Fox News And Chris Wallace Were A Little Rough On Fred Thompson
If Bill Clinton had gotten this kind of treatment from Wallace I think both Fox and Wallace would have gotten more than the famous Clinton finger wag.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that Fox News is biased against his campaign, charging that the network highlights commentators who have been critical of his run for the presidency. . . .
Thompson said, “This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth.” He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits.
He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for “a long, long time.”
Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: “...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn’t do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There’s a lot of other opinion out there.”
I thought this question from Wallace was particularly noxious and arrogant:
Wallace denied to Thompson that “Fox has been going after you” and asked, “Do you know anybody who thinks you’ve run a great campaign, sir?”
Thompson responded, “It’s not for me to come here and try to convince you that somebody else thinks I’ve run a great campaign.” He added that National Review magazine has praised him for issuing detailed policy proposals on Social Security and immigration.
When Wallace asks Thompson if he knows of “anybody” who thinks he’s run a good campaign, Wallace is obviously using “anybody” to refer to the media elite. If he didn’t it’d be a dumb question as Thompson has plenty of followers who thinks he’s campaigned just fine. But all Wallace cares about are the people who he thinks really matters. Namely, the talking heads on television.
Which is pretty darn arrogant.
Here’s the video of the interview:
Thompson did actually lay out his tax plan as well. Here are the key aspects:
Key aspects of Thompson’s tax proposal:
_The choice of filing under the current system or a flat tax rate of 10 percent for joint filers with an income of up to $100,000 — $50,000 for single taxpayers; and 25 percent on income above these amounts.
The standard deduction would be more than doubled to $25,000 for joint filers and $12,500 for singles. The personal exemption would be increased to $3,500. A family of four would be exempt from income tax on the first $39,000. The simplified code would contain no other tax credits or deductions, and retain the 15 percent tax rate on capital gains and dividends.
_Preserving the $1000 child tax credit, which was doubled from $500 per child.
_Protecting marriage penalty relief.
_Retaining education tax incentives, including Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, 529 college savings plans, and deductions for higher education expenses.
_Permanently repealing the estate tax.
_Eventually repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, a separate system created 30 years ago to ensure that a few high income Americans could not use deductions and credits to eliminate their tax liability.
Thompson also would index the exemptions annually so that millions of middle-class families would not be subject to the tax.
I’d be happier if Thompson supported something like the Fair Tax as I think we need something a little more radical than a shake-up of the current tax code, but these improvements would at least improve the situation.
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