Being angry is Fox News host Bill O’Reilly’s usual operating status, but on Tuesday night he reached a heightened level of rage while arguing with liberal Fox contributor Alan Colmes. Over the course of what seemed to be a normal cable news discussion on the recently-implemented automatic spending cuts, O’Reilly devolved into screaming at Colmes for “lying” about Obama’s spending plans.
During the segment, Colmes pointed out that Obama had proposed $2 in spending cuts for every $1 in revenue raises, and that Obama had named Medicare as a specific program where he could reduce spending. O’Reilly ignored Colmes’s comments and began yelling, insisting that Obama wouldn’t approve of any spending cuts, and that Colmes couldn’t name a single “specific” area where Obama had approved of reducing spending:
O’REILLY: There is nothing put forth, nothing. [...]
COLMES: I disagree with what is being said here. He has offered $2.50 in tax cuts for every dollar.
O’REILLY: That’s not–
COLMES: Yes, he has. Cuts in Medicare. Offered cuts to entitlements.
O’REILLY: That’s not specific. He has to say here are the programs that are going to go down. Here is how we are going to reform Medicare and Social Security. and the man refuses to do it. [...]
COLMES: What do you want to yell for?
O’REILLY: Because you are lying. you are lying.
COLMES: Don’t call me a liar. Don’t you sit there and call me a liar. [...] I’m not lying. We can have a disagreement without you calling me a liar. That’s not necessary.
O’REILLY: You are lying here… where is the proof.. give me one program he would cut.
COLMES: He would cut medicare and medicaid offered cuts to those programs.
O’REILLY: That’s not a specific program.
Watch it:
O’Reilly’s memory must be faulty, because cuts to Medicare were actually a huge issue during the 2012 election. Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) dedicated weeks on the trail to hitting Obama for a $716 billion reduction in Medicare spending. Obama’s plan, as part of Obamacare, reduced wasteful Medicare spending and redirected that funding to limit the cose of charges to private insurers.
(HT: Media Matters)
