Economy

Late in the 2008 campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain was whacked in a front-page story in the New York Times for saying the "fundamentals of our economy are strong." But after President Obama said on Friday that "the private sector is doing fine" (he walked the statement back hours later) Times reporter Jackie Calmes conjured up some spin on Obama's behalf. The slant was…

Does CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien's job description include spoonfeeding Democratic talking points to Obama's deputy campaign manager? Quoting a study used by the Democratic-appointed CBO director to defend the stimulus plan, O'Brien asked Stephanie Cutter if there should be another stimulus, on Monday's Starting Point. "So, is the takeaway from this, the stimulus worked, so there should be…

Thin-skinned New York Times columnist Paul Krugman spoke at the left-wing Netroots Nation conference held in Providence, R.I. this weekend (a fact overlooked in his own paper's story). In his Saturday morning talk, Krugman displayed his usual class and charm by calling Times Book Review editor Sam Tanenhaus "very much a noecon," a slur in Krugman's liberal circles, for allegedly assigning an…

Charlie Rose deferred to Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod on Monday's CBS This Morning regarding the controversy over several recent national security leaks. Axelrod repeatedly denied that the leaks came from the administration. Rose didn't challenge his guest's talking point, even though former Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated that White House officials went "out in public with…

President Obama's declaration that “the private sector is doing fine” immediately became the headline out of his news conference last week, with even traditional liberal media outlets reporting it without spinning it for Obama. Even Time magazine headlined it, “As Economic Concerns Mount, President Obama Says, ‘The Private Sector Is Doing Fine'” However, as the story has continued, some of…

Straining to find a way to excuse President Obama's Friday remark that "the private sector is doing fine," on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry did her best to spin for the White House: "He is right in saying that the private sector is doing better than the public sector, is he not? And so that was his point, that this comment was taken out of context." [Listen to the audio or watch the…

President Obama made quite a gaffe Friday when just one week after the Labor Department announced horrid jobs numbers for May, he claimed "the private sector is doing fine." Appearing on CBS's This Morning Monday, New York Times columnist and unashamed Obama shill Paul Krugman covered for the current White House resident saying, "He screwed up the line" (video follows with transcribed…

The $82 billion auto bailout has been a Crony Socialist nightmare mess. We’re going to lose at least $30 billion on the deal.  And that’s only if the Barack Obama Administration’s math can be trusted - a dicey proposition at best. The Administration eviscerated two hundred-plus years of bankruptcy law, throwing bond holders over the side to over-reward their United Auto Workers shock force…

Fareed Zakaria on Sunday actually asked former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel if the president should "run a campaign against a do-nothing Republican Congress." Such actually transpired on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS, a program hysterically presented by the so-called "Most Trusted Name In News" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Former President Bill Clinton made headlines last week when he told CNBC's Maria Bartiromo the Bush tax cuts should be extended into next year. On ABC's This Week Sunday, Clinton's former adviser turned talk show host George Stephanopoulos asked one of his guests, "Might not he be right on the issue of extending the tax cuts at least for two or three or four months into next year to get over…

Last year, Harry Reid said pretty close to the same thing President Obama said on Friday about the health of the nation's private sector. Obama claimed that "The private sector is fine." On the Senate floor on October 19, Reid claimed that "It's very clear that private-sector jobs have been doing just fine." Don't feel bad if you don't know this, because the press mostly ignored it. The few…

Readers are advised to remove fluids, food, and flammables from proximity of their computers before proceeding. You've been warned. HBO's Bill Maher on Friday received a much-needed education on U.S. corporate profits from - wait for it! - an African-born international economist (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

Today at a press conference, President Barack Obama said that "we’ve created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone. The private sector is doing fine. Where we’re seeing weaknesses in our economy have to do with state and local government ..." Later, in a cleanup attempt, in what the press is claiming is a walkback, Obama really didn't walk it back: "…

MSNBC's Chris Matthews is clearly worried the President that once gave him a thrill up his leg is not going to get reelected. Appearing on Jansing and Company moments before Barack Obama's press conference Friday, the Hardball host said the President has "got to be aggressive. He’s got to be big time. Stop this nickel and dime, a couple of bucks for the teachers, a couple of bucks for the…