Pseudoconservative New York Times columnist David Brooks protested “I’m no progressive” on Friday night’s PBS NewsHour, but he has consistently supported every trillion dollars in federal spending proposed by President Biden this year.
His “debating partner” (ha) Jonathan Capehart of The Washington Post bizarrely claimed if we don’t pass Biden’s massive $6 trillion budget proposal, we don’t look like a democracy any more, we can’t compete against China: “We are in this battle right now between autocracy and democracy, and the only way that we can prove that democracy is better is that if we can show that democracy works. Six trillion dollars, Judy, yes, it’s a huge price tag. But, as we know from President Biden, he sees this as a moment to do big things, to help as many people as possible. And that requires — that requires some cold, hard cash in volumes that we have not seen before.”
JUDY WOODRUFF: And, David, what’s your cold, hard assessment of this budget plan?
DAVID BROOKS: My warm, mushy assessment is that…is that it’s probably necessary. I have never been a progressive or any — even close to that. But it is just simply a fact that, over the last 30 years, folks with a high school education, an associate’s degree have not been reaping the benefits of our economy. And President Biden wants to make an investment in those folks. And I think that’s just.
I was struck by how often he brags about the fact that the infrastructure bill, the benefits, the jobs, they go to people with an associate’s degree and a high school degree. The folks who have a college degree don’t need as much help, frankly. And so this redirects money to those who need it. So, I take the direction to be in the right.
Then he added a couple of caveats, that he worries about inflation and the federal debt…but he still backs all of Biden’s spending!
Woodruff checked on Brooks: Do you mean this Biden budget is less needed?
He replied: “we have thrown trillions of dollars into the economy, and that’s heated up the economy to a great degree. And if we throw another bunch of trillions in, as the budget envisions, then we’re really heating up the economy and possibly overheating the economy, which leads to inflation, which leads to lower living standards, which leads to huge government payments on the debt that we owe. And it leads to the 1970s, which was all sorts of bad things.”
But you’re all for it?
PS: This is how PBS touted this segment, and yes, both men trashed Republicans for not supporting an “independent” 1/6 Commission:
State-run TV: PBS @NewsHour opens Friday by touting how David Brooks & Jonathan Capehart will “analyze the failure to investigate the insurrection — and President Biden’s change-making $6 trillion budget proposal…”
There’s been a failure to investigate 1/6???? pic.twitter.com/WA2JwUwxYH
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) May 31, 2021