BuzzChatter Tuesday: Nixon once again opposes big tax cut
Another good day for meaty quotes:
• “Once again, the choice facing members of the General Assembly is clear: They can invest in good schools and create good jobs or they can support reckless fiscal experiments. But they cannot do both.” — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon opposing this year’s GOP tax-cut proposal.
If the rhetoric sounds familiar, it should. Nixon went to war with the GOP last year over the same issue — and ultimately prevailed in a veto session showdown. Nixon and the bill’s chief sponsor, GOP state Sen. Will Kraus of Lee’s Summit, appeared to be working together early in the session. But any progress from those talks has vanished with Nixon’s statement Monday. Kraus had said that his tax-cut plan would cost about $500 million. But new numbers issued in recent days from budget forecasters suggested the true cost was in the $620 million range.• “The law’s working. And this was a seminal achievement.” — White House political guru David Plouffe on ABC talking about the Affordable Care Act.
“They are cooking the books on this.” — Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a Republican, on Fox, questioning the administration’s assertion that 6 million Americans had signed up for private plans.
• “Wolf has stuttered. Roberts might have been vulnerable to a legitimate threat from the right, not so much on ideology, but on being old and out of touch. I just don’t see Wolf as being able to take advantage of that.” — KU political scientist Burdett Loomis
of U.S. Senate tea party candidate Milton Wolf in Kansas. Wolf is battling veteran incumbent Pat Roberts in the August primary.
Loomis and others continue to question Wolf’s prospects against Roberts, thanks to a flurry of issues, including whether the state is too conservative even for the tea party.• “We’re playing a bunch of away games. We’re like a dome football team having to go play a playoff team in Green Bay in zero degree weather. These are tough stakes.” — Plouffe decrying the midterm playing field for Democrats this year.
Good analogy by Plouffe who’s concisely said what a lot of Democrats are feeling about their prospects this year. Plouffe also urged Democrats not to be defensive about Obamacare, but rather go on offense on that issue. What would happen, he suggested, if Republicans took over control of the nation’s health care?This story was originally published April 1, 2014 at 7:00 AM with the headline "BuzzChatter Tuesday: Nixon once again opposes big tax cut."