Lawrence O'Donnell: Americans Aren't Rugged Individualists - They're S

April 14th, 2011 12:05 AM
Last November, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell proudly declared himself a socialist on national television. On Wednesday, "The Last Word" host took this a huge step further saying the whole idea that Americans are rugged individualists is an illusion because they're all really socialists (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Krauthammer: Obama's Speech 'Was a Disgrace', 'Shallow' and 'Deeply Di

April 13th, 2011 9:54 PM
Charles Krauthammer was less than pleased with Barack Obama's speech Wednesday concerning his plan to bring down the nation's staggering budget deficit. As the panel segment of Fox's "Special Report" began, Krauthammer said, "I thought it was a disgrace. I thought I’ve rarely heard a speech by a president so shallow, so hyper-partisan, and so intellectually dishonest, outside the last couple…

SF Chronicle Hails 'Obama's Centrist Approach' to Budget

April 13th, 2011 5:53 PM
"Obama aims for the middle on taxes and spending." That's the headline the San Francisco Chronicle gave Washington bureau staffer Carolyn Lochhead's write-up this afternoon following President Obama's "belated embrace of his commission's recommendation to cut $4 trillion in deficits over the next 12 years." "Even as he reached back to his 2008 campaign lodestar with a reference to Abraham…

President's Call to Inaction to Be Withdrawn

April 13th, 2011 4:29 PM
The great American engine of democracy is beginning to build up a head of steam, and it remains the finest device created by man to organize collective human action. Two months ago, the conventional wisdom held that Washington would do nothing of consequence to start dealing with our fiscal crisis. Certainly, that was the political baseline for the president's Feb. 14 budget proposal for 2012…

Main Economics Writer Leonhardt's Solution to Budget Woes No Surprise

April 13th, 2011 2:38 PM
It's becoming a habit. The New York Times's chief economics writer David Leonhardt once again called for higher taxes in his column on the front page of Wednesday's Times, especially on “the rich,” in the name of deficit reduction (and also because, hey all civilized countries do it). Wednesday A1, “Do-Nothing Congress as a Cure.” It’s as if tax increases were a mere technicality in any…

In Dem Budget Infighting, No 'Civil War' Labels From Media

April 13th, 2011 1:16 PM
This week marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. But there's another "civil war" of sorts on the horizon, this one between the ultra-liberal wing of the Democratic Party, which has thus far steadfastly refused to accept cuts to entitlement programs in the name of fiscal solvency, and the party's more moderate members (which include, amazingly, President Barack Obama and…

NBC's Lauer to Bachmann: 'Shouldn't We Put Some of the Burden on the W

April 13th, 2011 12:43 PM
Interviewing Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann on Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer pushed for tax increases in the 2012 budget: "...the President's expected to call for raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans – some estimates say that could raise some $700 billion, why couldn't that money be used to pay down the debt?" Moments later, Lauer added: "...like Congressman Ryan…

Fourth Time’s the Charm? Networks Take Yet Another Crack at Portrayi

April 13th, 2011 12:10 PM
Reporters are eagerly anticipating President Obama’s budget speech this afternoon, with NBC’s Chuck Todd assuring viewers of Wednesday’s Today show that now, finally, “the President’s going to add his voice to this, debate, essentially, over what to do about the ever-growing deficit and debt.” But over and over again over the past two years, the media have painted Obama as a leader committed…

WaPo Hypes Plight of Woman 'Relying on Planned Parenthood' for Health

April 13th, 2011 11:56 AM
Doing it's level best to push the meme that Planned Parenthood is a crucial provider of basic medical services for poor women -- and hence deserving of federal taxpayer support -- today's Washington Post devoted one-eighth of page A5 in today's print edition to a photo entitled "Relying on Planned Parenthood." Depicted is a 24-year-old woman, one Minah Khan, having blood drawn "during a…

Is Obama About to Have a Mondale Moment

April 13th, 2011 10:35 AM
When Democrat presidential candidate Walter Mondale announced in his October 1984 debate with former President Reagan that he would raise taxes if elected, his  campaign was over, and he ended up losing one of the biggest election routs in American history. As Barack Obama prepares to offer the nation his deficit reduction plan Wednesday, it is widely believed he is going to recommend tax…

CBS Validates and Rationalizes Obama’s Strategy to Defeat ‘Controv

April 13th, 2011 2:12 AM
“Critics say it’s about time” for President Barack Obama to offer his plan to reduce the deficit, CBS’s Chip Reid acknowledged Tuesday night before he proceeded to rationalize Obama’s disengagement, validated by CBS’s in-house political analyst. Reid asserted: “Political analysts say the President had good reason to wait. He wanted the Republicans to go first and they did last week when…

Cenk Brags That As President He'd Be Tougher With Republicans Than Oba

April 12th, 2011 10:24 PM
There's an old saw that every time a senator looks in the mirror, he sees a president.  Could the same be true of MSNBC hosts?   Twice tonight on his TV show, Cenk Uygur fantasized himself as president.  The muy macho MSNBCer naturally imagined he'd be much tougher with Republicans than President Obama. View video after the jump.

In Reports on March Deficit, Wire Services 'Forget' to Tell Readers Sp

April 12th, 2011 7:33 PM
In a business that is supposed to treat record achievements, dubious or otherwise, as news, it's more than a little curious to note that the Associated Press's Martin Crutsinger, along with Reuters and AFP, all "somehow" forgot to tell readers that March's reported federal outlays, as seen in the Monthly Treasury Statement released today, came in at an all-time record of $339.047 billion, and…

GOP Didn't Win Budget Battle; Silver Lining: Neither Did Dems

April 12th, 2011 4:43 PM
The Republicans did not win this budget fight, but the cuts they were able to extract illustrate, ironically, that Democrats are finally on the defensive. Scorekeeping aside, we must build on this non-victory because it was also a Democratic retreat. Last week, I argued that the GOP should not cave on the budget negotiations for many reasons, including that today is not 1995-96. Things are so…