On the eve of President Obama's second-term Inauguration, we featured a debate on two pressing issues that face him after the festivities Monday: new gun control regulation and the debt.
The president officially put forward his recommendations for Congress regarding gun control on Wednesday, but freshman Republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas said "within minutes of that horrible tragedy in Newtown, the president began trying to exploit that tragedy to push for a gun control agenda that is designed to appeal to partisans." He later added that he thought the proposals were not designed to solve the problem of gun violence, but rather to "assuage liberal partisans."
Senator Chuck Schumer defended the president and his proposals, saying "to not talk about guns when it comes to gun violence, is to not talk about smoking when it comes to lung cancer."
Senator Cruz also refused to distance himself from the controversial NRA ad involving President Obama's children saying it makes a "fundamental point" about "hypocrisy when it comes to gun control"
Our roundtable looked at the broader question of how President Obama will handle his second term. As David mentions above, Doris Kearns Goodwin points out the historical importance of the second term: "Hardly any president has been historic without a second term."
You can watch the entire program on our website, including a fascinating discussion on the roundtable about America's changing role in the world.
We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
Read more coverage of this morning's MTP here:
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One of the better panel discussions. With so much on the table at home and abroad, and Obama’s inability to engage the far right, why did he split his own base further by bringing polarizing gun control to the front? I agree with the panel member stating it is not a Dem/ Rep Issue. It is a left/right issue and Obama is losing the middle/right Dem’s & I’s who supported him and takes away from the fiscal discussion that need to be front & center.
About the only thing I agree with the Right on is the Debt Ceiling. We have a spending problem that must be addressed quickly. That we have to increase the debt ceiling so often spotlights how much of a deficit problem we have. Just watch the debt clock spinning! (usdebtclock.org). BTW Social Security has been paid for by the workers and corporations! That Congress stole the money for the general budget is their problem to fix and restore. SS is off the table for cuts!
With regard to Mubarak…I would prefer to see the US on the side of the people over a dictator every time. If we support the new gov(s) and help steer them towards democracy we will all win the end game assuming the democratic Union remains intact and solvent. The next 150 years will be interesting. Watching The Presidents series on the History Channel gives good crib sheet insight on presidential style.
Greggie, Your not Jewish>>Why go so easy with that Porker-Schummer??Poor People of NY!!
This comment is anti-semitic. Please delete it. If not, I will complain about it.
All you so-called journalists are in the same clueless Ivory Tower crowd as the close-minded government officials who push domestic and economic policy. STOP CUTTING THE BENEFITS (not entitlements) for the poor, disabled, mentally ill and other 50 MILLION Americans struggling below the poverty level. STOP!
Anyone on government health care assistance will tell you the benefits have shrunk tremendously since 2001 when the Bush/Cheney disaster started. Health care has become a pill pushing joke and dental care has become nothing but pulling teeth (anesthesia is extra) AND MENTAL HEALTH, how much have THOSE cuts cost the American people?
Was Reagan right when he cut funding for mental health treatment and released 10's of 1000's of mentally ill out on American streets to become Rush Limbaugh fans. (lol) After Bush/Cheney funding for mental health was so ravaged that I can't even find help for the distraught, poor mother of one dead one disabled war veteran daughters. I was surrounded by government buildings full of well-paid so-called civil servants and the only thing they could do for this poor angry woman was to put her in jail.
So don't give me your weak concerns over mental health in the USA. Noooo, you government officials and journalists go enjoy your fancy inaugural parties while military families suffer the consequences of the US governments sick twisted war policy and that poor mother sits in jail. COVER THAT STORY you f*** cowards!
Where's the conversation where we talk about cutting those miserable money pit failures such as the WAR on drugs, or the over inflated Defense budget, subsidies for the wealthy/well-connected. There's MILLIONS of angry Democrats, Liberals, Progressives, Independents who are going to revolt if you cut the crumbs the government throws them. OK, consciousmc.blogspot.com
It seems logical to me that if there are 'real concerns' with firearms safety, we
cannot exclude the need for more clarity on and enforcement of Firearm
Registrations, starting with legal firearms dealers and owners. This seems to
be a 'missing or mismanaged link’. I have known people in the past who have
expressed acquiring firearms from licensed dealers at gun shows without
background check or receipt transactions, firearms which can then be passed on
to children, grandchildren, etc...
As well, passage of firearm memoirs seems to also occur in families where there has
been the one initial background check from the original owner. So Cruz's
statement ‘Gun Show Loophole’ “...doesn't exist” seems rather misinforming???
Our debt is directly connected to our shrinking world power. Interesting how more liberal members of your panel will comment extensively on the threats we face internationally in North Africa, Iran, and Afghanistan, without any connecting thread to our total disregard for debt reduction. There is a concept in business that applies to national power as well. It is called Debt Reserve. It is the capacity to borrow money if you really, really need it. In the past Debt Reserve has been the source of our great international power. Not the debt we have, but the debt we COULD have, if really needed.
If we continue to ignore our shrinking debt reserve, our ability to act internationally when threatened will continue to diminish, along with our historical greatness.
International power must be looked at through the lens of our ability to act, in fact, our ability to borrow. Discussing threats we face in the world must always include our fiscal health. Your program today missed the opportunity to connect our debt crisis with our world power. Debt Reserve equals World Power and it always will.