Schieffer to O’Malley: Why Are You Only One ‘Even Thinking of Challenging’ Hillary?

Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer sounded more interested Sunday morning in why Martin O’Malley was the only Democratic candidate seriously considering challenging putative frontrunner Hillary Clinton than in his candidacy itself.

“Here is a party that won last two presidential elections, yet there seems to be this one candidate,” Schieffer said. “Shouldn’t there be more people out there? Why is there nobody but you — I don’t mean this in deprecating way towards you — but you seem to be the lone guy who’s even thinking about challenging her.”

“I’m not sure why that is,” O’Malley said. “But I think it would be an extreme poverty indeed if there weren’t more than one person willing to compete for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.”

Clinton who finally officially announced her candidacy last week, has significantly outpolled the remainder of the Democratic field. O’Malley polls in the single digits against her.

Via: Mediaite

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[VIDEO] Ayotte: We Can’t Trust Obama But Let’s Do Amnesty Anyway

No, you don’t…Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) says she agrees that Republicans can’t trust President Obama to enforce the law, but they should immediately move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, anyway.

“Here’s the deal: The status quo is totally unacceptable,” Ayotte said on CBS News’ Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer on Sunday.

Ayotte, who rode the Tea Party wave in 2010 to her election to the Senate but has emerged as one of the upper chamber’s more liberal Republicans, conceded there is a “trust deficit” with Obama.

“There’s a trust deficit that the Speaker is facing right now and it’s related to ObamaCare and the disastrous rollout,” she said. “Because, let’s think about it, immigration means doing a lot of complex things well. And in addition to that, the administration keeps issuing executive orders to change the law, very frequently.”

Via: Brietbart

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Schieffer: Gov’t Shutdown, Obamacare Rollout the Dumb and Dumber of Washington

Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer put a pox on both the houses of the government shutdown and the troubled Obamacare rolllout on Sunday morning, comparing the twin disasters to the filmDumb and Dumber, and assigning them the status of Worse and Worser.

“Is ‘worser’ a word?” Schieffer wondered. “Turns out it is. We looked it up. The shutdown was the worst, but this thing is worser.”

“It was the Washington we’ve come to know: all talk, all the time,” Schieffer continued, denouncing both the poor rollout and the critics who were “foaming at the mouth” over it. “But at the end of the day, [it was] just another example of how government seems incapable of making things better, and it never seems to learn…There may be lesson here: if those involved would spend less time refining their talking points, and more time actually trying to make things work.”

“The way this thing is going,” Schieffer concluded, “it is a good thing we have a word like ‘worser.’”

Watch the full clip below, via CBS News:

Via: Mediaite.com

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[VIDEO] Romney: ‘You Have to Tell the American People the Truth’

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
November 3, 2013 11:25 am

Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney again rejected President Obama’s comparisons between Obamacare and Romney’s health care policy while governor of Massachusetts Sunday on Meet The Press, saying Obama had failed to learn the lessons from that state-run plan and had been dishonest with the American people.

Referring to Obama’s infamous promise that “if you like your plan you will keep your plan,” Romney said that falsehood could undermine his entire presidency.

“Perhaps the most important lesson the president, I think, failed to learn was, you have to tell the American people the truth,” Romney said. “When he told the American people that you could keep your health insurance if you wanted to keep that plan, period, he said that time and again, he wasn’t telling the truth, and I think that fundamental dishonesty has really put in peril the whole foundation of his second term.”

Via: WFB

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[VIDEO] Feinstein: Take Down Healthcare.gov Until It’s Fixed

California senator Dianne Feinstein revealed on Sunday that she told the White House, in the wake of the botched rollout of the health-care exchanges, that the administration should pull down Healthcare.gov until it is functioning properly. Her advice was rejected. “They believe that they need to keep it running and that they can sort out the difficulties,” she said.

Feinstein also conceded that the president did not make clear that millions would lose their health plans as a result of the law. Though she indicated that she is murky on the details of the law, she told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that “I think that part of it, if true, was never made clear” and, with regard to individuals’ ability to keep insurance, “it is really very unclear, right now, exactly what the situation is.”

Nonetheless, the California senator cast some of the blame for the chaos and confusion surrounding the law on its Republican opponents and others who have spoken out against the law’s passage and implementation. “The big problem here is that there are so many destroyers in the House, in the public, in the private health-care sector that just want to destroy, and that’s not helpful,” she said.

Via: NRO
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[VIDEO] Bob Schieffer on JFK Assassination: ‘Nothing Like This Had Ever Happened’

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, it seems a metaphysical certitude there are going to be some really absurd statements made by the liberal media concerning this tragedy.

I suggest none will be as preposterous as CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer actually claiming Sunday, “Nothing like this had ever happened” (video follows with transcript and commentary):

BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST: We want to turn now to a fateful day you're going to be hearing a lot about over the next month because November 22nd marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John Kennedy, a day that many believe changed America forever. The first word of it for many of us came from Walter Cronkite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTER CRONKITE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official: President Kennedy died at 1:00 PM Central Standard Time, 2:00 Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHIEFFER: The nation was plunged into shock. Nothing like this had ever happened.

Yes, nothing like this had ever happened - as long as you ignore Abraham Lincoln being assassinated in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, and William McKinley in 1901.

Via: Newsbusters

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Woodward: "Secret" Government Under Obama Administration Needs To Be Reviewed

BOB SCHIEFFER: What is so interesting, Bob Woodward, and you know, you and I have seen a lot of these things. 

BOB WOODWARD: Too much.

SCHIEFFER: The first thing that agencies tend to do is try to make sure they can't be blamed for something. And, clearly, that is why the FBI and the CIA did not come clean with the Warren commission, and why maybe they didn't even tell the agents in Dallas what was going on.

WOODWARD: Well, initially, in the Watergate cover-up, part of the argument was, 'Oh, you'll expose convert operations in Mexico,' because they were laundering $89,000 of money that helped finance Watergate. I think there's a theme here in all of this that you have laid out that connects somewhat to what's going on now. And that is the power of this secret world -- CIA, FBI -- particularly in what you've looked at, Phil, the assassination plots against Castro. I mean, it's stunning, and this information really didn't get to the Warren commission. And it's not saying that Castro did it, but that there's all this secrecy and the people at the top or the people investigating the commission does not get the evidence.

We look now at what's going on with all the NSA wiretapping and people saying, 'Well, they didn't know, or they did know.' It clearly is much more extensive than people expected. You connect this with the drone strikes in Pakistan, and Yemen, which is our government conducting regular assassinations by air. You know, what's -- what's going on here? Who is in control of it? And who can find out? You know, I think -- it's in the New York Times this morning that there is a review that Susan Rice, the National Security Adviser for Obama, has done on Mid-East policy. They need to review this secret world and its power in their government because you run into this rats nest of concealment and lies time and time again, then and now.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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Sen. Cornyn: Obama Is Not 'King'

Sen. John Cornyn criticized President Barack Obama on Sunday for failing to do his job and negotiate with Congress to reopen the government in a sharp reminder that a monarch does not rule the U.S.

"The president has got to lead, and he's got to do his job," Cornyn told CBS's "Face the Nation."

"We rejected the concept of a king when our country was founded, and created three co-equal branches of government," Cornyn said.

"Now he says he won't negotiate on the debt, but what he needs to do is roll up his sleeves and get to the table," Cornyn said.

CBS host Bob Schieffer also interviewed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and said the two sides did not appear to be negotiating, but talking past each other.

House Speaker John Boehner insists there are not enough votes to reopen the government without concessions from Senate Democrats and the White House on changes to Obamacare, while Lew insists the votes are there.

"Why doesn't he put it on the floor and give it a chance?" Lew said.

Via: Newsmax

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Winners and losers from the final presidential debate

And just like that, the 2012 presidential election debates are over.

President Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney traded blows on foreign policy for 90 minutes in Boca Raton tonight. So, who won and who lost? We try to answer both of those questions below.

Agree or disagree with our picks? Tell us why in the comments section.

WINNERS

* President Obama: Obama controlled the third presidential debate in a way not all that dissimilar from the way Romney controlled the first one. Obama clearly came loaded for bear, attacking Romney from the jump for a lack of clarity when it came to his vision (or lack thereof) on foreign policy. If you are looking for moments — and remember that the media coverage over the next few days will focus on just that — Obama had two with his line about “the 1980s calling” in regards to Romney’s foreign policy and his reference to “horses and bayonets” to call into question his rival’s understanding of the modern military.   It’s possible that Obama came off too hot/not presidential in some of his attacks but Democrats will take a little too much heat following Obama’s cold-as-ice performance in the first debate. Obama came across as the more confident and commanding presence — by a lot. 

* Bob Schieffer: Yes, there was a section in the middle of the debate where the two candidates got into an extended conversation about class size and things looked like they might go completely off the tracks. But, to Schieffer’s credit he did a solid job of balancing the need to keep some sort of structure in the debate while at the same time letting the two men litigate out their difference. Also, huge credit to Schieffer for injecting a bit of humor into the proceedings; his rebuke of Romney for demanding more time brought a smile to the faces of both candidates and his wry “I think we all love teachers” line felt pitch perfect. 

* Zingers: Remember in the runup to the first debate how Obama insisted that Romney would focus on “zingers” and he would talk about substance? By the third debate, Obama seemed to have decided that a few zingers thrown in here and there couldn’t hurt.  His line that “the 1980s are calling to have their foreign policy back” is likely to be the most memorable one of the night (and maybe of the entire presidential debate season).  

* Mali: Two mentions in the first 10 minutes of the debate ain’t too shabby. Now, quick, what is the capital of Mali? Bamako!

* “Tumult”: By our count, Romney used the word five times to describe a situation happening in the world. Somewhere ”uproar”, “turmoil” and “hubbub” are grimacing.

LOSERS

* Mitt Romney: Romney clearly decided to play it safe in this debate — whether because he thought he was ahead and will win if he doesn’t screw up or because he knows that foreign policy isn’t his strong suit.  But, as NFL teams (re)learn every year, playing the prevent defense almost never works. Romney was constantly trying to parry Obama attacks; he knocked some down but plenty got through too.  Romney also struggled to differentiate how his foreign policy would offer a break with what Obama has pursued over the past four years. And, he seemed uninterested in attacking Obama on Libya, a baffling strategic decision. Romney was, not surprisingly, at his best when talking about how the economic uncertainty in this country led to uncertainty for the country more broadly but he just didn’t do enough of it to win.

* Foreign policy: It was probably inevitable that a real discussion of America’s role in the world wasn’t going to happen amid polling that suggests that voters overwhelmingly care about the economy in this country. After about 15 minutes of trying to stay on the announced topic, both Obama and Romney started to talk at least as much about domestic policy as foreign policy. The two candidates’ closing statements were illustrative of this fact; neither man made more than a passing mention of foreign policy. It’s hard to imagine that any voter seeking a more detailed explanation of the two candidates’ views on a broad swath of foreign policy matters got it tonight.

Via: Washington Post

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Transcript And Audio: Third Presidential Debate

EnlargeWin McNamee/Getty Images

Mitt Romney and President Obama debate Monday in Boca Raton, Fla., with moderator Bob Schieffer.

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October 22, 2012

Transcript of the third debate between President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, Fla., moderated by Bob Schieffer of CBS. Source: Federal News Service

Editor's Note: NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Good evening from the campus of Lynn University here in Boca Raton, Florida. This is the fourth and last debate of the 2012 campaign, brought to you by the Commission on Presidential Debates. This one's on foreign policy. I'm Bob Schieffer of CBS News. The questions are mine, and I have not shared them with the candidates or their aides.

The audience has taken a vow of silence — no applause, no reaction of any kind except right now when we welcome President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney. (Sustained cheers, applause.)

Gentlemen, your campaigns have agreed to certain rules and they are simple. They have asked me to divide the evening into segments. I'll pose a question at the beginning of each segment. You will each have two minutes to respond, and then we will have a general discussion until we move to the next segment.

Tonight's debate, as both of your know, comes on the 50th anniversary of the night that President Kennedy told the world that the Soviet Union had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba — perhaps the closest we've ever come to nuclear war. And it is a sobering reminder that every president faces at some point an unexpected threat to our national security from abroad. So let's begin.

Via: NPR

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Charles Krauthammer on the Third Presidential Debate: “It’s Unequivocal Mitt Romney Won”

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer reacted to the third presidential debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. He said, “I think it’s unequivocal Mitt Romney won.”

Krauthammer told Megyn Kelly on Fox News that Romney won both tactically and strategically. He assessed that Romney had to show the American people that he was someone they can trust as commander in chief.

During the debate, he said, “Romney went large. Obama went very, very small – shockingly small. Romney made a strategic decision not to go after president on Libya or Syria or other areas where Obama could accuse him of being a Bush-like war monger.”

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Off-Topic: Bob Schieffer Tries to Veer Foreign Policy Conversation Back From … Everything But

DEBATE QUOTE: “Horses and Bayonets” at the Debate

Mitt Romney to Obama: Attacking Me Is Not an Agenda

Mitt Romney: We Can’t Kill Our Way Out of This Mess

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The highest point for Romney, Krauthammer identified as the point when he “devastatingly leveled the charge of Obama going around the world on an apology tour.”

Via: Fox News Insider

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