'Cut, Cap and Balance' Debate Gets Personal in House of Representatives

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Does Rep. West Owe DNC Chair an Apology?

Michelle Malkin weighs in on 'Hannity'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 20, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And the debate over "Cut, Cap and Balance" has become highly personal for two members of the House of Representatives. Now it all started yesterday when Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz singled out fellow Florida Representative Allen West on the House floor.

Take a look at this scare tactics that she brought to the debate on "Cut, Cap and Balance."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, D-FLA.: Incredulously, the gentlemen from Florida who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a member from South Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, Colonel West, he did not take that sitting down. And an e-mail message to Wasserman Schultz, he wrote, quote, "You are the most vile, unprofessional and despicable member of the U.S. House of Representatives. You have proven repeatedly that you are not a lady, therefore shall not be afforded due respect from me."

And breaking tonight, there is widespread confusion over whether or not Congressman Allen West has issued an apology to Schultz. Now the Huffington Post says that he did but both representatives are denying that report.

Now one thing is clear. Scare tactics are par for the course for the Democratic Party. It was just months ago that a liberal group ran this add depicting a Paul Ryan look alike running poor old grandma off a cliff.

And joining me with reaction is the author of the number one New York Times best seller, "Culture of Corruption," Michelle Malkin is here.

You know, I am just comparing this, the deafening silence about Bill Maher and what he has said just in the last two weeks, never mind over the last six months about Republican women, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin. Defining silence. Now all of a sudden liberals are outraged. You know, he said it directly to her. He said it in an e-mail to her. And, you know, as far as I know, he didn't release it publicly.

MICHELLE MALKIN, AUTHOR, "CULTURE OF CORRUPTION": Yes.

HANNITY: Is there a double standard?

MALKIN: Well, it's quite a nasty little self serving circus in the Beltway. And of course, it's riffed with double standards particularly when it comes to the tone, the tenor and the lack of quality of arguments of Debbie Wassermann Schultz herself. When it comes to the quality of her arguments, she is nothing more than Alan Grayson in heels. And when it comes to the tone of her rhetoric, she is nothing more than Anthony Weiner only an octave higher. This is a woman who was just recently accusing the Republican Party of sending America back to the Jim Crow era. And you didn't hear all the civility police demanding that she ratchet down her rhetoric and make America's children proud.

Remember that it was just mere months ago that President Obama was wagging his finger at all of us and asking us to make sure that we were making future generations proud with the quality and tone of our debate.

So, look, everybody is raising money off of this now. And honestly, Sean, I don't care who apologized to who and what and how this all came out. Because ultimately what this is, is just another convenient distraction from the lack of any Democratic plan on how to solve these intractable entitlement problems.

HANNITY: That's true. I think it goes a little bit -- hang on, my flag just got messed up. There you go, I just fixed it. I think it goes a little bit deeper than that in this sense. You know, when people lie about you, like, what the Ryan plan came out. The president in front of Paul Ryan, Republicans want old people, kids with autism and Down syndrome to fend for themselves, that was a lie.

What the president is doing now by scaring seniors about the debt ceiling deadline is not true. What the Democrats are saying it's not true, it's a lie. And I guess there comes a point when people are telling, you know, this bold faced lies about you that it angers you. There seems to be -- nobody in the media calls them out on it. Republicans react. Maybe Colonel West, maybe went too far here. I'll let him decide that. But being lied about is just as bad. And that's frustrating because I don't think a lot of people in the country know that.

MALKIN: Right. And here is where I salute Colonel West. It's in his instinctual desire to push back when so few have pushed back before. And that is why he has garnered the respect of so many in the Tea Party Movement. It's why he earned public office in this last sweep because he embodies this sense of disgust among ordinary average grass-roots Americans, and not just conservatives, that you are not just going to stand for being lied and lied and lied about incessantly. And it's the demagoguery in particular with this very important issue. Look --

HANNITY: All right. Let me ask you this. Because I am running out of time. I want you to respond to something. We mentioned earlier that Joe Biden, Barack Obama, both on record in 2006 saying, no we can't raise the debt ceiling, we can't do that. And I got another tape. And this shows the hypocrisy of the left. And nobody else is pointing this out. This is in fact Harry Reid saying the same thing as Obama and Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MARCH 16, 2006)

SEN. HARRY REID, D-N.V.: These deficits resulted in an unprecedented and dangerous borrowing spree. The total debt during this spree has grown by trillions of dollars.

How can the Republican majority and this Congress explain to their constituents that trillions of dollars of new debt is good for our economy? How can they explain that they think it is fair to force our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren to finance this debt through higher taxes? That's what it will have to be. Why is it right to increase our nation's dependence on foreign creditors? They should explain this. Maybe they can convince the public they are right. I doubt it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Calling them hacks and hypocrites accurate?

MALKIN: Yes, that's classic. Throw it right back in their faces, keep calling their bluff reminding the American people about their hypocrisy, their selective concern about deficits and the debt limit and hopefully people, more people will expose the Democrats' empty rhetoric on this.

Clearly the American people are on the side of the Republican entitlement reform proposals. They are on the side of opposing continuing to raise the debt limit ceiling.

And you know with regard to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, you have the Black Caucus and women's groups crying being a victim here. They cried wolf one too many times. It's done. It's over.

HANNITY: Michelle Malkin, always good to see you. Thank you for being with us.

MALKIN: You too. You bet.

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