Hobart and William Smith Colleges

4 December 2012 HWS Guests Discuss Fiscal Cliff

In the media lately, a number of notable journalists and political insiders, who have been guest speakers at Hobart and William Smith, have been discussing the fiscal cliff.

This past weekend, Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, wrote an article, GOP, break Grover Norquists grip on you.

With Torie Clarke, Brazile was a guest on the Presidents Radio Show on Jan. 23, 2006. The two discussed Women in Politics.

In the CNN article she notes: That top Republicans are willing to openly defy Norquists pledge and that any are willing to buck McConnell and Boehner are seminal events in recent American history. It means some Republican office holders are actually listening to what the voters said in the 2012 elections: Help the middle class, work together, stop the finger-pointing.

Norquist was a guest of the Presidents Forum Series in November of 2003. As president of Americans for Tax Reform and member of the Center Right Coalition Party, he described The Next 25 Years in American Politics during his lecture and also visited classes while on campus.

He recently appeared on NBCs Meet the Press to discuss the cliff.

Tea party two is going to dwarf tea party one if Obama pushes us off the cliff, Norquist said. Lets not pretend whos pushing us over the cliff.

A clip of his appearance on the show is available online.

Paul Begala, a guest on the Presidents Radio Series in late November 2005, was recently featured opposite political commentator Mary Matalin discussing President Barack Obamas fiscal cliff proposal to congress.

Begala notes, The President has this crazy notion that he ran around the country, he got 51 percent of the vote, carried the majority number of states, got the vast majority of the electoral votes on this agenda, and now hes putting it before the Congress. Begala was counselor to the President in the Clinton White House, is a CNN contributor, and adviser to pro-Obama Super PAC Priorities USA Action. Footage of his appearance is online.

Also appearing on CNN recently was USA Todays Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, who joined Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, A.B. Stoddard, associate editor of The Hill, Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D., Montana) on State of the Union with Candy Crowley on Dec. 2.

When asked what she thought of U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithners comment that this is the political theatre stage of negotiations, Page responded, Look at the date; its Dec. 2, not Dec. 29. Under what circumstances would Washington act by Dec. 15 if the deadline is not until the end of the year?

She added she was more interested in something else Geithner said, that there would not be a deal unless rates go up on the top two percent. But, he didnt say rates have to go up to Clinton levels. And, thats where I think you begin to see the outlines of the deal that we will end up having, hopefully, at the end of the year.

Page visited the Colleges in November of 2008 as part of the Presidents Forum Lecture Series. She shared her experience covering the 2008 election by giving attendees an insiders view titled Breakthroughs and Bad Times: Obamas Victory and Whats Next.

Her recent CNN appearance is available on their website.