HuffPost's Howard Fineman Discusses The Politics Of A Government Shutdown On 'The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell' (VIDEO)

HuffPost's Howard Fineman appeared on 'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' Wednesday night to discuss the politics of a government shutdown.

"I think what this is a battle over here, Lawrence, is for the hearts and minds of independent fair-minded voters, and believe me, there's still a few of them left in this country," explained Fineman.

He went on to express that he thinks "a fair number of them [members of the Tea Party] are going to celebrate if there's a shutdown."

Speaking about the President's role in the budget negotiations, Fineman said, "I think that the President needs to project the sense that whatever happens he's going to try to be in charge of the situation."

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Comments

[rjlwis]

11:59 AM on 04/07/2011

Instead of concentrating on the effects of a shutdown, why is there such a lack of focus on the differences between the parties involved?

[julieJgoldengay]

11:46 AM on 04/07/2011

If Only...
The GOP Shouted,
"End both Wars."
Everyone Wins.
All of Us.

[burdickbunch]

10:48 AM on 04/07/2011

Republican's budget plan is no different than a shutdown. They want a shut down because that is what their bill is - the killing of government services for the people.

[dgoose50]

10:02 AM on 04/07/2011

The bottom line is that coupled with the ever increasing cost of gas and the Government slowdown/shutdown will cause the economy to tank again. This is the goal of the Tbags in order to initiate chaos and cause the breakdown of the social system.

[Farmers Market]

09:53 AM on 04/07/2011

We have a budget deficit problem.
Dems say we have a tax problem. GOP including the Tea Party says we have a spending problem.
The problem is however a deficit problem. This is more than semantics because refocuses our think to a pragmatic middle-of- the- road solutions that involve reasonable taxes on everyone (yes including the rich and the poor) and reasonable spending in line with our economic priorities (Green Energy and infrastructure development) and our core social values.

[earto44]

11:06 AM on 04/07/2011

We aren't collecting one trillion dollars in tax revenue that normally would be collected from corporations that are making billions in profit. We are about one trillion dollars in the hole. This is easy math.

[Farmers Market]

11:21 AM on 04/07/2011

Our deficit is 1.6 trillion dollars.

[rflctammt]

09:12 AM on 04/07/2011

Please, it needs to be widely posted that congress will continue to receive their paychecks while soldiers - including the wounded and those on the front lines - will not get theirs.

[Farmers Market]

09:57 AM on 04/07/2011

I ought to flag you for being abusive to Congress.
This secret should not be revealed.
Violation of Official Secrets.

[WORLDEXPERT]

09:11 AM on 04/07/2011

I have never heard one intelligent analysis coming out of the mouth of Fineman. He is so typical of so called experts that only say things which are so broad based that there is no repercussions when they give an opinion. In other words, He covers his behind on anything he says so why listen to him. I want to hear so called experts give me information based on their ability to reach conclusions which are a reality not hypothetical. Bottom line, your paying this man for giving either bad information or just more blah blah blah.

[LV711]

01:50 AM on 04/09/2011

Oh I so really, really agree with you. Howard Fineman has been angry ever since he lost his Newsweek job. Howard later went on to say that Boehner cleaned Obama's clock. Really? Then he wrapped it up a progressive talking point -- that President Obama is moving more to the middle-right. Wrong again. President Obama has always been center-left and chooses productivity over gamesmanship.

[WORLDEXPERT]

02:35 AM on 04/09/2011

LV711....< Thank you, I am glad to find another like myself

[axenios]

09:11 AM on 04/07/2011

Save education and cut the wasteful Pentagon budget...

[topgun97365]

09:11 AM on 04/07/2011

Make me gag. The Democrats completely shirked their duties by not passing a budget in 2010 when they controlled congress and the White House. Now Democratic mouth pieces like Fineman continue to blurt the Democrat talking points knowing they are not true. Hope and Change really meant lies and deception.

[BeVeryAfraid]

09:56 AM on 04/07/2011

Remember the filibuster in the Senate?  Or did you forget?

[lynn1219]

10:49 AM on 04/07/2011

Of course, when Bush was in office everything was transparent and honest. NOT.

[RobWarwick]

08:50 AM on 04/07/2011

what is the result if you negotiate a compromise when one side does NOT want a compromise and the other side does?

a really bad compromise.

[rflctammt]

09:09 AM on 04/07/2011

ransom?

[vietveter]

07:38 AM on 04/07/2011

The G O Teaparty wants the NO GOVERNMENT – privatize everything or close it down

The Democrats still believe that ‘society’ is still owed consideration and that social programs don’t equal socialism

(disclosure) I am adversely affected by a shutdown, I am on Social Security

But

I hope that the progressives do not give away the American way of life to settle this, and the next budget deals.

I just wish they would begin the “savings program” on a budget item like

Military Spending

[Me2U2]

08:38 AM on 04/07/2011

Why didn't the Dems pass the budget last year when the were in the majority and the budget should have been passed?

[ajbebout3]

08:55 AM on 04/07/2011

41 vote Republican filibuster.

[erl92]

11:14 AM on 04/07/2011

Why for 30 years have Republicans been saying deficits don't matter?

[ken derow]

07:00 AM on 04/07/2011

It's bad enough that the far-right wing of the Repub party has hijacked ther own party, now they want to hijack the political agenda and impose their will on the whole country, regardless of whether such overtures are welcome or not. "Poor" Johh Boehner is caught between the Tea Partyers and the 1-2 Repub moderates left in his party, while Barack Obama is caught between his own far-left wing and the 1-2 moderates left in the Dem partry. The political situation is not pretty, in fact its downright ugly, the only counterbalancing notion is that somehow, the country, has as always muddled through in the past and, will likely do so in the future as well.

Speaker Boehner, an old, cool, political operative, knows full well based on experience and public opinion polls that Congress will be blamed for a government shutdown, and his own Grand Old Party, will be seen as most culpable of all. When a person, or a party, is a slave and a blind adherent to their own rhetoric, no good can come from it, and, this time will not be any different.

[LV711]

01:53 AM on 04/09/2011

His own party is already, I mean tonight, said they were going to primary him.

[JeffreyGold]

06:58 AM on 04/07/2011

What we need to figure out is how to make the government shutdown permanent.

[JAJ2007]

07:12 AM on 04/07/2011

No more roads or bridges, your parents and grandparents unable to pay for their medical care (because no medicare and no income from social security to pay for private insurance), no more public schools (so you'll have to pay out of your own pocket for private school), no more public libraries (so you can't as easily educate yourself), no more safety standards (meaning the food you buy for your children may contain toxic levels of lead, pesticides or bacteria), no more environmental standards (meaning the air you breathe and the water you drink will be heavily polluted - not to mention that the lake you fish in will no longer have any fish, since they will die from the pollution in the water)

Not to mention: No more cops, no more firefighters (better be sure you have a well, since you'll likely not have a water system either), no more military to protect our borders....

I hope you enjoy the paradise you will create....

[JeffreyGold]

04:47 AM on 04/08/2011

JAJ2007: "No more roads or bridges, your parents and grandparen­ts unable to pay for their medical care (because no medicare and no income from social security to pay for private insurance)­, no more public schools (so you'll have to pay out of your own pocket for private school), no more public libraries (so you can't as easily educate yourself), no more safety standards (meaning the food you buy for your children may contain toxic levels of lead, pesticides or bacteria), no more environmen­tal standards (meaning the air you breathe and the water you drink will be heavily polluted - not to mention that the lake you fish in will no longer have any fish, since they will die from the pollution in the water)

Not to mention: No more cops, no more firefighte­rs (better be sure you have a well, since you'll likely not have a water system either), no more military to protect our borders...­.

I hope you enjoy the paradise you will create...."

JeffreyGold: No more bridges, parents, grandparents, medical care, social security, public schools, private schools, public libraries, safety standards, food, toxic levels of lead, pesticide, bacteria, environmental standards, water, lake, fish, cops, firefighters, water system, military, border...

Are you a political hair trigger, or what? Does anybody get sarcasm anymore? Jesus Christ, people: Lighten up.

Besides...you're wrong: many people can live without government---just not you. There are other ways for people to organize and achieve.

[vietveter]

07:44 AM on 04/07/2011

"What we need to figure out is how to make the government shutdown permanent."

Sorry, Jeffery, I don't think that you are right. Our time and effort would be better spent
ridding the government of people that want to close it rather than fix it.

[LV711]

02:02 AM on 04/09/2011

Ever seen countries that have had little to no government? No thanks!

[ginny1920]

06:53 AM on 04/07/2011

Fineman says he's never seen Washington so helpless....and why does no one ask why this is? Who stands to benefit the most, or even exculsively, in the longer-run, from a helpless government and a constituency so afraid of gov. shutdownt that they are willing to give up so much? Only the super wealthy and the corporate world benefit from this. Repubs want to slash the tax rates for the wealthiest while slashing the safety nets for the middle class and poor.

[mgabrys]

04:16 AM on 04/07/2011

100% wonder who was wrong - the cue cards, or the graphic?

[Jeffrey Miller]

09:17 AM on 04/07/2011

Yeah, what was up with that. L.O. was all tongue tied. So was fineman. They should have pulled a Fox and reshot that scene.