Judd Gregg

Only Fox News Concerned With Obama's Census Bureau Coup
By Noel Sheppard | February 7, 2009 | 3:24 PM EST

The Obama administration revealed Thursday that whoever ends up being director of the Census Bureau, a position yet to be filled, he or she will be required to work closely with the White House.

This is a departure from the autonomy the Bureau had under President Bush, and is worrisome given the census which will be taken next year.

Despite this revelation by Congressional Quarterly on Thursday the only major media outlet which gave this much attention was Fox News.

Before we get there, here's what CQ reported:

White House Power Consolidation Continues with 2010 Census Takeover; Will Press Care?
By Tom Blumer | February 5, 2009 | 2:30 PM EST

ObamaAP0109On January 25, as noted by yours truly here at NewsBusters ("Obama 'Shifting Power From Traditional Cabinet Posts"), Jonathan Martin at Politico.com reported that President Obama "is moving to create perhaps the most powerful staff in modern history – a sort of West Wing on steroids that places no less than a half-dozen of his top initiatives into the hands of advisers outside the Cabinet." (The picture on the right is at that report.)

I'm not aware that any Old Media outlet besides Politico itself, which is largely a collection of Old Media alums, has covered this development.

The power grab continues. My bet is that Old Media will also maintain its studied ignorance of this development, despite years of whining about alleged Executive Branch excesses during the Bush administration.

Now it looks like Barack Obama's inner circle is going to teach the Census Bureau how to count in 2010. CQpolitics.com this morning reported that the White House is taking the next decennial census away from the Commerce Department, and keeping it for itself.

White House Press Briefing Live-blog [2 February 2009]
By Ken Shepherd | February 2, 2009 | 1:53 PM EST

Update (14:33): News conference just ended. Gibbs faced numerous questions on Tom Daschle, including one from each major broadcast network's correspondents. [audio excerpt available here]

Live blogging the press briefing. Official WH ranscript available here.

13:47 CNN cuts to Brady briefing room, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs making opening announcements before questions. Announces Obama event to commemorate 200th anniversary of birth of Abraham Lincoln.

13:52, female reporter: On Tom Daschle, if you could take a step back, we have two nominees paying back taxes. An awful lot of money... what kind of a message does it send?

Robert Gibbs says Daschle discovered a mistake and paid for it, including penalty fees. Says he hopes Senate will examine not just "one mistake in a career" but Daschle's whole career in public service. 

USA Today Pits Two Liberals to One Conservative in Budget Story
By Ken Shepherd | February 4, 2008 | 11:10 AM EST

In the February 4 USA Today, Richard Wolf treated news of Bush's last budget proposal by alternating between liberal Democrats attacking the president and Wolf's own stark language in characterizing the spending blueprint. What's more, Wolf cited two Democrats attacking the spending plan, compared to one Republican depending reductions in spending in the final Bush budget.An excerpt follows (emphasis mine):