This Week with Christiane Amanpour - April 10, 2011

Guests:
David Plouffe - White House advisor
Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN)
Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
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Amanpour: this week’s epic budget fight was puny compared to Budgetgeddon!!

Plouffe: true

Amanpour: the President wanted to increase spending and then he cut $38 billion

Plouffe: yes but we need to reduce the debt while increasing spending by decreasing spending

Amanpour: so why did Obama take a victory lap?

Plouffe: who doesn’t love a firm fiscal trajectory?

Amanpour: so are the cuts draconian or historic?

Plouffe: both - the agreement is Historically Draconican

Amanpour: I see

Plouffe: we protected cancer research and Head Start

Amanpour: Economists have said cuts will cause another recession

Plouffe: tell that to the GOP

Amanpour: Does Obama has the stomach for another big fight?

Plouffe: we’re bringing spending to its lowest level since Dwight Eisenhower - we’re Winning Back to the Future!

Amanpour: what is Obama’s plan for making Republicans and Democrats agree on something

Plouffe: Jedi mind tricks

Amanpour: can Obama really do that

Plouffe: hey we all came together to cut taxes for the rich

Amanpour: Anthony Weiner just tweeted: we need our own agenda #fuckyourepublicans

Plouffe: Obama is driving the agenda on cuts - what spending we should cut and what also taxes we should cut

Amanpour: good for him

Plouffe: we’re giving the wealthy a massive tax break - that’s a choice

Amanpour: Donald Trump thinks Obama is a Kenyan spear thrower

Plouffe: didn’t the Bronx Zoo Cobra dispatch this asshole

Donovan: Paul Ryan wants to cut $6 trillion - he’s so adorable

Audience: awwww

[ break ]

Pence: the Dems want to borrow money from China to abort babies!

Reid: the GOP would shut down the government to hurt women’s health!

Amanpour: you are a Tea Party guy - can you vote for this bill?

Pence: we fought the good fight

Amanpour: yes or no

Pence: no - but poor Boehner was assaulted by Obama and his abortion friends

Van Hollen: no one has any idea what is in this bill

Amanpour: naturally

Van Hollen: Mike Pence wanted to shut down the government over contraception

Amanpour: interesting

Van Hollen: they don’t want to create jobs - just give tax breaks to the rich

Amanpour: so will this budget agreement pass?

Van Hollen: they took us the brink of disaster to impose their religious beliefs on everyone else

Pence: it’s nonsense to say the Tea Party wanted to shut down the government - the bottom line is Obama loves abortion

Amanpour: how is abortion a budgetary issue?

Pence: I’m pro-life and I don’t apologize for it

Amanpour: so I see

Pence: Planed Parenthood gives my tax dollars for abortion and the Lord God intended U.S. tax dollars to be given to failed Wall Street executives

Amanpour: will vote to increase the debt ceiling?

Pence: no

Van Hollen: playing chicken with the debt is incredibly dangerous

Pence: that makes it cool! It’s Extreme Budgeting!

Van Hollen: Paul Ryan ends Medicare and puts the burden on old people while giving money away to the rich

Pence: true but if you’re 55 or older you’re safe and if you’re under 55 you will have the wonderful opportunity to experience a free market in health care

Van Hollen: good luck with that

Pence: we want to give people the same health care as Congress

Van Hollen: [ bursts out laughing ]

Amanpour: thanks for coming