Martin Bashir   |  December 06, 2012

Bashir: Why is fiscal ‘balance’ such a dirty word for the GOP?

Martin Bashir explains why Republicans characterize Obama’s quest for fiscal balance as an “obsession” or “fetish” – when really it is a quest to right the wrong of growing income disparity.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> it's time now to "clear the air." even as republicans are dragged kicking and screaming toward the reality of raising some taxes, it's been interesting to hear the language they've been using as they seek to impugn the president's position. here is house majority leader eric cantor .

>> we have got to do something about the spending. an obsess to raise taxes is not going to solve the problem.

>> for mr. cantor this is an obsession, but for one conservative commentator who appeared on this broadcast yesterday, it's even worse.

>> president obama has this fetish of we've got to raise the rates on the top two because we're going to raise the deficit.

>> who knew a balanced approach could be characterized as an obsession that evokes an erotic response. what this is about is the president drawing attention to a dirty little secret , their own fetish that republicans just don't like to hear ventilated in public. according to the congressional budget office in the years since 1979 as federal taxation has become less progressive, the income of the top 1% has grown by over $700,000, while the average pretax income for the bottom 90% of households has fallen by $900. did you get that. the top 1% up by $700,000, the bottom 90% down by $900. accusing the president of being obsessed is a cheap shot. but it's only happening because he's highlighting something that's far more offensive than any fetish you could imagine. he's drawing attention to a system that's been unjust and unfair for too long. and that's an obsession worth