Editor of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol fiercely went after Piers Morgan and Marc Lamont Hill over the government shutdown Tuesday on CNN.
Kristol derided Morgan for the CNN host's grilling of Rep. James Lankford (R., Okla.) over Congressional pay during the shutdown and yet completely ignoring the subject of compensation with White House Press Secretary Jay Carney earlier in the show.
The discussion then became tumultuous as Lamont Hill objected to Kristol pointing out the principal reason for the government shutdown is that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) will not accept a vote on either a one year delay of Obamacare or removing the special Congressional subsidies in the new Obamacare exchanges:
MARC LAMONT HILL: But 800,000 people aren't be paid.
BILL KRISTOL: Rght, they aren't, that's right. Because there's a government shutdown. Why is there a government shutdown? Because the Democratic Senate and President Obama will not accept two propositions, that the individual mandate should be delayed for a year even though the exchanges have opened in total chaos today, and the second one, that Congressmen should abide by the same rules as everyone else who goes into the exchanges. Those are such unreasonable demands that the President of the United States can't even negotiate with the speaker about it? Jay Carney can't make an argument against why those are good pieces of legislation?
LAMONT HILL: That sounds great, you begin with a nonstarter and then you say the person won't negotiate.
KRISTOL: Why is it a nonstarter? Because it's a law, like Piers said. Didn't the president suspend the employer mandate, didn't the president change other parts of the law? Shouldn't Congress have the right to say something?
LAMONT HILL: The president has been open to negotiating this law for the last year.
KRISTOL: Is that right? The House Republicans passed -- the House Republicans passed -- the House Republicans suspended the individual mandate. They got 22 Democratic votes in the House. Senator Reid hasn't taken it up. President Obama said he would veto it. He's not open to discussing anything, instead he said he opened the exchanges today and they worked just great.
LAMONT HILL: He simply won't do it with a gun to his head.
KRISTOL: No he would not, I'm sorry that's not true.
LAMONT HILL: To make the statement the exchanges have been a mess, first of all you're overstating the little calamity at the exchanges. And second, this is a major piece of legislation, perhaps the most significant piece of legislation in 50 years, it's not uncommon there might be a slightly longer --
KRISTOL: When was it passed, I forgot? Three years ago and President Obama is at the top of this administration and they had this chaos that they had today? Doesn't that tell you something?