Bartiromo: Stimulus Likely Didn't Save Economy –- Fed Did; Warns Oba
While some on the left side of the aisle in Congress are getting all starry-eyed about prospects of more federal stimulus spending, the first round of stimulus under President Barack Obama may have done even less to help the ailing economy than supporters claim. On MSNBC's July 9 broadcast of "The Daily Rundown," co-hosts Chuck Todd and Savannah Guthrie interviewed CNBC "Closing Bell" anchor…
Time's 'Top Signs of Troubled Economy:' Lack of Strikes, Rise of Colle
The next time you want to gauge how bad the economy is, don't check the unemployment rate or the stock market. Instead, look to see if anyone is dressed as a cow at the local Chick-fil-A. Time Magazine posted a somewhat lighthearted hodgepodge of "Top 10 Signs of a Troubled Economy and/or the Apocalypse" on its website on July 9. Surprisingly, at the number one spot ("New Yorkers are…
CBO Notes YTD Deficit Tops $1 Trillion; Reality Is Much Worse
On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office released its Monthly Budget Review for June. It estimated that June's deficit was "only" $69 billion, down from $94 billion last year, and that the deficit through nine months of the current fiscal year is $1.005 trillion, down from last year's $1.087 trillion. June's single-month improvement -- or more properly stated, its less disastrous result --…
Schultz Warns America: Pay More Welfare Or Become 'Third-World Country
The time-temp clock down at the bus station here read 104 degrees this afternoon. We can't offer readers cooler weather, but perhaps they'll settle for some comic relief . . . On his MSNBC show this evening, Ed Schultz warned that unless the US pays out more in welfare, we risk becoming a "Third-World country." Schultz said it twice, so apparently it wasn't a bizarre one-time brain camp. Ed's on…
MSNBC: 'New Jobless Claims Decline By Over
Recovery summer just keeps getting better and better. News outlets such as MSNBC.com announce "New jobless claims drop sharply." Although the unadjusted data reflect an actual increase, the media are reporting a seasonally adjusted drop of 21,000 in jobless claims.
CNNMoney.com: 'Jobless Claims Slide in Latest Week
This morning CNNMoney.com reports "Jobless claims slide in latest week." The article starts:The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance fell last week, according to a government report released Thursday.There were 454,000 initial jobless claims filed in the week ended July 3, down 21,000 from an upwardly revised 475,000 in the previous week, the Labor Department…
Cox Reporter Rips Right-Wing Luminaries for 'Rumor' About Offshore Dri
Rush has spent a considerable portion of today's broadcast ripping into this article by Christine Stapleton of Cox Newspapers, and rightly so, for the first three of the four opening paragraphs that follow: Despite the warnings of Dick Cheney, George Will, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, the Russians are not drilling for oil off Cuba. Neither are the Chinese. In fact, no one — not even Cuba — is…
Malveaux Hates Fourth of July - Reminds Her of Slavery and Economic In
If you were African-American living in the era of President Barack Obama, would you hate the Fourth of July because it reminded you of slavery and economic inequality?You would if your name was Julianne Malveaux and you were the syndicated columnist that also serves as the president of Bennett College, the historically black women's school in Greensboro, North Carolina.So disdainful of America's…
Krugman: 'Heartless, Clueless and Confused' GOP Block Unemployment Ben
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is angry the Senate hasn't once again extended unemployment benefits, and he's blaming "heartless, clueless and confused" Republicans."There was a time when everyone took it for granted that unemployment insurance, which normally terminates after 26 weeks, would be extended in times of persistent joblessness. It was, most people agreed, the decent thing to do…
AP Quietly Lowers the 'Normal' Unemployment Bar to
Those looking for evidence that there is a move afoot in the establishment press to lower the bar for whatever economic accomplishments might be accomplished during the Obama administration will be interested in how the Associated Press's report on the government's June jobs report defined "normal" unemployment. Perhaps it's valid for reporters Jeannine Aversa and Christopher Rugaber to refer to…
CNBC’s Greenburg, CNET.com’s Del Conte Suggest Twitter's 'Fail Wha
The Twitter "Fail Whale": An irritating part of anyone's day that regularly uses social networking in their day-to-day activities. But could this endanger the viability of Twitter as long-term business? A couple of analysts say think so. Both CNET.com senior editor Natali Del Conte and Herb Greenburg of CNBC Business News suggested Twitter's infrastructure problems could pose issues for Twitter'…
Angry Keynesian: Krugman Threatens to 'Punch' Detractors 'In the Kisse
Paul Krugman is known for throwing a bomb or two from his platform in the New York Times, but it's really tough to take him for a violent fellow. In his July 2 blog post, "I'm Gonna Haul Out The Next Guy Who Calls Me ‘Crude' And Punch Him In the Kisser," Krugman lamented criticism of his support for more stimulus spending. A July 1 editorial in The Economist noted that the economy needs more…
CBS's Chip Reid Rails Against Failure to Extend Unemployment Benefits
CBS's Chip Reid on Thursday railed against the Senate for failing to extend unemployment benefits. The Evening News reporter opined, "So who's fault is that? On the surface, it appears Senate Republicans are to blame. Led by Mitch McConnell, they killed the bill with a filibuster." At no point did Reid or fill-in anchor Scott Pelley discuss whether unemployment benefits should be extended yet…
