Budget

MSNBC's O'Donnell Theorizes Obama 'Manipulated' to Block Budget Deal W
July 24th, 2011 9:45 PM
On Friday’s Last Word, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell advanced his belief that President Obama never had any desire for Republicans to accept the plan that he himself proposed because his strategy was to "manipulate" the process and appear willing to compromise, while at the same time insisting on tax increases to ensure that Republicans would never agree to his offer. O’Donnell further…

CBS’s Schieffer Mimics Obama, Proposes Republicans ‘the Party that
July 24th, 2011 8:33 PM
Adopting the spin of President Barack Obama -- who on Friday insisted “one of the questions that the Republican Party is going to have to ask itself is: Can they say yes to anything?” – on Sunday’s Face the Nation CBS’s Bob Schieffer demanded of Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl: “Is there a problem for Republicans that might emerge as just the party of no? The party that can't say yes to anything?”
Steyn Ridicules Press's Insistence on Calling Budget Ideas 'Plans'; No
July 23rd, 2011 8:28 PM
On Wednesday evening (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), I noted the absurdity of Associated Press coverage characterizing the 5-page document with 3-1/2 whole pages of text issued by the "Gang of Six" as a "plan" -- 12 times, plus in the item's headline. Though I didn't bring it up then, an obvious point to make about any of these items floating around Washington is that if the Congressional…

Democrat Mayor Threatens Reason's Nick Gillespie on 'Real Time': 'Want
July 23rd, 2011 10:20 AM
Reason TV's Nick Gillespie was threatened on HBO's "Real Time" by Mayor John Fetterman (D-Braddock, Pa.).
After Gillespie made a joke about Fetterman being mayor of the poorest town in Pennsylvania, the Mayor responded, "You want to take it outside?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Charles Krauthammer Tells 'Inside Washington' Host 'You Manage to Intr
July 22nd, 2011 5:49 PM
"Inside Washington" host Gordon Peterson on Friday accused Tea Party members of being out of touch with reality due to their support for the Republican "Cut, Cap, and Balance" bill as well as a balanced budget amendment.
This lead Charles Krauthammer to respond, "I like the way you pose an objective question implying the insanity of a Republican proposal which passed the House...You manage to…

CNN Anchor: Some Republicans Concerned Obama May Be Caving to Republic
July 22nd, 2011 4:30 PM
CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield apparently thinks some Republican players in the debt ceiling debate are concerned that President Obama is conceding too much. During the 12 p.m. EDT hour Friday, Whitfield alleged that many important players from both parties think Obama may be "caving" to Republicans.
"You know, there are a lot of players who are very concerned – Democrats and Republicans who…

Media Blackout: Nets Ignored Popular Cut, Cap, Balance Bill
July 22nd, 2011 3:54 PM
ABC, CBS, and NBC ignored the existence of the Cut, Cap and Balance (CCB) bill until last week, a Nexis search revealed, despite multiple polls demonstrating overwhelming public support.
In addition to the blackout, none of the broadcast networks ever mentioned the positive polls in their coverage of the bill, even though 65 percent of the public backed a constitutional amendment requiring a…

GOP Guest Informs CNN of Its Own Poll Results
July 22nd, 2011 1:26 PM
Rep. Tom Graves (R-Ga.) twice told CNN's John King Thursday night the results of CNN's own poll showing Americans favor a Cut, Cap, and Balance plan. King would not affirm his claims and instead reported other poll results showing that Americans favor compromise on the debt ceiling.
Throughout Thursday afternoon, the network selectively touted results from its newly-released poll showing a…

Fareed Zakaria Blames Tea Party For Debt Ceiling 'Sideshow
July 22nd, 2011 10:55 AM
CNN's Fareed Zakaria Thursday called the debt ceiling battle a "sideshow" caused by the Tea Party.
Appearing on "In the Arena" as a supposed "astute observer of the economy," Zakaria proceeded to bungle economic and historic facts like a high school dropout (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Media Mash: Despite MSM Slamming 'Cut, Cap and Balance,' 66% of Americ
July 22nd, 2011 10:37 AM
While the media have been busy persistently denouncing the Cut, Cap and Balance plan as Republicans "wasting time" with a "show" plan that has "no chance of passage," the public aren't accepting the media spin.
A CNN poll shows nearly 2/3rds of Americans favor that approach to tackling the national debt and balancing the budget, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell noted on the July 21 "Hannity…

No Media Reckoning for Harkin's False Deficit History
July 21st, 2011 11:29 PM
Iowa Senator Tom Harkin was at his worst Wednesday morning in a press conference.
Sure, there was the usual immature Democratic Party name-calling -- calling Republicans "dead-beat debtors" and characterizing Republicans who oppose raising the debt ceiling as a "cult fringe," even though polls seem to be showing that 60% of Americans are in that "fringe." But beyond that, Harkin uttered a…

CNN Ignores Poll Results Showing Strong Support for 'Cut, Cap, and Bal
July 21st, 2011 7:51 PM
CNN touted results from its newly-released poll Thursday showing Americans favor a balance of spending cuts and tax increases in the debt ceiling debate, as well as raising the debt ceiling. What the network completely failed to report -- although NewsBusters reported it -- was that Americans also favored two conservative positions – passage of a balanced budget amendment, along with spending…

CNN Poll Finds Media on Wrong Side of 'Cut, Cap and Balance
July 21st, 2011 5:24 PM
In the past week, you couldn't swing a debt cat without hitting a press report about how irresponsible the "Cut, Cap and Balance" bill passed by House Republicans is.
A new CNN/ORC poll released a few hours ago finds the media very much on the wrong side of public opinion concerning this issue:

CBS Slants Towards Supporters of Online Sales Taxes
July 21st, 2011 5:09 PM
CBS's John Blackstone apparently couldn't find many opponents of imposing sales taxes on online retailers for his report on Thursday's Early Show, as all but one of his sound bites came from proponents. Blackstone also warned that "states that are already suffering under huge budget deficits will lose more than $11 billion in uncollected sales taxes next year."
The correspondent first…