Axelrod: "U.S. Can Handle The Truth"

(CBS)

"The American people and the markets can handle the truth," senior White House advisor David Axelrod said, when discussing the Treasury Department's bank stress tests to be released this week.

Face The Nation host Harry Smith noted that there is fear among some that if information about certain banks' financial standing were released it could give way to a run on some of them.

Axelrod argued instead the importance of disclosure. "I think the banks are going to want that, because they're going to want the markets and the country and the world to know exactly what their condition is.

"Yes, some [banks] are going to have some very serious problems," Axelrod said, but he feels confident they have the tools to fix the situation.

On the president's 2010 budget, Axelrod said that the Republican Party has taken an unfortunate political stance in rejecting the proposal.

"There seems to be political decision that has been made that it is better for the Republican Party to say 'No' than to say 'Yes,' or to make constructive contributions to the problem," he said. "We hope that changes."

He also said the issue of Texas secession, which arose during this week's tax protests, "does not warrant a serious response."


More from Face The Nation (4.19.09):

Axelrod: Words And Handshakes Not Enough

W.H.: No Reason To Hide Torture Memos

Heated Debate Over Assault Weapons

Read The Complete Transcript> (pdf)

To watch David Axelrod's appearance on Face The Nation click on the video player below.

[mattcat25]

Teabag heads seem to not want to witness the overt fact that the United States has been put in this economic position by 8 years of unfettered Conservatism.

The Bush Administration was handed a budget surplus when they stole the election in 2000 and then commenced to gobble up the excess and create the largest deficit in US History.

The Conservative Agenda set out to bury the American Working Middle Class and Unions, dismantle every Governmental Agency, decimate public programs, ignore infrastructure projects, establish a permanent military spending economy, and divert $Billions and $Billions of Federal Treasury Funds to Private no bid Contractors.

Now, the Conservative Right Wing doesn't want to pay the taxes on the revenues gained during their time in power.

truth.

[whitemale08]

Great!

That means there should be no problem in putting Goldman Sucks, JP Morgan, B of A and the Federal Reserve System itself into receivership and pre-packaged bankruptcy re-structuring.

And shut down their gambling casinos of worthless derivatives and credit-default swaps!