Stahl: I Can't Tell If ObamaCare Raises Taxes, But Worth It For Something 'Really Important'

March 22nd, 2010 8:20 AM

Update 9:35 AM: Larry O'Donnell "stunned" Stahl doesn't realize ObamaCare raises taxes.  See O'Donnell video after the jump.

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What kind of correspondents do they have at 60 Minutes?  The kind who can't tell that the biggest tax increase in history is a tax increase at all.  The kind who complain that even if it is a tax increase, Americans should be willing to pay it because ObamaCare is "really important."

Exhibit A: Lesley Stahl.  On Morning Joe today, Stahl--her 40 years or so as a reporter notwithstanding--said she "can't tell" if ObamaCare raises taxes and that her "head is hurting" from trying to figure it out.  But so what if it does?  Stahl had a sudden bout of nostalgia for the good old days when people didn't mind paying "a little more" for "something really important in return."

View video here.

LESLEY STAHL: You know, I'm listening to the question about taxes and I wonder what happened to the idea that if you want a new service, you do pay taxes?  

I'm not saying that there is or isn't a tax increase in this: I actually can't tell.  My head is hurting from listening to one side, then the other side on this.

I'm just wondering if the country has moved so far away from this sense that you pay for what you get, and if we can ever go back to a time where people will say I don't mind paying a little bit more if I'm going to get something really important in return?  Or is that over forever?

Note to Stahl:

1. We don't mind paying for the important stuff--like a strong national defense.
2. We resent paying for stuff that we abhor. Stuff that impinges on our freedoms and reduces our quality of life.
3. That you can't see that says everything about the MSM mindset.

Update: O'Donnell 'Stunned' By Stahl's Obliviousness

When Larry O'Donnell appeared later in the show, he twice described himself as "stunned" by Stahl's obliviousness to the presence of massive tax increases in ObamaCare.  O'Donnell blamed Republicans for failing to make that clear to the public.  View video here.