GOP Doesn't Care About Jobs, Jim DeMint Doesn't Like Speeches

Not to mention, by the way, if we believe Republicans are so desperate to focus on jobs
the way they claim that they are and have for so long, why not have the speech outlining
the plan on jobs as early as possible? In other words, if you really care about...
Louis: There is no plan.
David: Hold on a second. If Barack Obama is going to outline the plan in his speech and
you're a Republican like John Boehner and you have said point-blank to the American
people and to your electorate jobs are the number one concern to me, then you would want
Barack Obama to give his speech as soon as possible. Why delay it even 24 hours? Let
the speech happen, let's get the plan, because you told us, John Boehner, jobs are the most
important thing. What am I missing here?
Louis: Sounds like a good plan.
David: In either case, why are Republicans doing this? Let the speech happen. And then
Senator Jim DeMint, odd guy, by the way, really an odd guy, he says it will actually be difficult
to watch this speech. Really? You're having trouble with speeches now, Jim DeMint? Take
a listen and look at what he had to say about this. It's very bizarre.
Jim DeMint: Well, I'm frankly very tired of speeches. I don't want to be disrespectful
to the president, but what I want to see is something in writing and that the Congressional
Budget Office tells us what it's going to cost so that we can not only read it ourselves,
but the American people can read it. Speeches, we've found, are not very similar to the actual
legislation. So I'm pretty frustrated with the speech idea, and frankly, the things that
have been leaking out of the White House...
David: All right, so he's frustrated with speeches. If you're a senator in the United
States and you're tired of speeches, your entire job is basically to go to and to give
speeches. That's kind of the job. Maybe senator's no the best job for you if you're so tired
of speeches.
Natan: This is pretty cynical, because people usually don't read legislation, so if he's
wanting the American people to read legislation...
Louis: Yeah, but let's...
Natan: ... they're going to be even more confused about what Obama's real policy is.
David: Yeah.
Louis: Let's be honest here, people aren't going to read anything.
David: Imagine for a second that the American people do read any legislation that is actually
put out there, congressional approval will drop even lower, if that's even possible.
Louis: Right.
David: The last thing you want if you're in the House or Senate is anybody reading anything
you're putting out there, believe me.
Louis: Yeah. People don't even read the platforms of their... the people they elect to office.
David: Yeah. And...
Louis: So what, are they going to... are they going to read legislation?
David: They're going to sit there and read it, yeah. Jim DeMint, if it's so hard for
you to watch speeches, you probably shouldn't be a senator, because watching...
Louis: Though I have to agree with him, it is frustrating to listen to speeches where
even Barack Obama just says these vague things, outlines some type of plan without going into
any detail, just..
David: Really? Barack Obama gives... says vague things and doesn't go into detail? That's
just Barack Obama who does that?
Louis: No, no, I didn't say that.
David: That's what Jim DeMint does.
Louis: That's what all politicians do, Dave.
David: Right, well, so...
Louis: And I'm saying it is frustrating to listen to.
David: Yeah, but if you're part of it, you can't just point it out and say that's what
you're frustrated with, you're part of the...
Louis: That's the ridiculous part.
David: By the way, also, he says, "I don't want to be disrespectful to the president,"
and then he goes on to do nothing but disrespect the president. It's like, "Listen, I don't
want to be a murderer, OK," and then you kill someone five seconds later. I just want to
be clear, I do not want to be a murderer." It doesn't matter, if you do it, you do it.
Saying I don't want to disrespect the president, well, it sounds like you're being disrespectful
without wanting to, then.
Louis: Wasn't as disrespectful as some other people.
David: Listen, I don't want to be a murderer...
So anyway, that's what's going on with the jobs thing. I think Republicans just making
a mistake strategically. Let the speech happen, then you come out and say you know what? We
moved our debate because we said we're concerned about jobs, therefore we wanted the jobs speech
as soon as possible, and now we're going to go ahead and bash the speech, because it wasn't
good. That I think strategically would've made more sense for Republicans. I don't know.
Louis: Agreed.
Transcript provided by Subscriptorium Multimedia Linguistic Services. For transcripts, translations,
captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or write us
at subscriptorium@gmail.com.