Charlie Rose

RobertS  03/26/2009 10:06 AM Report

It would be nice to see interviews from intellectuals of the Cato Institute which would offer a complete different point of view. My guess is that this program only interviews mainstream political views. How is the public debate going to get richer if we hear the same people over and over?

RobertS  03/26/2009 10:03 AM Report

Much is said about executive pay compared with school teachers. This is a popular thing to say. How about rock stars, actors, athletes, etc who jump in their super executive jets? if we are going to talk about people who make lots of money, lets talk about everybody and be honest.

IRISH  03/25/2009 11:03 PM Report

Excellent program one and all. Surly better than the CNN crew with exception of D. Gergen.

RWillis  03/25/2009 05:16 PM Report

I think Major Garrett is a FOX reporter and he got a question. He also took a question from the Washington Times, but did not take one from either the NY Times or The Washington Post.

dcollins764  03/25/2009 05:06 PM Report

Charlie,

I love your program--You seem to present a nice "cross section" of the reality of things.

However, last night (Tue Mar. 24th) was an exception---I was extremely disappointed to see that you have now joined the rest of the "Broadcast Media" in leaving out the conservative viewpoint. I certainly hope this was just an "off" night, and not something to expect every night?

Obama's "formal" speaking is probably the biggest enemy of the middle class people of this country. What I saw, in just a few minutes of Obama's speaking, I felt that he squirmed around like an unprepared 7th grader. All of your guests last night were still overwhelmed by his speaking talents---I don't know what they were watching. Obama not allowing FOX reporters to ask questions is just depolorable!

Isn't this how a dictator rules? I expect a hugh statue to be erected soon.

Actions speak louder than words---All the jobs Obama was going to create and we have lost 700,000 since he took office---what happened---how do you explain that away to comfort the people and ask for more time.

Please get some people who are not afraid of the big bad wolf on your program to share their opinions too!

dcollins764  03/25/2009 05:06 PM Report

Charlie,

I love your program--You seem to present a nice "cross section" of the reality of things.

However, last night (Tue Mar. 24th) was an exception---I was extremely disappointed to see that you have now joined the rest of the "Broadcast Media" in leaving out the conservative viewpoint. I certainly hope this was just an "off" night, and not something to expect every night?

Obama's "formal" speaking is probably the biggest enemy of the middle class people of this country. What I saw, in just a few minutes of Obama's speaking, I felt that he squirmed around like an unprepared 7th grader. All of your guests last night were still overwhelmed by his speaking talents---I don't know what they were watching. Obama not allowing FOX reporters to ask questions is just depolorable!

Isn't this how a dictator rules? I expect a hugh statue to be erected soon.

Actions speak louder than words---All the jobs Obama was going to create and we have lost 700,000 since he took office---what happened---how do you explain that away to comfort the people and ask for more time.

Please get some people who are not afraid of the big bad wolf on your program to share their opinions too!

REMant  03/25/2009 02:56 PM Report

Polls may say they like Obama more because we always root for underdogs and victims, and love tearful confessions. A serious problem with the American psyche. We are true believers, too; the more the evidence goes against something, the more we cling to it.

The only way the admin plan can work is if it ends up depreciating the dollar and causing another run to assets at the same time as restarting what is essentially a Ponzi scheme. No amount of regulation will have any effect on that. Cowboys didn't cause this crisis, either, nor do we have to stick Wall St bailouts. The admin is probably afraid of the stock mkt going down, but they also realize that everyone, as Hume said long ago, is forced into supporting the national debt. This sort of politics is as much pandering as anything the Bush admin ever did, but it is not, given the American public's level of intelligence, stupid. But it will no longer work. And China will not want to see the dollar continually depreciated. They were probably upset over last week's Fed action, especially coming as it did on the heels of their premier's remarks about it.

But after a bunch of nonsense about how much increased inflation (he called it lower interest rates, tax cuts, and recovery spending) his admin has created, Obama then said: "Finally, the most critical part of our strategy is to ensure that we do not return to an economic cycle of bubble and bust in this country. We know that an economy built on reckless speculation, inflated home prices, and maxed-out credit cards does not create lasting wealth. It creates the illusion of prosperity, and it's endangered us all." Well, if it is so critical, why is this part last?

After saying: "[On}e of the most important lessons to learn from this crisis is that our economy only works if we recognize that we're all in this together, that we all have responsibilities to each other and to our country. Bankers and executives on Wall Street need to realize that enriching themselves on the taxpayers' dime is inexcusable, that the days of outsized rewards and reckless speculation that puts us all at risk have to be over," he then added: "At the same time, the rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit. That drive is what has always fueled our prosperity, and it is what will ultimately get these banks lending and our economy moving once more." Well, that drive is selfishness, and it most certainly did not fuel our prosperity. It has fueled the resource and manpower exploitation that every economic historian has seen as the basis of its growth to this point. It is that which now must end, because we've come to the end of it just as Britain did. There is no way to get productivity from selfishness, anymore than Plato could find something coming from nothing.

My impression of the debate in Washington at the moment is that it is on a par with the 2002 debate over WMD - completely inconsequential and potentially catastrophic. Economic activity will resume when prices reach a level commensurate with incomes. There is evidence they are beginning to do exactly that. For the rest, the issue, now, not "finally," is to make those other adjustments to bring equity back and ensure it remains.

Healthcare, for instance, is a symptom of, not the cause of our economic problems, but efficiencies there can improve distribution which can aid in improving productivity across the board. I would call it, like education and science, a public good. Both sides are now for it, for the most part. The question is whether it can be afforded. I am not sure that we can afford not to do it, but I also think we need to keep deficits under control, and I think it comes down to priorities. I would set both education and healthcare reform highest, and research and development, too.

I would certainly bypass the Wall St problems. Capital is not money, ultimately, but human capital. We need to recapitalize the country, not the banks. That is not to say that I think financial regulation unimportant, but as I said above no amount of it will alter the basic equation.

My impression of Obama's ability as a communicator is that he is little different from many past presidents - good at platitudes, doubletalk and shifting the subject. My inbox is still constantly flooded with missives from various Democrats, making me wish I had never given them my address. Reminds me of when, long ago, I joined Common Cause, and used to get phone calls day and night telling me to do this or that immediately, like some subversive network. Needless to say, I quit, immediately.

Greenfield is right that there are two different populist arguments, but they are the old Republican ones: paleo- and neo-conservatism. I sincerely hope the latter fails, because if anyone was a spendthrift among them, it was Ron and his minions. I equate him with Andrew Jackson, who said one thing and did another.

Ppl will come to DC now, because as the Depression-era bank robber, Willy Sutton, is reputed to have said: "That's where the money is." But it also has, the BBC reports, more AIDS than Africa, so if they do come they should pack some condoms. A generator, too, if they want to be sure to see Charlie Rose.