like crazy and growing government, I was screaming like hell, writing letters to the White House, demanding answers, writing letters to the RNC, writing letters to my Congressman and Senators and demanding that the out of control spending stop as well as the growth of government.

So, where were YOU Chris when the hateful, racist, untruthful attacks against Bush and his administration were being thrown by the left, hypocrite?

So, evidently Chris Matthews agrees that Bush was on the right path with his deficit spending since Obama picked up the torch and ran into the endzone, then sprinted out of the stadium with the deficit expenses he enacted. If it was wrong for Bush to increase the deficit by overspending, then President Obama has tripled down on that line of thinking. How many wrongs make a right, Chris?

wordsmithy2009 on October 17, 2009 at 6:28 PM

THANK YOU! Matthews kept demonizing Bush and then essentially championing Obama for carrying on all the things Bush did that were wrong. It’s one or the other.

Watching and listening to him is an uncomfortable, unpleasant experience.

He is so misinformed on the issues, as evidenced again in this tirade of his.

Matthews also is wwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy to hyper for my taste.

Did he forget his meds?

He looks like he cannot even take a breath.

Is his blood pressure extremely high?

I would HATE to feel as hyperactive as Matthews appears to be.

Furthermore, he shouts through virtually the entire interview, and he appears to take a side of animosity and aggressiveness toward his conservative guests. I don’t see balance or fairness in his interviews, just a “I’ve gotcha!” or “I’ma gonna’ gitcha!” mindset operating in his interviews.

How can this guy continue to host a nationally televised program?

Whew.

Chris Matthews, take a chill pill. Calm down!

Now I’ve got to go meditate to find my inner calm for Matthews was so hyper that he has my whole house hyperactive!

By the way, Philip Dennis handled Matthews very well.

Kudos to Philip Dennis!