NBC's Lauer Ignores Obama Campaign Aide Calling Romney a Felon

July 17th, 2012 11:34 AM
In an otherwise tough interview with Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter on Tuesday's NBC Today about the negative tone of the President's re-election bid, co-host Matt Lauer failed to challenge her on the nastiest attack hurled by Democrats so far, Cutter's own charge that Mitt Romney may have committed a felony. Lauer repeatedly grilled Cutter on President Obama abandoning the…

Wishful Thinking at AP: 'Some Argue' That Jan. Tax Increases Won't Be

July 17th, 2012 9:33 AM
One useful interpretation of a journalist's use of "some people say that" or "some argue that" without an accompanying reference to or quote from a subject matters expert is that such phrases really mean "in my opinion." This is the very likely case in a disingenuously headlined Associated Press story yesterday by Andrew Taylor concerning the standoff between the Republicans, who want the…

Politico Picks Up Flawed National Journal Survey on Congressional Pay

July 16th, 2012 6:38 PM
Back in May, a handful of Senate Democrats attempting to open a new offensive front against Republicans in the "War on Women" introduced The Paycheck Fairness Act (PFA). "Democrats cited statistics showing that women today are still paid 77 cents for every dollar earned by men, or $10,784 less a year on average. That’s the equivalent of 183 tanks of gas or 92 bags of groceries," Politico's …

NBC's Guthrie: Does Romney Look Like He Has 'Something to Hide

July 16th, 2012 5:35 PM
In an interview with Republican strategist Steve Schmidt on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie portrayed Mitt Romney's decision not to release more tax returns as a sign of guilt: "Mitt Romney is within the letter of the law, but he's on the low end of the norm. Do you think that he's left the impression with voters that perhaps he does have something to hide?" A list appeared on…

Charlie Rose Boosts 'Enormously Successful' ObamaCare in Softball Inte

July 16th, 2012 5:26 PM
Charlie Rose did his best to avoid asking any tough questions during an interview of President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle that aired on Sunday's CBS Sunday Morning and Monday's CBS This Morning. Rose devoted over four straight minutes to the couple's summer vacation, family life, and marriage. He also touted the Democrat's ObamaCare law as "enormously successful," and wondered if it was…

Gasparino at NY Post on 'Lie-bor' Scandal: 'Geithner Yawned at Epic Fr

July 16th, 2012 4:53 PM
Here's how a "Business Highlights" item at the Associated Press summarized the situation between Timothy Geithner and London banks whose officials had admitted to rigging the London Interbank Offered Rate ("Libor") on Friday evening: "The Federal Reserve Bank of New York released documents Friday that show it learned five years ago of big banks understating their borrowing costs to manipulate a…

NBC: 'Mounting Pressure' for Romney to Release Tax Returns, Even From

July 16th, 2012 4:35 PM
At the top of Monday's NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie kept up the drum beat for Mitt Romney to release more tax returns as she proclaimed: "Mounting pressure. Mitt Romney facing new calls to release more of his tax returns. And this time they're coming from prominent conservatives." In the report that followed, correspondent Peter Alexander failed to back up Guthrie's headline until the…

Sigourney Weaver: Dems About 'The People'; GOP Just 'Serving Big Busin

July 16th, 2012 11:22 AM
In an interview with Meet the Press moderator David Gregory for the Sunday show's web-based feature Press Pass, Political Animals star Sigourney Weaver explained her support for President Obama: "...the Democrats are always going to be about what the people need. And the Republicans are much more serving big business, and I don't think we can afford to serve big business for another four years…

AP Report Claims GOP Governors Have 'Awkward Task' Explaining Their Su

July 15th, 2012 11:17 PM
Democrats are at it again, claiming that Republicans, particularly House Republicans, are sabotaging the economy, while ignoring the quite effective job President Barack Obama has done to ruin the economy both on his own (regulatory and anti-fossil fuel hostility, wasteful green "investments," etc.) and with the help of Congressional Democrats when they controlled both Houses of Congress (…

NPR Touts Virginia 'Shifting in the Democrats' Direction'; Slants Towa

July 13th, 2012 6:36 PM
On Friday's Morning Edition, NPR's Scott Horsley favored Obama supporters in his report on the battle for Virginia's electoral votes, playing three soundbites from them, versus only one from a Republican official in the commonwealth. Horsley also played up how "the demographics are shifting in the Democrats' direction." The correspondent led the segment by noting the Democratic incumbent's…

Bill Keller, Former NYTimes Editor, Says Voter ID Laws Only About 'Dis

July 13th, 2012 1:07 PM
On Thursday's edition of the New York Times's daily TimesCast, liberal columnists Charles Blow and Bill Keller discussed Mitt Romney's appearance at the NAACP convention (which Keller, the paper's former executive editor, found condescending). They took on the issue of voter ID laws in various states. Over a montage of still photos of blacks in line to vote, Keller called voter fraud "kind of…

Time's Scherer Blasts Obama Ad That Skews Mitt Romney's Position on Ab

July 13th, 2012 12:45 PM
As we noted previously and to its credit, the Washington Post has been critical of misleading Barack Obama attack ads on Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Now Time magazine has taken to fact-checking an Obama ad which hits Mitt Romney on a hot-button social issue: abortion. Time magazine's Michael Scherer -- no Romney backer he -- slammed the Obama spot as "centered on a clear untruth," and…

NBC: Obama Preaches 'Unity' and 'Optimism' While Romney 'Relentlessly

July 13th, 2012 12:33 PM
In a campaign report for Friday's NBC Today, correspondent Peter Alexander touted a sound bite of President Obama telling CBS's Charlie Rose: "...the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people." Alexander added that the President wanted to tell, "A story that gives Americans a sense of 'unity' and 'optimism'..."   Immediately following that glowing description of…

NBC's Guthrie Invites Clinton to Slam GOP 'Rooting for the Economy to

July 13th, 2012 10:22 AM
In an interview aired on Friday's NBC Today, former President Bill Clinton began by attacking Republicans: "I'm not sure both sides want the economy to get better....I know what Senator McConnell said, that his number one priority was winning the election." Co-host Savannah Guthrie helpfully added: "It sounds like you're saying the Republicans are basically rooting for the economy to fail." […