|
|
| On The O'Reilly Factor...
|
|
|
|
| All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.
|
|
|
Guests: Carl Cameron and James Rosen
As the clock struck 8:00 PM Eastern Wednesday night, the Senate was in the middle of a vote that would extend the debt ceiling and re-open the government. The Factor spoke about the proceedings with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, who reported live from Washington. "This bill started in the House," Baier explained, "and it has to go to the Senate before being sent back to the House. As you know, in the Constitution the funding for the government has to start in the House." Baier added that most folks in Washington are portraying the Republicans as losers in this showdown. "They didn't get a lot out of this and their backs were up against the wall. The prevailing wisdom is that the Republicans were on the wrong side of this, that perhaps their tactics were wrong from the beginning. Clearly Republicans were hit hard in poll after poll, and Washington took a big hit. But in the bigger picture, they'll be back at the table in December for a House-Senate conference committee, and then the next deadlines are January 15th for the continuing resolution and February 7th for the debt ceiling." The Factor concluded, "I think most people just want this to end, they want both parties to get together." |
|
|
Guests: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa)
Fox News correspondent James Rosen also weighed in from Washington with his analysis of the budget deal and its effect on Speaker of the House John Boehner. "There has been a lot of talk," Rosen said, "about John Boehner being a 'SINO,' a 'speaker in name only' and someone whose speakership is in danger. But the fact is that if you pay careful attention to what House Republicans have been saying, they're now saying more impressive things about him. He received a standing ovation from the GOP caucus when they met this afternoon. You could say that he emerges from this within his own party in better standing than when he entered this episode two weeks ago."
FNC's Carl Cameron then analyzied Speaker Boehner's tumultuous relationship with ultra-conservative Tea Party Congressmen. "The 30 or so most conservative members of the Republican conference have been a real thorn in the leadership's side," Cameron reported, "by bucking John Boehner and Eric Cantor on things like the farm bill and other things. They could give Boehner a headache but that was not the case today. Boehner took all of this the extra mile, and many of these Tea Party conservatives now say he hung in there with them and gave them an opportunity to try." The Factor summed up the last-minute deal this way: "I think everybody has come out looking badly. Boehner may be getting a standing ovation from his guys, but I don't think anybody won here. The President didn't lead, this could have been done in August." |
|
|
Guests:Kirsten Powers and Kate Obenshain
For one more perspective, The Factor turned to former Bush spokesperson Dana Perino. "I think Washington is experiencing the law of diminishing of returns on both sides," she said. "Every time they go back to this budget fight they get less popular with the American people. But on balance, if this were a battle, the Democrats definitely won. People are fed up more with the Republicans than with the President and the Democrats just had their best fund-raising week." The Factor reiterated that both sides emerged with battle scars: "Obamacare is a disaster, the American people now understand that this new law may not be working too well for them because they will have to pay more. That will help the Republicans much more than if the Obamacare chaos had not emerged. I think President Obama's leadership has taken a serious hit with Syria, the military families, and Obamacare, and it will take him a long time to recover. Independents are furious with President Obama and the Democratic Party." |
|
|
| Wednesday's program was truncated in order to air President Obama's comments from the White House. |
|
|