David Letterman to Clinton the vegan: ‘I’m always looking to blame somebody’
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 9:16AM 
I rarely can stomach David Letterman—it’s like watching a tombstone. I remember when he used to be funny. I watch him every now and then if someone interesting is on.
Anyway Letterman had former president Bill Clinton in the chair last night. I watched part of the interview. You can only take so much of this sort of thing when it’s late at night.
The chat got a little ridiculous when Clinton said the General Motors bailout wasn’t a bailout—it was an “organized restructuring.”
Taxpayers handed over nearly $50 billion for that bailout which, by the way, was not a good deal for taxpayers.
Reason Magazine has a good analysis of the combination of loans, escrow funds and potential additional Dept. of Energy loans.
GM paid taxpayers back, right?
Reason explained the GM bailout:
In short, GM is using government money to pay back government money to get more government money. And at a 2 percent lower interest rate at that. This is a nifty scheme to refinance GM's government debt—not pay it back!
Letterman asked Clinton about the Occupy Wall Streeters. Then the aging comic said something indicative of his spiteful nature. Letterman said if he were struggling financially and he saw somebody who wasn’t, he’d be more than happy to "assail" them for not doing their fair share.
Apparently the person Letterman wanted to “assail” didn’t even have to be what Democrats call rich. Then Letterman said, “I’m always looking to blame somebody.”
The leftwing entertainer managed to do that indirectly, referencing as he has often done, what President Barack Obama “inherited.” Of course Letterman never mentions that Obama was a culpable player in the meltdown. The junior senator from Illinois was a huge earmarker during his Senate term and we all know how well Obama spends as president.
Clinton rattled off the usual talking points—he reminded how well he did with the budget (never mentioned Newt Gingrich who dragged Clinton kicking and screaming to that budget he loves so much now). Clinton did remind Letterman that in America, “We don’t resent other people’s success.”
There was a totally bizarre exchange where Letterman veered to comparing the OWS protests to the Arab Spring. Letterman and Clinton talked about the Coptic Christians being murdered in Egypt.
Clinton mentioned seeing what the limits of mass protests are and appeared concerned that the WSO protesters aren’t aligned with a political group. Hello? The labor unions are helping organize these kids, so they are, whether they realize it or not, in the Democrats’ camp.
Were these two Democrats suggesting the OWSers are going to start shooting?
Clinton talked about China (they buy our debt, we buy their exports).
Clinton also talked about regulations (his administration publicly took credit for historic deregulation of the financial sector). Although he touched on the mortgage meltdown, Clinton didn’t mention a key player—former Sen. Chris Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut.
In the bestselling book Reckless Endangerment, author Gretchen Morgenson explains how Dodd slipped “an obscure amendment” into a law designed to limit taxpayer exposure in financial institution failures. That Dodd amendment, said Morgenson, “increased the availability of Fed assistance to include investment banks and insurance companies.”
That amendment placed taxpayers in the role of perpetual funder of bailouts.
You’d think Letterman would want to “assail” Dodd.
Clinton doesn’t think now is a good time for tax hikes, even for those Democrats call “rich.”
He does think those hikes should come once the economy recovers. After all, Clinton’s a Democrat. He’s also a vegan now—rephrasing: he claims to be a vegan now.
You can try to watch the video at Letterman’s website. If you try to jump ahead (even after you watch the first commercial), you’ll end up sitting through a trio of commercials each time. Letterman might want to “blame” somebody for troubles, but he still likes to keep the dough rolling into his own wallet.
The interview had a disturbing aura about it. Maybe it was the full moon.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Oct. 13, 2011)
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