Social Security

NY Times's Michael Shear Defends Social Security, ObamaCare Against Perry
By Clay Waters | September 7, 2011 | 12:23 PM EDT

New York Times online political reporter Michael Shear made Saturday’s front page with his close reading of the oeuvre of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and was predictably disturbed by what he found. “Perry’s Blunt Views in Books Get New Scrutiny as He Joins Race” amounts to a handy bit of opposition research before Perry’s debate debut on Wednesday (contingent on the wildfires in his home state of Texas).

Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, believes that climate change is a “contrived, phony mess.” The federal income tax was the “great milestone on the road to serfdom.” And the Boy Scouts of America are under attack by “a radical homosexual movement.”

Krauthammer: Obama Is 'President Zero - Zero Economic Expansion, Zero Jobs, Zero Ideas'
By Noel Sheppard | September 3, 2011 | 12:55 PM EDT

Charles Krauthammer on Fox News's "Special Report" Friday offered Republicans a 2012 campaign slogan to defeat Barack Obama.

"President Zero: zero economic expansion, zero jobs, zero ideas on how to cure the economy" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

George Will Corrects Donna Brazile: Media Are Not Obama's Problem
By Noel Sheppard | August 28, 2011 | 1:53 PM EDT

George Will and Donna Brazile had a telling exchange on ABC's "This Week" Sunday.

After Will listed all the excuses President Obama makes for the poor economy, Brazile said, "I thought you were going to mention media" leading Will to smartly retort, "They're not his problem" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

AP's Social Security Disability System Writeup Inadvertently Corrects Meme About Benefit Denials Under Reagan
By Tom Blumer | August 22, 2011 | 10:37 PM EDT

To borrow from a certain president's former preacher, the "chickens are coming home to roost" in Social Security's disability program. It's nearly bankrupt, and set to run out of cash by 2017.

In the Associated Press's writeup ("Social Security disability on verge of insolvency") of the situation occasioned by a congressional report repeating the obvious, Stephen Ohlemacher surprisingly and correctly retold a bit of the history which readers should find quite interesting, as it largely explains how the program got out of control (bold is mine):

AP's Babington Rolls Out Obama and Dems' Talking Points on Extending Payroll Tax Cut
By Tom Blumer | August 22, 2011 | 2:57 PM EDT

The opening sentence of Charles Babington's "objective report" about the possible extension of what was billed late last year as a "temporary payroll tax cut" reads like a Democratic National Committee press release: "News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes."

It doesn't get any better until the final paragraph. Babington's babble is otherwise a long-winded, chidish taunt about the supposed hypocrisy of anyone who would like to see a program which, for all its very considerable faults, at least ran a cash surplus for several decades get into the neighborhood of where taxes collected almost equal disbursements.

Former AmEx CEO Bashes Buffett's Call For Higher Taxes on Rich
By Noel Sheppard | August 22, 2011 | 10:28 AM EDT

As NewsBusters reported, America's media last week gushed and fawned over billionaire Warren Buffett's call for higher taxes on the rich.

On Monday, Harvey Golub, the former CEO of American Express, responded to the Oracle of Omaha in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that reveals a side of this tax story media refuse to share with the American people:

Dowd: Obama Didn't Call Congress Back Because 'It Would Have Screwed Up His Vacation and Upset Michelle'
By Noel Sheppard | August 21, 2011 | 10:46 AM EDT

As NewsBusters has been reporting, the Obama-loving media have largely been gushing and fawning over the current White House resident taking a vacation on Martha's Vineyard as the economy appears to be heading into a double-dip recession.

Giving an interesting insight into the President's decision to not call Congress back from its summer break to tackle the problems facing the nation was New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd who wrote Sunday:

Fareed Zakaria: Maybe We'd Still Be AAA If We Had a Prime Minister Not a President
By Noel Sheppard | August 20, 2011 | 5:27 PM EDT

Sometimes I wonder how liberal media members could possibly live in the same country as I do and hold such startlingly absurd ideas about it.

Take for example Fareed Zakaria who on the CNN program bearing his name this Sunday is going to tell viewers that America would likely still have a AAA credit rating if we had a parliamentary system of government with a prime minister rather than a president (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Fareed Zakaria: 'Liberals Need to Grow Up' and Stop Criticizing Obama
By Noel Sheppard | August 14, 2011 | 11:53 PM EDT

Liberals need to grow up and stop criticizing President Obama.

So said Fareed Zakaria Sunday on the CNN program bearing his name (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Gregory Scolds Bachmann for Listening to Public Opinion on Debt Ceiling
By Noel Sheppard | August 14, 2011 | 9:32 PM EDT

It appears David Gregory is a bit confused about how our system of government works.

During intense questioning of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Sunday's "Meet the Press," the host scolded his guest for having the nerve to actually care what the American people thought about raising the debt ceiling (video follows with transcript and commentary):

NYT's Blow: Every Time Bachmann Said 'As President of the United States' Thursday 'I Blacked Out'
By Noel Sheppard | August 13, 2011 | 11:42 AM EDT

"I must confess that every time Representative Michele Bachmann uttered the phrase 'as president of the United States' during Thursday's Republican presidential debate I blacked out a little bit, so I'm sure that I missed some things."

So actually began a piece by New York Times columnist Charles Blow Saturday:

NYT Editorial: GOP Caused Downgrade and 'Invited a Double-Dip Recession'
By Noel Sheppard | August 13, 2011 | 10:42 AM EDT

In the view of the New York Times, everything that ails our nation is caused by Republicans.

Consider Saturday's editorial disgracefully titled "Magical Unrealism: In the Iowa Debate, Republicans Fled From the Truth About the Damage Caused by Their Party":