Today U.S. Representative and Tea Party Caucus member Steve King (R-IA) went on Fox News to once again press for more spending cuts to reduce the deficit. Fox News has gained a reputation for giving relatively easy interviews to Republicans over the past few years, but to her credit host Martha MacCullum was not content to simply let King get out his talking points. After King calls for more spending cuts, MacCullum presses King for what he and other members would specifically cut, and fails to get an answer.
Twice in the interview, seen below, MacCullum asks King to outline what specific agencies and program he would cut in order to authorize an increase in the debt ceiling. King first says that he will need to get together with his caucus to formulate a plan.
Not satisfied with that answer, MacCullum once again asks King and other Republicans to provide more details. King again defers, saying that they cannot provide any details because then their plans would be attacked by the other side. At that point, MacCullum’s facial expressions reveal some serious skepticism.
The conversation highlights the difficulty in the debt ceiling debate. Republicans are demanding spending cuts to outline any debt ceiling increase. However, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense spending make up a large majority of the federal budget, and the public overwhelmingly opposes cuts to those programs. King and other Republicans surely know this, which is why they are willing to talk about broad “spending cuts”, but often unwilling to detail those cuts.
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