ax cuts-- don`t worry about paying for them because they`re free. They pay for themselves. They don`t add to the deficit. They actually reduce the deficit. The shock political development tonight is the way that this philosophy, this talking point, is being debunked and dismantled, complete with a peppy insulting phrase from within the Republican Party, a nationally known Republican sage. A public gray beard is taking his fellow Republicans apart on this one.
GEORGE H. W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: So, what I`m saying is that it`s -- it just isn`t going to work. And it`s very interesting that the man who invested this type of what I call a voodoo economic policy--
MADDOW: Voodoo economics. The idea that massive tax cuts can actually reduce the deficit and help balance the budget, it`s voodoo economics. Burn! That was, of course, George Herbert Walker Bush way back in the primary season before the 1980 election debunking fellow Republican Ronald Reagan`s promise -- his campaign promise that he would balance the budget while also giving massive tax cuts.

Rachel Maddow interviews Sen. Jeff Merkeley.

to watch the 10-minute video from The Rachel Maddow Show July 19, 2010, click on

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/