Axelrod on debates, ‘$5 trillion tax cut,’ Libya
President Obama Campaign Senior Advisor David Axelrod talks debates, Romney’s proposed “$5 trillion tax cut for the wealthy” and the administration’s handling of Libya consulate attack.
Axelrod says, “You know, one feature of this debate that will be interesting is a few weeks a go, Soledad, Congressman Ryan was on television and when he was asked to explain how they’re going to pay for this $5 trillion tax cut for the wealthy, he said, “Well, it’s too complicated in this short period of time.” Well, now he has 90 minutes to do it so perhaps he’ll use his time that way.”
O’Brien asks, “There’s been lots of exception, though, taken to that $5 trillion number, mainly that, which by the way you guys keep repeating over and over again even though many people have said it’s just factually not true mostly because there’s no details around it. Why do you keep going with that number?”
Axelrod responds, “No. What nobody disputes is that Governor Romney’s proposed $5 trillion in tax cuts that would be skewed to the wealthy. What he says is, “I’m going to offset it with $5 trillion in tax increases in the form of closed loopholes and deductions.” But he won’t tell anybody what they are. So what we know is he’s got a tax cut that’s going to favor the wealthy and he’ll give us the details on how he’s going to offset that later. And if I’m the middle class, I’m saying, “Watch out,” because we know how this ends. We’ve seen this story before.”
On Libya, Axelrod says, “Well, the role of the White House was to convey the information that we were receiving from our intelligence people on the ground and in the area. And that’s what we’ve done throughout. No one has an interest in obscuring facts about this. The President, of all people, wants all the facts so that he can act on them and make sure that in the future, if there were deficiencies, that we address them. The other thing is, and the primary task right now, is to find those who are responsible and bring them to justice. So we work with the facts that we have, as the facts emerge, the White House and the State Department have shared them. And now the task should be to ask, ‘What do we need to do in the future to guard against this kind of a situation?’ One thing we shouldn’t do, however, Soledad, is what Paul Ryan and the Republicans in Congress have suggested, which is to cut back on funding for the security of these facilities.”
Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs weekday mornings from 7-9a ET on CNN.