Banking/Finance

Hardly News: Democrat Corzine, Others at MF Global on Track to Avoid Criminal Charges
By Tom Blumer | August 18, 2012 | 10:41 PM EDT

About a month ago, I joked in a column published elsewhere that the reason a certain New York Times column didn't resonate with anyone is because no one pays attention to the Old Gray Lady any more.

Unfortunately, that's not true. But the fact that almost no other establishment press outlet has mentioned the paper's disclosure late Wednesday (appearing in Thursday's print edition) that former MF Global CEO Jon Corzine and others at the bankrupt firm likely won't face criminal prosecution in the firm's crack-up, which featured raiding individual customers' accounts to the tune of $1.6 billion, seems to indicate that the Times has become a favored holding cell for stories detrimental to Democrats which will otherwise be ignored. Oh, and contrary to the belief expressed in a very long Vanity Fair item in February, when Corzine was seen to be in "a scandal he can’t survive," and that "his career is likely finished," the man is seriously considering starting up a new hedge fund.

CBS Uniquely Notes Racial Tinge of Biden's 'Chains' Gaffe
By Brad Wilmouth | August 15, 2012 | 1:35 AM EDT

As the broadcast network evening newscasts on Tuesday gave attention to Vice-President Joseph Biden asserting that Mitt Romney, by "unchaining" Wall Street would effectively "put y'all back in chains," only CBS's Bob Schieffer informed viewers that about half the audience in Danville, Virginia, was African-American, thus suggesting the Vice-President was making an embarrassing pander to black audience members who likely have ancestors who used to be "in chains."

On the CBS Evening News, as he set up a soundbite of Biden, substitute host Schieffer related:

Seems Like He Wanted It to Be True: Slate's Yglesias Runs With Unsupported Ryan Insider Trading Accusations
By Tom Blumer | August 14, 2012 | 10:02 AM EDT

Matthew Yglesias has been posting at Slate.com, supposedly a paragon of online establishment press journalism, as a business and economics correspondent since November of last year. His background is unmistakably leftist: ThinkProgress, the Atlantic, TPM Media, and the American Prospect.

On Saturday, a Yglesias found a blog post which was apparently too good to check at The Richmonder, a lefty enterprise run by Jerel Wilmore. The Richmonder's post claimed that "Paul Ryan traded on insider information to avoid 2008 crash" (post has been retracted; excerpt was obtained at democraticunderground.com; some of what follows is also here):

LAT's Hiltzik: Social Security 'Contributes Not a Dime to the Federal Deficit'; Uh, Yes It Does (Lots of 'Em)
By Tom Blumer | July 29, 2012 | 5:05 PM EDT

In his column at the Los Angeles Times today (HT to a NewsBusters tipster), Michael Hiltzik engages in predictable whining about discussions on how to bring the federal deficit under control seem "increasingly to be driven by the wealthy." In the instance he cites, one could substitute "big bank and big company CEOs," who seem to have recently decided that President Obama's Simpson Bowles debt commission had a good roadmap in late 2010 after being as far as I can recall pretty much AWOL on the matter when it was first presented.

That's fine. Hiltzik entitled to his take. But he's not entitled to his facts, particularly his assertions on Social Security (bold is mine):

George Will and Dana Loesch School Donna Brazile and Ruth Marcus on Obama's 'You Didn't Build That'
By Noel Sheppard | July 29, 2012 | 1:44 PM EDT

For the past two weeks Barack Obama's media minions have been working overtime trying to convince the American people the President was taken out of context during his now infamous "You Didn't Build That" speech in Roanoke, Virginia.

CNN's Donna Brazile and the Washington Post's Ruth Marcus tried making that pathetic claim on ABC's This Week Sunday only to receive a much-needed education from George Will and Breitbart.com's Dana Loesch (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Krugman: If Obama's Reelected 'Good Chance That for a Month or Two We Actually Will Go Off the Cliff'
By Noel Sheppard | July 29, 2012 | 12:16 PM EDT

New York Times economic columnist Paul Krugman made a statement Sunday about the looming end of the year tax hikes and spending cuts that is likely to raise some eyebrows on both sides of the aisle.

Appearing on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, Krugman said, "If Obama’s reelected, I think that there’s a quite good chance that for a month or two we actually will go off the cliff" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

AP's Kuhnhenn Cites a 'Rare Swipe' at Romney by Obama (Actually at Least the Fifteenth This Month)
By Tom Blumer | July 29, 2012 | 9:11 AM EDT

You know, President Obama is such a constructive guy. Why, he's a veritable Mr. Sunshine like Chicago Cubs baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks. He hardly ever goes after presidential opponent Mitt Romney with harsh criticism. When he does, it's a "rare swipe."

That's what Jim Kuhnhenn at the Associated Press told his readers yesterday in his coverage ("New day, old bickering on taxes between Obama, GOP") of the President's weekly radio address and related matters. Kuhnhenn, who between shifts as a reporter must live in a hermetically sealed cave, wrote the following:

Paul Krugman Wants to Replace Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman
By Noel Sheppard | July 28, 2012 | 3:11 PM EDT

Here’s a really scary thought: New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wants to replace Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

The perilously liberal economist actually said this in a segment of CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS to be aired Sunday (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Barney Frank: 'Unfortunately, Under American System, You Have These Checks And Balances'
By Mark Finkelstein | July 26, 2012 | 9:33 PM EDT

Liberal fascism, anyone?  Add Barney Frank to the list of Thomas Friedman and Ray LaHood who regret that in the United States, that darn Constitution gets in the way of the enlightened class imposing its will on the rest of us benighted peons.

Sparring with Mario Bartiromo on CNBC this afternoon, Dem congressman Frank, expressing frustration at his inability to get through legislation he favors, lamented: "unfortunately, under this American system of government, you have these checks and balances."  Yeah, so unfortunate. If only Barney could be king for a day.  View the video after the jump.

Administration's Protection: AP's Gordon Turns 'Liebor' Hearing Into a Partisan Exercise
By Tom Blumer | July 26, 2012 | 1:34 AM EDT

No matter how inane or damning his comments and answers to inquiries, it appears that Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner can continue to count on favorable coverage from the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, aka the Administration's Protection.

The AP's Marcy Gordon, with the help of her story's headline writer, made Geither's appearance before the House Committee on Financial Services all about partisanship until near the very end. Incredibly, she also relayed a very important question committee members asked about Geithner's use of an interest rate he knew was being lowballed by British banks as the basis for determining the interest rate on Treasury bailout loans while he was still head of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve Bank -- but didn't tell readers what his answer was. Excerpts follow (bolds are mine):

Media Help Obama Make Business Success Bane of Romney’s Campaign
By Julia A. Seymour | July 23, 2012 | 10:58 AM EDT

The left, including the Obama administration and some in the media, are making anti-capitalist attacks on opponent Mitt Romney’s business career the latest tactic. And the gloves are off.

On July 12, Obama’s deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter went on the offensive charging Romney could be a criminal: “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony. Or, he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments,” she said according to Politico.

NPR's Totenberg: 'Bankers and Business' Are the 'Super-crooked'
By Brad Wilmouth | July 21, 2012 | 12:07 AM EDT

On Friday's Inside Washington on PBS, regular panel member Nina Totenberg - a correspondent for NPR - generalized that "bankers and business" are not only the "super-rich" but also the "super-crooked" as the panel discussed the issue of Mitt Romney's taxes and President Barack Obama's "you didn't build that" gaffe in which he dismissed the importance of individual effort in entrepreneurship while crediting government. Totenberg: