Budget
ABC Cap Gains Tax Hit Ignores Charles Gibson's 'Finest Hour' Questions
January 30th, 2011 9:52 AM
To add an exclamation point to Brad Wilmouth's great post last night ("ABC Pushes for Tax Hike on Capital Gains, Ignores Likelihood of Tax Revenue Loss") -- in ignoring the likelihood that raising the capital gains tax rate would reduce capital gains tax collections, the network also "somehow" forgot now-retired World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson's aggressive questioning on the topic…

Krauthammer Exposes Hypocrisy of Being Called 'Cranky' by WaPo Columni
January 29th, 2011 10:56 AM
In the middle of a rather comical exchange on PBS's "Inside Washington" Friday evening, Washington Post columnist Colby King accused fellow panelist Charles Krauthammer of being "cranky" concerning President Obama's State of the Union address.
Not at all surprising to fans of the Fox News contributor, Krauthammer struck back and did so quite impressively (video follows with transcript and…

Ari Fleischer Educates David Gergen on Danger of New 'Investments' Wit
January 26th, 2011 11:54 AM
David Gergen not surprisingly believes that increased federal spending on education - or "investments" as Democrats like to say - is essential irrespective of our nation's current fiscal crisis.
On "Anderson Cooper 360" following the President's State of the Union address, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer did his darnedest to explain to the CNN senior political analyst that our…
Rachel Maddow Indifferent or Oblivious to Facts on Paul Ryan's Roadmap
January 26th, 2011 8:33 AM
"News is about stories," Rachel Maddow intones in this MSNBC "Lean Forward" promo. "It's about finding all the disparate facts and then finding their coherence. Doing this right takes rigor and a devotion to facts that borders on obsessive. ... At the end of the day, though, this is about what's true in the world."
Just as the purpose of this promo is to convince MSNBC viewers and…

Chris Matthews: 'Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bailed Out Capitalism in th
January 25th, 2011 11:26 PM
The President that expanded the role, scope, and size of the federal government more than all that came before him or since is unquestionably Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Yet on Tuesday, moments after calling Congresswoman Michele Bachmann a "balloon head," MSNBC's Chris Matthews actually said FDR "bailed out capitalism in the '30s" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

New York Times Uses Violent Gun Metaphors: Republican Ryan A 'Point Ma
January 25th, 2011 7:43 AM
What's with the New York Times and its inability to practice what it preaches when it comes to avoiding gun-filled images and rhetoric? A few days ago I noted how the Times had placed a bullet-riddled ad for a violent video game right on its online op-ed page.
Now comes this Times headline: "Republicans’ Budget Man Draws Fire". That is of course a metaphorical invocation of someone who by…

CBS's Schieffer: Obama Sounds Like Reagan on Deficit Reduction While G
January 24th, 2011 12:25 PM
Talking to New York Senator Chuck Schumer on Sunday's Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer said of a video statement released by President Obama on Saturday: "If I didn't know better and had my eyes closed I might have thought that was President Reagan talking." Schieffer specifically referred to Obama's call for spending cuts, noting: "It sounded very much like a speech that a Republican would…

ABC’s Klein Adopts Euphemism ‘Investments’ to Refer to Obama Spe
January 23rd, 2011 11:30 PM
On the January 23 World News Sunday, ABC News Senior Washington Editor Rick Klein used President Obama’s euphemism for spending as "investments" as he and anchor Dan Harris discussed how Republicans will likely respond to Tuesday’s State of the Union Address. Although the setup piece by correspondent David Kerley did allude to Obama’s word choice to call his plan "cut and invest" as having…

Krugman Shocker: 1990s Economic Boom 'Had Nothing Much To Do With Bill
January 23rd, 2011 12:45 PM
For years, Democrats and their media minions have maintained that the economic boom of the '90s was caused by the fiscal policies of President Bill Clinton, in particular his 1993 income tax hike.
Appearing on ABC's "This Week" Sunday, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman shockingly said what conservatives have been claiming all along (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Media Trumpet Flawed ObamaCare Cost Estimates, Bozell Sets Record Stra
January 22nd, 2011 3:41 PM
Editor's Note: The initial post included an incorrect video embed. The correct video has now been inserted. We apologize for the error.
While mainstream media outlets repeatedly fail to question flawed health care cost estimates, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell exposed the biased coverage on the January 21 "Fox & Friends."
"This proves why they're not the mainstream media," asserted…

Health Care Cost Estimates Challenged, But Media Skip Criticism of 'No
January 17th, 2011 10:37 AM
- Since Obama took office, only 16 percent of health care stories mentioning the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) included any criticism of their accounting, despite criticism from many conservative and libertarian experts as well as the former head of CBO.
- Networks reporters and guests emphasized the CBO's integrity calling them "non-partisan," "independent" and the "referee" or "…
AP's Crutsinger Fails to Explain Why U.S. Spending Continues to Increa
January 13th, 2011 3:30 PM
Two paragraphs don't seem to belong together in Martin Crutsinger's Associated Press dispatch on the government's Monthly Treasury Statement for December. But there they are.
Here's the first paragraph of interest in Martin's missive ("Federal budget deficit narrows to $80B in December"):
Government spending during this period totaled $902.6 billion, an increase of 3.1 percent over the same…

WaPo’s Ezra Klein: Obamacare is ‘Best Thing’ Dems Have Done ‘I
January 7th, 2011 10:59 PM
Appearing as a guest on Friday’s Countdown show on MSNBC, Washington Post staff writer and Newsweek columnist Ezra Klein defended Obamacare and warned Republicans against attempting to repeal the law as he contended that some provisions are popular with the public. After host Keith Olbermann asked if Democrats should "relish rejoining the fight over health care reform" because it could hurt…
After Four Years of Kid Gloves for Dems, AP Can't Even Wait a Day to T
January 6th, 2011 11:52 PM
Well, that didn't take long.
AP reporters Calvin Woodward and Andrew Taylor answered the bell and came out swinging at the Republican House within hours after John Boehner was sworn in as Speaker, accusing the GOP of supposedly breaking a number of core promises.
As usual when the wire service covers Republicans, there's no shortage of inconsistency bordering on hypocrisy coming from AP's…