It's Run Big Bird Run Thing

Dear America,

"If you don't have a record to run on, 

then you paint your opponent 

as someone people should run from. 

You make a big election about small things."  

Senator Obama running for office, 2008

THIS is how the answer began:

ROMNEY:  Good. I'm glad you raised that, and it's a -- it's a critical issue. I think it's not just an economic issue, I think it's a moral issue. I think it's, frankly, not moral for my generation to keep spending massively more than we take in, knowing those burdens are going to be passed on to the next generation and they're going to be paying the interest and the principal all their lives.

And the amount of debt we're adding, at a trillion a year, is simply not moral.

STRONG OPENING, indeed, but then, this is just G interrupting what he said. Please, continue:

ROMNEY: So how do we deal with it? Well, mathematically, there are three ways that you can cut a deficit. One, of course, is to raise taxes. Number two is to cut spending. And number is to grow the economy, because if more people work in a growing economy, they're paying taxes, and you can get the job done that way.

The presidents would -- president would prefer raising taxes. I understand. The problem with raising taxes is that it slows down the rate of growth. And you could never quite get the job done. I want to lower spending and encourage economic growth at the same time.

What things would I cut from spending? Well, first of all, I will eliminate all programs by this test, if they don't pass it: Is the program so critical it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it? And if not, I'll get rid of it. Obamacare's on my list.

I apologize, Mr. President. I use that term with all respect, by the way.

OBAMA:  I like it.

ROMNEY:  Good. OK, good. So I'll get rid of that.

I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS, I love Big Bird. Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for. That's number one.

OH yeah...he was starting out small...so please, mr. next-president-of-the-united-states, continue:

ROMNEY:  Number two, I'll take programs that are currently good programs but I think could be run more efficiently at the state level and send them to the state.

Number three, I'll make government more efficient and to cut back the number of employees, combine some agencies and departments. My cutbacks will be done through attrition, by the way.

This is the approach we have to take to get America to a balanced budget.

The president said he'd cut the deficit in half. Unfortunately, he doubled it. Trillion-dollar deficits for the last four years. The president's put it in place as much public debt -- almost as much debt held by the public as al prior presidents combined.

All this led into a two-minute answer from the president where he totally, unmistakably, fell apart.

So without further adieu, this is what happened --

21:28:35: LEHRER: Mr. President, two minutes.

21:28:37: OBAMA: When I walked into the Oval Office, I had more than a trillion-dollar deficit greeting me. And we know where it came from: two wars that were paid for on a credit card; two tax cuts that were not paid for; and a whole bunch of programs that were not paid for; and then a massive economic crisis.

And despite that, what we've said is, yes, we had to take some initial emergency measures to make sure we didn't slip into a Great Depression, but what we've also said is, let's make sure that we are cutting out those things that are not helping us grow.

So 77 government programs, everything from aircrafts that the Air Force had ordered but weren't working very well, 18 government -- 18 government programs for education that were well-intentioned, not weren't helping kids learn, we went after medical fraud in Medicare and Medicaid very aggressively, more aggressively than ever before, and have saved tens of billions of dollars, $50 billion of waste taken out of the system.

And I worked with Democrats and Republicans to cut a trillion dollars out of our discretionary domestic budget. That's the largest cut in the discretionary domestic budget since Dwight Eisenhower.

Now, we all know that we've got to do more. And so I've put forward a specific $4 trillion deficit reduction plan. It's on a website. You can look at all the numbers, what cuts we make and what revenue we raise.

And the way we do it is $2.50 for every cut, we ask for $1 of additional revenue, paid for, as I indicated earlier, by asking those of us who have done very well in this country to contribute a little bit more to reduce the deficit. Governor Romney earlier mentioned the Bowles-Simpson commission. Well, that's how the commission -- bipartisan commission that talked about how we should move forward suggested we have to do it, in a balanced way with some revenue and some spending cuts. And this is a major difference that Governor Romney and I have.

Let -- let me just finish their point, because you're looking for contrast. You know, when Governor Romney stood on a stage with other Republican candidates for the nomination and he was asked, would you take $10 of spending cuts for just $1 of revenue? And he said no.

Now, if you take such an unbalanced approach, then that means you are going to be gutting our investments in schools and education. It means that Governor Romney...

(CROSSTALK)

21:31:15: OBAMA: ... talked about Medicaid and how we could send it back to the states, but effectively this means a 30 percent cut in the primary program we help for seniors who are in nursing homes, for kids who are with disabilities.

21:31:22: LEHRER: Mr. President, I'm sorry.

21:31:26: OBAMA: And -- and that is not a right strategy for us to move forward.

21:31:28: LEHRER: Way over the two minutes.

THE THING IS -- from this exchange, the democrats thought it be wise to run on this "attack" on Big Bird ever since.  Spending quality time during campaign speeches turning Big Bird into the poster child for a campaign gone wrong; spending millions of dollars on commercials equating Bernie Madoff to the big, yellow, lovable favorite of Sesame Street...when in fact, when placed into proper context, what were ROMNEY'S exact words?

"I LOVE BIG BIRD.  Actually like you, too. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for [it]."

Especially when those things are well supported by community, merchandising, a billion dollar broadcasting company -- and oh yeah, a $314, 000 base salary for the BIG YELLOW BIRD's creator and keeper and person under all those fine, fluffy feathers. [and read this from Mark Steyn]

[ But allow me to digress a moment:  READ the transcript on the night.  It gets even worse for the president when reading his answers.]

SO there you go -- BIG BIRD, part of the 1% -- along with a whole cast of characters large and small from PBS and NPR....

And sure, the measly stipend received by the federal government is just peanuts in the great scheme of life....

BUT THAT'S THE POINT!

It's the small stuff, added together, that contribute to the HUGE deficits.  ALL small things must go.  And like ROMNEY said, that's just the start.  Just before he said he would cut funding to PBS -- even though he also said he LOVES Big Bird in the same breath -- he mentioned Obamacare.  And what did he say?  He said he would "get rid of it."

What does the Left choose to focus on?  Big Bird.

Romney had just said he would TERMINATE, ELIMINATE, BURY Obamacare -- and they concentrate on Big Bird?  Obamacare was the president's trophy of his first term -- and they let Romney's comment slide?  They spend millions making a commercial on Big Bird?

How old are you now, Mr. President?

Moseying along now, Sesame Street is small pickings.  You're right.  But as we have just reviewed, the small stuff isn't really his point.

AND so getting around to the BIG STUFF -- Romney insists that it needs to be reformed; it needs to be repealed and/or replaced with a more efficient system, eliminating and punishing for fraud along the way, and fixed, solvently, in order to survive for future generations.

 Isn't that what we all want?

Now Charles Krauthammer didn't hold back last night when asked about this Big Bird Bruhaha.

"I hope they run it til the end of time," classic Krauthammer said.  GO here for full story.

It trivializes the office of the presidency, he said.  Indeed.

But wait, there's more:  Obama approved this message.

What else can we expect from a thin-skinned president, after making a stunning, embarrassment of himself in front of 67 million viewers last week?

Here's context for you -- Romney comes off the debate gate and goes right into making one of his finest speeches on foreign policy.  What did Obama do?  He ran messages to save Big Bird. [Libya is still on fire, Jobs report is still not swallowed, and Obamacare is still not liked...but keep talking Big Bird]

ummm which reminds me of a game... which one is not like the other?

It's called shooting yourself in your big, yellow foot.  And I'm with Krauthammer -- I hope they run with it.

Make it a Good Day, G

oh and PBS to White House -- knock it off.