POTUS, Lefty Blogger Agree: History Should Vindicate Obama
New York magazine’s Chait argues that Obama “has incontrovertibly made major progress on, or fulfilled, every one of” the goals with which he started his presidency, and that “the horrifying consequences conservatives insisted would follow have all failed to materialize.”
Samuelson: Krugman 'Maddeningly Wrong' on Reagan and Inflation
In an economic columnist face-off, The Washington Post’s Robert J. Samuelson declared Paul Krugman of The New York Times wrong about inflation history.
Samuelson said that Krugman’s Jan. 5, column made a “glaring error” when it claimed President Ronald Reagan had little to do with getting double-digit 1980s inflation under control. Samuelson said it was the first time he could recollect devoting…
Politico Doesn't Mind Obama Going Around Congress Again
Well, they're nothing if not consistent.
When the Obama administration lost a court ruling against its ban on Gulf of Mexico drilling after the BP oil spill, it simply issued another ban. When it lost at the Supreme Court in the Hobby Lobby case, it just issued a new rule which hardly differed from the one the Court nullified. Now, when it becomes clear that the administration won't get the…
Barely News: Dire Venezuelan Shortages Bring Military Into Stores
Three results returned in a search at the Associated Press's national site on "Venezuela" tell us almost nothing about that country's deepening economic crisis.
An unbylined January 10 item reports on the visit of Nicolas Maduro, the country's de facto dictator, to Iran in hopes of "stabilizing" (i.e., raising) oil prices. A second unbylined report on January 9 tells readers that there's really…
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On Fox, MRC's Noyes Reveals Failed 2015 Predictions From Media
Appearing on Saturday's Fox & Friends on Fox News, Media Research Center research director Rich Royes detailed the utter failure of several media predictions about 2015. From The New York Times estimating huge budget surpluses for the U.S. government to CNN warning of a real-life war on women, Noyes told hosts Tucker Carlson and Peter Johnson just how wrong the liberal press was in its…
NYT Loves Big Govt: 'Public Sector...Once Again Adding to Prosperity'
The big-government supporters at the New York Times offered two classic big-government news stories on the front of its Business section two days in a row. On Friday: "Government Spending, Edging Up, Is a Stimulus." The text box underlined the pro-government spending sentiment: "The public sector is once again adding to prosperity." On Thursday: "Hourly Wage Is Going Up for Millions." The online…
Mario Cuomo in 1984: High on Passion, Low on Accuracy
Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who died on Thursday, is predictably being lionized today by USA Today's Aamer Madhani "as (a) giant in political rhetoric," and by others elsewhere in similarly glowing terms.
Madhani goes on to characterize the three-term Empire State chief executive's 1984 Democratic Convention speech in San Francisco as "what is widely considered one of the finest pieces…
Stop the Presses: Jackson Said Something Sensible — On Immigration
Call the Ripley's Believe It or Not people. Have smelling salts available. What follows will surely be one of the more unusual things you've seen or heard this year.
In the midst of his otherwise odious Silicon Valley race-hustling shakedown effort, Jesse Jackson said something that made sense — so much sense that the rest of the press, which usually hangs on every word of his nonsensical…
Press Barely Notices Obama Team's Computerized Health Records Fiasco
The old saying — "To err is human, but to really screw things up, you need a computer" — needs an update. In this case, it's "To err is human, but to wreck an entire industry, you need to have the federal government try to force it to computerize."
I'm referring to the government's attempt to coerce doctors into using its mandated, "clunky, time-sucking" electronic health records system. Somehow…
Lefty Blogger: Tax Cuts Fail, But Right Backs Them For ‘Moral’ Reasons
The American Prospect’s Paul Waldman claims that right-wingers’ “belief in tax cuts doesn't rest on the practical effects. That's an argument that's meant to appeal to everyone, since it concerns something (growth) that just about everyone thinks is good. But the real source of the conservative support for tax cuts is moral, not practical. They believe that taxes are inherently immoral.”
Vermont Abandons Single-Payer Health Care; Press Coverage Muted
President Barack Obama, soon to be former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, former Congressman Barney Frank, and many other prominent Democrats and leftists have over the past several years declared that their ultimate goal is turn the U.S. healthcare system into a "single-payer," i.e., completely government-controlled, enterprise.
That likely explains why the reaction to Vermont's abandonment…
Daily Kos: Conservatism = ‘War on the Whole Idea of Governing’
Mark Sumner contends that since the Reagan years, “conservatism has been more than just an argument about tax rates and regulat[ions]. It's become an open and honest war on the whole idea of governing.”
Reporting on New York's Fracking Ban Ignores Awful Upstate Economy
The establishment press is virtually giddy over New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's cowardly, self-serving decision to ban fracking in New York. It's cowardly because Cuomo is publicly pretending that he's only deferring to his environmental and health commissioners, when everyone with an ounce of sense knows that he's getting the recommendations he wanted. It's self-serving because it enhances his…
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NBC Skewers Uber in One-Sided Segment; Hypes ‘Rough Ride’ Over Safety
In addition to its slanted coverage of the news regarding Cuba, NBC Nightly News on Thursday offered up a biased segment against the growing transportation company Uber by using two incidents involving its drivers to conclude that Uber’s currently experiencing “a rough ride” over “increasing concerns” regarding safety.
NBC News correspondent Janet Shamulian only interviewed two individuals…
