This is a very good example of mansplaining*:
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D), Wisconsin's new senator-elect, is confident that she will be able to understand the federal budget without the assistance of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
In an Associated Press interview on Wednesday, Johnson said he hoped he would be able to work with Baldwin in the Senate -- as soon as he explained the "facts" of the budget to her.
"Hopefully I can sit down and lay out for her my best understanding of the federal budget because they're simply the facts," he said. "Hopefully she'll agree with what the facts are and work toward common sense solutions."
"I was a double major in college in mathematics and political science, and I served for six years on the House Budget Committee in my first six years in the House," Baldwin responded in an interview with The Huffington Post on Friday.
"And I am very confident that when proposals come before the U.S. Senate, I will be able to evaluate them as to how they benefit or harm middle-class Wisconsinites. A yardstick of 'does it create jobs,' 'does it lower the deficit' and 'does it help grow the middle class' is an important one. I'm quite confident that I have those abilities," she added.
Baldwin has served in Congress since 1999; Johnson took office in 2011.
What makes Johnson's statement arrogant is that he pays no attention to the known facts about Baldwin: That she, in fact, has twelve years more experience and that she served six years on the House Budget Committee. And, of course, the whole tone of the statement: Baldwin is going to be taught the facts about the budget.
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*The term "mansplaining" is discussed in an earlier post, here. It used to have an interesting comments-thread but, sadly, I have been unable to import the old comments to Disqus.
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