Banking/Finance

AP's Raum Rewrites 80 Years of History in Sequestration Lament
By Tom Blumer | March 3, 2013 | 5:24 PM EST

Did you know that the mortgage interest deduction was a major contributor to families' distressed circumstances leading to the housing bubble? Or that George W. Bush's (really modest) tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, not the Internet bubble of the late-1990s led the nation from fiscal surplus to deficits?

The reason you don't "know" these things is that they're not true. But the Associated Press's Tom Raum thinks they are, and said so as if they are indisputable facts in an AP analysis piece (or at least I hope it was meant to be that) yesterday. In over 850 words, he also failed to note, while barely acknowleding their existence, that Republicans in the House already acquiesced to $620 billion in tax increases in return for a "whopping" $15 billion in spending cuts during the fiscal cliff deal at the end of last year. Excerpts from Raum's risible writeup follow the jump.

AP Shocker: 'Tax Bills For Rich Families Approach 30-Year High'
By Noel Sheppard | March 3, 2013 | 9:48 AM EST

The Left and their media minions spent a good part of the past two years claiming the rich don't pay their "fair share" of taxes.

Not according to the Associated Press which shockingly published a piece Sunday titled "Tax Bills For Rich Families Approach 30-Year High":

Leno’s White House Sequester Ad: ‘Girl Scouts Will Be Forced To Sell Meth’
By Noel Sheppard | March 1, 2013 | 1:59 PM EST

It’s certainly clear to Jay Leno that the Obama administration is fearmongering the budget sequester.

On NBC’s Tonight Show Thursday, Leno played a mock White House ad claiming among other things that if sequestration occurs, “Girl Scouts will be forced to sell meth" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Bartiromo on Sequester Panic: 'Wall Street Seeing This As Scare Tactics,' Stocks 'Near Record Highs'
By Noel Sheppard | February 24, 2013 | 3:00 PM EST

CNBC's Maria Bartiromo made a statement Sunday about all of the fearmongering concerning the looming budget sequester that people on both sides of the aisle should pay attention to.

Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, Bartiromo said, "I think Wall Street is seeing this as scare tactics because if the market really believed that the economy was going to be paralyzed on March 1 we would not be trading near record highs" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Audience Cheers and Applauds When Leno Says Obama 'Doesn't Understand Economics'
By Noel Sheppard | February 20, 2013 | 9:26 AM EST

It appears not everyone in America is as enthralled with Barack Obama's economic policies as his fans in the media.

When NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno made a joke about the president not understanding economics, the studio audience cheered, applauded, and whistled (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Rick Santelli Responds to Negative GDP Report: 'We Are Now Europe'
By Noel Sheppard | January 30, 2013 | 9:59 AM EST

Rick Santelli made a stunning observation Wednesday about the shocking report that the economy actually shrunk in the fourth quarter last year.

"We are now Europe," he declared on CNBC's Squawk Box.

Maher Shockingly Blasts 'Takers': 'We Have 23.5% Dirt Bags In America'
By Noel Sheppard | January 26, 2013 | 2:06 PM EST

Stop the presses! Stop the presses! Bill Maher on Friday actually said something well-reasoned and intelligent that conservatives - including members of the Tea Party - might agree with.

"We have 23.5 percent dirt bags in America," the HBO Real Time host surprisingly said. "It just seems like there’s less people pulling the wagon and more people in the wagon, and at some point the wagon is going to break" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Left Swoons for Loony ‘Magic Coin’ Plan
By Julia A. Seymour | January 10, 2013 | 10:38 AM EST

The left must think Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is a magician, since they think funds to evade the debt ceiling can be conjured up in the form of a platinum coin.

The left-wing blogosphere has been promoting a loony idea to prevent the GOP from being able to cut spending in debt ceiling negotiations. The idea has gained traction with a Bloomberg News contributor and well-known liberal economist Paul Krugman, and being heavily promoted by sites like Huffington Post. So many people are talking about it that it has a twitter hashtag: #mintthecoin.

HuffPo Shocker: ‘President Clinton's Policies Sent the Economy Seriously Off Course’
By Noel Sheppard | December 26, 2012 | 8:26 AM EST

Here’s something I bet you thought you’d never see at the perilously liberal Huffington Post.

In a Dean Baker article published Tuesday with the astonishing title “There Is No Santa Claus and Bill Clinton Was Not an Economic Savior,” the second sentence read, “Just as little kids have to come to grips with the fact that there is no Santa Claus, it is necessary for millions of liberals, including many who think of themselves as highly knowledgeable about economic matters, to realize that President Clinton's policies sent the economy seriously off course.”

Newt Gingrich Schools Lawrence O'Donnell On Clinton Tax Hikes
By Noel Sheppard | December 9, 2012 | 4:33 PM EST

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich on Sunday gave Lawrence O'Donnell a much-needed education on the economic impact of the Bill Clinton tax hikes in the '90s.

As O'Donnell precipitated the exchange, he perfectly demonstrated why MSNBC commentators are far too liberally biased to be invited on NBC's Meet the Press (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Ed Asner Narrates ‘Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale’
By Noel Sheppard | December 5, 2012 | 9:29 AM EST

Actor and activist Ed Asner is the narrator of a new video called “Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale.”

It was produced by the California Federation of Teachers (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Ed Schultz & Guest James Hoffa Outraged Over Rational Comments Made by Goldman Sachs CEO
By Ryan Robertson | November 28, 2012 | 5:12 PM EST

In an interview with CBS News anchor Scott Pelley last week, Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein immediately brought up a highly sensitive subject that liberals in the media and highest levels of government refuse to acknowledge: entitlement spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are unsustainable at their current rate and need significant reform to ensure those programs exist in the future.

In response to the clip, MSNBC host Ed Schultz and Teamsters President James Hoffa were beside themselves on Tuesday night's Ed Show -- offended that Blankfein would voice such a "misinformed" view on national television. The only son of the notorious Jimmy Hoffa was ardently opposed to the idea that there is anything currently wrong with the system as is, to suggest otherwise is just "outrageous" he thundered. [ relevant video & transcript below ]