Eschaton

Must read Howler. Grab a drink first, though, to prevent the inevitable rise in blood pressure. God I hate that Beinart guy.

BEINART: One of the reasons the [New Republic] supported Gore over the years was the sense that he was more of a sincere New Democrat than a lot of other people in the field. The noise that he’s been making most recently wouldn’t support that. It’s still very early—although it’s worth noting that he actually is, as far as I can tell, is one of the few Democrats who hasn’t now, still hasn’t called for the repeal of the Bush tax cut. So there’s a certain amount of ambiguity in the position he’s taking.



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Apparently, he hadn’t read Dan Balz in Thursday’s Post. “Gore said he favors scrapping future installments of the Bush tax cuts aimed at top income earners,” Balz wrote, reporting his Wednesday interview with Gore. Nor had Beinart read Ron Brownstein in the same day’s Los Angeles Times. “Gore said he would cancel the further reductions in tax rates for affluent families scheduled for 2004 and 2006,” Brownstein reported. Nor had Beinart scanned the Washington Times. On Friday, Jeffrey Kuhner reported Gore’s Wednesday interview with Reuters: “Gore attacked President Bush’s economic stewardship, calling for the repeal of the administration’s tax cuts for the country’s top earners.” And Gore had told the AP the same thing. On Wednesday, the AP’s Will Lester reported his interview: “Gore has said the whole Bush economic plan and economic team should be thrown out, and the administration should start over with tax cuts aimed specifically at the middle class.” But even the AP got the news late. In last week’s Time, released last Sunday, Tumulty reported Gore’s view on the tax cut: “Gore now tells TIME that he would ‘scrap the whole thing and start over,’ with less dramatic cuts aimed at the middle class.” In Newsweek—released the same day—Eleanor Clift said that Gore “opposes President George W. Bush on Iraq; favors a single-payer, Canadian-style health system, and thinks the Bush tax cut should be repealed.” And others noticed what Gore had said; all the way back on Monday, November 18, Mara Liasson noted Gore’s stance on Special Report. “He said he actually would roll back some of the tax cuts and tilt them more to the middle class,” she said. Indeed, the news even had reached Canada. In Thursday’s National Post, Jan Cienski said “Mr. Gore now says he would be in favour of scrapping the cut and starting over.”