Sen. Tom Harkin On Tax Cuts: 'Have The Republicans Lost All Sense Of Fairness?' (VIDEO)

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) spoke on MSNBC's "The Ed Show" Wednesday night about what he characterized as an unacceptable Republican prioritization of the fiscal interests of the wealthiest Americans over the unemployed.

Earlier in the week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell penned a letter, signed by all 42 GOP Senators, to Harry Reid explaining that they intend to block all Democratic legislation, including an extension of only middle class tax cuts or an extension of unemployment benefits, until they had secured an extension of all current tax rates -- including cuts for the wealthiest two percent of Americans.

Here's what Harkin said:

"Have the Republicans lost all sense of fairness? Have they lost all sense of justice? Have they lost all sense of what's right and wrong? I mean, there ought to be moral outrage at the policies that permit million-dollar bonuses to these money manipulators on Wall Street, and yet they're telling the unemployed to get into the soup line for Christmas. We ought to be outraged at this -- at what the Republicans are doing to the unemployed in this country. And we ought to let the American people know just what the Mitch McConnell and the Republican leaders are doing here in the Senate."

Harkin then pointed to a recent USA Today article that outlined the return of lavish personal spending on Wall Street.

"What I want the president to do is say, look, we're going to stay here til Christmas Eve. We'll stay here on Christmas Day if we have to to make sure that the people who are hurting the most in this country, the people who are out of work, through no fault of their own, Ed, through no fault of their own, and they're losing their unemployment benefits at this crucial time of the year," Harkin continued. "We're gonna stay here until we get the job done and we're not gonna cave in and make sure that the top two-percent get their tax breaks so they can keep going to Tiffany's and Saks Fifth Avenue."

WATCH:

Comments

[pmc617]

05:28 PM on 12/04/2010

The rich never did and never will stop shopping at Tiffany's. But the point is well taken.

[EGB]

05:59 PM on 12/03/2010

Harkin asks whether Republicans have "lost all sense of fairness." It's a good question. My explanation for Republicans' wanton disregard for the welfare of the average middle class American family is not driven by politics or theoretical principles. I see it as a simple matter of business. Perhaps I should capitalize Business. As the party that represents large businesses, it reflects the ethos of the business community.
The Republican Party is devoted to transferring financial obligations (most often taxes) from their big business executive constituency to the rest of us, the other 98%. They are competing with us to see who is going to pick up the check, we or they.
CEOs are generally not full of warmth and compassion for competing companies. In fact, they love to see a competitor have a hard time in the marketplace. And this is what Republicans think of those who would compete with the wealthy over who pays. We, the 98%, like fairly graduated income taxes without loopholes; they like cutting benefits of others so that less money might be needed and broad-based (regressive) taxes (e.g., a value-added tax) and so on. The sense of fairness that Harkin notes is missing is missing because 98% of us are de facto competition for the 2% who control so much wealth and, of course are represented by their own political party. And their party is not going to let softness get in the way of its purpose, its fundamental purpose.

[Sandmanj]

03:29 PM on 12/03/2010

Harkin is very cleverly invoking the famous words of Joseph Welch, the army's chief legal representative at the Army-McCarthy hearings back in the 50's, when he lectured Senator Joe McCarthy: "Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?"

[stonejaxx]

12:24 AM on 12/03/2010

Tom Harkin has the country's interests at heart. But, I would trade 10 Harkin interviews for one Obama SMACK DOWN for tax/dadt/dream/start/

[sotiricon]

12:17 AM on 12/03/2010

Tax the rich ... then you tax the poor. (The rich pass the cost on.) Or they cut jobs to pay the tax man. Or they go overseas. Everybody gets poorer.

People give money to the rich of their own volition. That's how the rich become rich. They create products, that people want. They exchange and then produce even more. And the living standard goes up. And everybody has jobs and products ... and everybody gets richer.

The rich are our friends ... the ones who produce. They should have as much as we give them.

Punish the rich ... and we punish ourselves.

[jmdziuban1]

04:13 AM on 12/03/2010

Bull

[McKeaton]

04:07 PM on 12/03/2010

When you sell "crap" and then you lose your home, income, food ...because that crap won't be taken back, what will you do?
I'm sure you, an 70-80 years old wise person, was brainwashed by the abundance in the 60-70 s when America rebuilt the world...today , the financiers, and some CEOs destroy all of that...They sell CDO, CDS, derivatives, that is fictious, null benefit for us, may be some "crumbs" in billions , and they get billions bonuses....

[glenn113]

11:30 PM on 12/02/2010

Kuddos to one Democrat that has a backbone.

[Steeads]

10:13 PM on 12/02/2010

Did I just hear the Senate will vote on extending tax cut to Americans making less than $250,000 and a separate vote extending tax cut to Americans making more than $250,000? Sounds to me like a brilliant solution to the gridlock. Watch to see how Republicans vote, or block tax cuts for those of you making less than $250,000 annually.

[RyanC1384]

10:11 PM on 12/02/2010

Breaking News, Democrats have called the Republicans bluff...Harry Reid just said they will hold 2 votes. One for the middle class and one for the wealthy.

http://www.doubledutchpolitics.com/

[1donewrong]

09:15 PM on 12/02/2010

Tom have you no morality?? You allowed trial lawyers to continue to wreak havoc on healthcare and refusal to fix tort costing the system $600 BILLION a year. Where was your outrage then??
Even the deficit reduction committee have said our tax rates are too high and need to be pared down. What gives you the right to the fruits of others labor??
As for unemployment the republicans are in favor of extending them as long as they are paid for. Cutting the size and pay of the federal govt is a great place to start. But if not there then eliminate agencies that are ineffective, state, education, NIH, Commerce, justice and Interior for starters

[Fred M White]

12:12 AM on 12/03/2010

600 billion a year? where does that number come from? The CBO says 54 billion and other experts say it wouldn't really save anything, tort reform is a straw man. Rights to the fruits of others labors? The commons which provide the wealthy with the opportunities for those fruits, thats what gives America the right. Pay for unemployment benefits but not tax cuts? Wow, well as Emerson said, consistency, the hobgoblin of small minds....

[binksmom85]

09:02 PM on 12/02/2010

they would have had to have a sense of fairness to begin with, to have lost it.....

[sahara night]

08:27 PM on 12/02/2010

So President Obama is President and Senate Majority Leader . Shouldn't Reid be the one saying "We are going to stay here until Christmas " ? Where have the Dems been the past couple of years ! What the teapublicans have been doing has been going on when they lost the majority.Since President Obama has been in office, they have stepped up their game and have been less subtle about it.

[PolicyWonkette]

08:12 PM on 12/02/2010

Ah -- the word FAIRNESS.

Finally.

Keep using that word, Dems. It's meaningful. It's easy for people to understand. And it's appropriate.

[lemealone]

08:17 PM on 12/02/2010

yea, dems understand what fairness means, like the Fairness Doctrine.

[PolicyWonkette]

10:07 PM on 12/02/2010

You say that as if it's a bad thing.

I supposed you think it's better to have 90 percent of radio broadcast repeating the same false information day in and day out so that people never get the truth.

[Ravenlea]

07:57 PM on 12/02/2010

It continues to amaze me that the GOP whose members apparently have no moral compass at all, are always claiming themselves to have the moral high ground. And they seem to have no fiscal common sense either - since putting money into circulation with things like unemployment actually helps the economy - while perks to millionaires keeps the deficit going. Either they are stupid and illogical and incapable of recognizing that the tax cuts have produced no jobs trickled down from the benevolent upper classes or they are cynical (my vote) and don't care.

[Aviate]

07:47 PM on 12/02/2010

Have the Republicans lost all sense of fairness?

How generous of Sen. Harkin to assume they ever had one. I guess he doesn't realize that to be a member in good standing in today's GOP requires that one have all sense of fairness (not to mention shame and integrity) surgically removed from one's soul.

[PolicyWonkette]

08:12 PM on 12/02/2010

But it's a good word -- and this is the first time I've heard it used with respect to the tax policies in this country. I hope the dems use this word every time they talk about taxes.

[Aviate]

08:56 PM on 12/02/2010

Agreed.

[skullman]

07:19 PM on 12/02/2010

I make much less than 100k a year but If I am willing to pay higher taxes if thats what it takes to get the wealthy to pay more. The democrats should go down fighting on this issue, make the republicans vote against middle class tax cuts. Under no circumstances should the Democrats agree to extend tax cuts for the wealthy, even if we don't extend tax cuts for the middle class.