Grayson hits Romney hard

Pulling No Punches

Our favorite Congressman, and yours, was on national TV again last Thursday. The subject was Mitt Romney and George W. Bush – what do they have in common?

REV. AL SHARPTON: Congressman, let me start with you. The similarities are striking. How is he going to be able to run on this?

FORMER REP. ALAN GRAYSON: Well, first of all, I think America doesn't need another President who's simply trying to one-up his daddy. It seems like Romney's main motivation is that he wants to be President because he father couldn't make it. And I think that America has just had a bad experience with people who run for office because they want to be something, instead of people who run for office because they want to do something.

But there's an additional problem here. The additional problem is that [Romney] was born with a silver spoon in some orifice, and he never was able to get it out. He acts like one of those out-of-touch rich people who has no way to relate to America's suffering.

And there are a lot of people in America who are suffering. If America consisted entirely of millionaires and billionaires, he might be the ideal president. But that's not where America is today, and for the rest of us, he is a horror. . . .

SHARPTON: It's basically been a [Romney] campaign so far just attacking President Obama, and really not laying out a plan, and involving some of the same players that brought us into a foreign policy that was disastrous. But it's also on the economic side, Congressman, let me show you this. If you look at the facts, Romney is further right than George Bush. Let me show you on the economy side, Bush passed a huge tax cut. Romney is proposing a cut four times larger. Bush enacted Medicare expansion, Romney wants to end Medicare as we know it. Bush signed an increase to minimum wage, Romney opposes increasing minimum wage. Bush says global warming is caused by humans. Romney says we don't know what causes global warming.

I mean, this guy is to the right of George Bush, which many of us thought was politically impossible.

GRAYSON: Well like George Bush, he thinks the only problem that's facing America today is that rich people don't have enough money. And he is bent on solving that problem with his tax cuts and tax giveaways for the rich, and for multinational corporations, at the expense of everyone else.

[Meanwhile,] the war against the poor continues, the war against the middle class continues, the war against women continues. It's like that old headlines in the New York Post. We are going to see it again. You remember the headline. "Ford to New York: Drop Dead." Well, we'll soon see the headline "Romney to America: Drop Dead." He'll only be happy when he can strap us to the top of his car. . . .

SHARPTON: Now one of the things interesting, Congressman, is that . . . many prominent members of the Bush family, but not George W. Bush, have endorsed Mr. Romney. George H. W. Bush has endorsed. Barbara Bush has endorsed. Jeb Bush has endorsed. No George W. Bush yet.

But Rolling Stone uncovered this sound of Bush endorsing Romney for governor back in 2002, so George W. Bush has supported Romney. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH: I strongly stand with Mitt Romney because I believe he is the best person for the job of governor of Massachusetts. He's got a record. He's done things in life. He started his own businesses. He's an entrepreneur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHARPTON: I wonder if we're going to hear echoes of that soon, since [Romney] is using all of [Bush's] advisors and some of his policies. Even though he is going to the right, maybe we will hear that voice resonating again, telling us about Mr. Romney's record and how Willard knows what to do with government.

GRAYSON: I don't know. But I will tell you this. According to polls that I have seen, George W. Bush is no more popular than venereal disease at this point. Maybe we will see him attack Romney because Bush attacking somebody would probably make him more popular than Bush endorsing him.

SHARPTON: Former Congressman Alan Grayson and David Corn. Thank you for coming on the show tonight.

Alan Grayson: our fearless voice on national TV. And come November, again in Washington – if all of us join together, and make it happen.

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