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CNN's Report on Rescinded Coal Rule: Comical, But Also Very Incomplete
UPDATE, Feb. 7: On Feb. 5, Jake Tapper tweeted that "if you're concerned about things being 'incomplete' maybe consider adding into your post Manchin on same show response to rule." I attempted to find that video, and could not. If it was so important, and in the interest of balance, one would hope it would be part of the CNN video at the web link cited below — and it's not.
As Nicholas…
The Week That Was
Republican members of Congress met in Philadelphia last weekend for what was called a retreat. It might have been more accurately labeled an advance. Perhaps not since the days of Franklin Roosevelt's first term has so much been done by so few that will potentially impact so many (to paraphrase Winston Churchill in a completely different context).
AP Ignores Falling Obama-Era Union Rolls, Takes Aim at Wisconsin
You would think that the establishment press and the rest of the opposition to Donald Trump's administration might be able to capitalize substantively (shrieking fundraising letters don't count as "substance") on Kellyanne Conway's shaky reference to "alternative facts" about a week ago. (She should have said, "I have different, more defensible estimates than you do," because she did.) So far…
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Friedman: After Trump’s Policies ‘There Will Be No Jobs!'
In what seemed like the ramblings of a 19th century Luddite, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday where he issued a ridiculous warning about the US economy under President Donald Trump. “So what’s going to happen if prices go up? American companies will build those factories here,” he exclaimed, “And you know what they'll do?…
SF Paper Downplays Minimum Wage Hikes Despite Restaurants Closing
A January 24 item in the East Bay Times, which serves the San Francisco East Bay area, wondered: "What’s behind the spate of recent restaurant closures?" While it didn't ignore the problem, the article made only glancing references to current and planned increases in state and city minimum wages. Preliminary year-end statistics at the U.S. government's Bureau of Labor Statistics show that Bay…
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CBS Knocks ‘Chaotic’ Trump Admin; 'It Was That Kind of Day'
From the first words out of anchor Scott Pelley on Thursday’s CBS Evening News, one had to know what kind of newscast it would be. Throughout the newscast’s A-block, every segment involved almost exclusive criticism of the Trump administration on issues ranging from the border to the media to Syrian refugees to trade agreements.
As Trump Freezes Federal Hiring, AP Hides 'Dramatic' Workforce Growth
In a Tuesday morning dispatch about President Donald Trump's federal hiring freeze, the Associated Press's Matthew Barakat presented a quote from Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer. He followed it with a statistic which he wants readers to believe refutes Spicer's claim. That statistic does no such thing, but I expect, even though it's remarkably lazy and misleading, that it will become a very…
Liberal Pundit Touts Books About How the GOP Became ‘Abnormal’
“The most important development of the last half-century in American politics,” believes New York magazine’s Chait, is “the Republican Party’s embrace of movement conservative ideology.” In a Thursday post, Chait cited six books, none of which was written by a conservative, that “help elucidate” this phenomenon. Among Chait’s choices: E.J. Dionne’s Why the Right Went Wrong; Richard Hofstadter’s…
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MRC’s Gainor Defends Trump’s Claim He Spurred Job Creation in U.S
Business
MRC Vice President of Business and Culture Dan Gainor denounced NBC’s attempt to downplay President-elect Donald Trump’s role in bringing new jobs to the U.S. On Twitter, Trump credited himself for new job creation on Jan. 17. The next day, NBC’s Today ran a “fact check” on Trump’s claim with MSNBC’s Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber, who said Trump had a “very small or non-existent” impact.
Liberal Author: Trump’s Election Began Our ‘Cultural Civil War’
Some liberals were disappointed by the result of the presidential election. Others were devastated. Former Fox News Watch panelist Gabler is in the latter group. “The anguish of Nov. 8 has not subsided,” wrote Gabler in a piece that appeared last Thursday on Salon and originally ran at BillMoyers.com. “We think of the election almost as a kind of death -- the death of the America we thought we…
International Trade Thuggery
President-elect Donald Trump's threats against American companies looking to relocate in foreign countries have won favorable review from many quarters. Support comes from those alarmed about trade deficits, those who want a "level playing field" and those who call for "free trade but fair trade," whatever that means.
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Dyson Sees 'Terror' in US: 'Vicious Police Forces' 'Victimized' Blacks
Appearing as a guest on Wednesday's New Day on CNN, Georgetown University professor and former MSNBC analyst Michael Eric Dyson likened police actions against black Americans to terrorism as CNN's Chris Cuomo argued that many voters were motivated to vote for Donald Trump by non-race-related issues like terrorism from ISIS. Dyson griped: "Color-neutral and ISIS? Many African-American people said…
AP Vastly Overplays Its New Respect For Never-Trumper John Kasich
Because he was the "singular 2016 (GOP) presidential contender never to fall in line behind Trump," Ohio Governor and two-time former presidential candidate John Kasich now has the Associated Press's deep respect. This largely explains why the wire service has been all too willing to ignore the fact that Kasich alone owns Ohio's impending budget problems.
Deficits Matter Again at the AP, and to Paul Krugman
There are predictable signs that after eight years of giving the problem inadequate attention and occasional ridicule, the business press has decided that federal budget deficits and the national debt are going to start to matter again. Gosh, I wonder why? The Associated Press's Christopher Rugaber was relatively subtle about it in a report on Uncle Sam's December and year-to-date budget deficits…
