Robin Hood vs. the Occupiers
We have entered a new phase of the endless Occupy Wall Street sleepover. Not working is hard work. After a month of tying up the police, generating mounds of trash, railing against Jews while holding up "Nazi Bankers" signs, grappling with pervs, rapists and thieves in their ranks, communing with avowed communists, and hobnobbing with 1 percenter celebrities donning 99 percenter costumes (phew…
MSNBC's Luke Russert Stays Objective Despite Aggressive Push from Left
MSNBC congressional correspondent Luke Russert today refused to parrot MSNBC host Martin Bashir's left-wing talking points about House Republicans and their proposal to boost the economy and spur job creation.
"This week, Eric Cantor will introduce a jobs bill of his own, so what exactly should we expect?" Bashir rhetorically asked viewers as he introduced his "Divided We Fall" segment,…
Scarborough Denounces Mika's Double Standard On Biden 'Rape' Fear-Mong
A notable moment on Morning Joe today, as Joe Scarborough called out Mika Brzezinski on her double standard when it comes to criticizing politicians for their over-the-top remarks.
Setting Scarborough off was Brzezinski's defense of Joe Biden's allegation that crime, including rape, would increase if Republicans don't vote for President Obama's latest tax-raising stimulus plan. Joe claimed…
9-9-100? Prof Pushes 100% Consumption Tax on Rich
If Herman Cain has been harshly criticized for his 9-9-9 plan, which includes a 9% national sales tax, should we expect Robert Frank to come under fire? After all, on Morning Joe today, the Cornell University professor proposed a progressive consumption tax that could go to . . . 100% on the rich.
Frank's notion is that the very high rates would discourage the rich from building "mansions" […
Politico's Mak Buries the Lede: Austan Goolsbee, Supply-Sider
The easy catch in former Obama administration economic adviser Austan Goolsbee's Thursday interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," as reported by the Politico's Tim Mak, is that he believes that "if given a second chance he would not have backed the Cash for Clunkers program or the home buyer tax credit." Goolsbee's excuse for his changed position -- that the administration didn't think the recovery…
WaPo's Kessler Exposes Biden's 'Absurd Claims About Rising Rape and Mu
In June, when yours truly last blogged on a Glenn Kessler piece (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), the Washington Post's "Fact Checker" was calling Barack Obama's claims about the accomplishments of the auto-company bailouts "one of the most misleading collections of assertions we have seen in a short presidential speech." He gave Obama's claims three Pinocchios ("Significant factual error and/or…
Multimillionaire OWS Supporter Russell 'I Want to Pay More Taxes' Simm
Multimillionaire Occupy Wall Street supporter Russell Simmons made the media circuit in recent weeks bragging about how he wants the government to raise his taxes.
Yet on MSNBC's PoliticsNation Wednesday, the hip-hop mogul told Al Sharpton, "I don’t pay taxes...I won’t give my money to war machine and to other things" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CBS Touts Wall Street Protesters' Music as 'Tool for Social Justice
On Tuesday's Early Show, CBS's Bigad Shaban, seemingly grasping for straws for any reason to report on "Occupy Wall Street," played up the music performances from protesters down in lower Manhattan. Shaban emphasized how "music has helped spur movements," and gushed that "some believe if history is any indication, they could provide harmony to a movement."
The correspondent highlighted that…
New York Mag Finds 'Occupy Wall Street' Ignorant About Top Tax Rate, F
New York Magazine, no right-wing rag by any stretch, recently asked 50 Occupy Wall Street protesters some basic questions about U.S. fiscal policy. While the survey is not scientific, the rank-and-file protesters in Zuccotti Park seem to be woefully ignorant on such basic questions as what the SEC stands for (Securities and Exchange Commission), what the top marginal income tax is (35 percent…
NBC's Gregory: Occupy Wall Street Will 'Dovetail Nicely' With Obama's
Appearing on Sunday's NBC Today, Meet the Press host David Gregory proclaimed that the Occupy Wall Street protests would "...dovetail nicely into a big message that the President's selling, which is that the wealthy should pay more....that banner of going after Wall Street and the banks, talking about unfairness that a lot of protesters that are complaining about." [Audio available here]…
NBC's Isikoff Warns Cain's 9-9-9 Plan May Mean 'More Pain' for 'Strugg
On Saturday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Michael Isikoff filed a report recounting criticisms of GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, as Isikoff asserted that "critics see more pain, not gain, for struggling families." His report continued:
Big Three Nets Trumpet Wall Street Protesters 'Proclaiming Victory
The Big Three networks' seeming desperation to report on "Occupy Wall Street" reached a new level on Friday, after they led their morning shows with New York City's decision to not clear the park where the protesters are camped. NBC touted how the demonstrators were "proclaiming victory" in response to the move. ABC highlighted the "celebratory" atmosphere, while CBS played up the "mood of…
NBC Touts Slanted Poll Showing Support for Obama's Second Stimulus and
On Thursday's NBC Today, after acknowledging President Obama's low approval rating, co-host Matt Lauer and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd cheered other results of the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, with Lauer proclaiming: "If there is some good news for the White House this morning it's that 63% of the people in this poll approve of his jobs plan."
Todd followed: "That…
CNN's Burnett: Aren't Tax Hikes Part of 'Rational' Deficit Strategy
CNN's Erin Burnett argued that, according to a Pew study, tax hikes and spending cuts together would be more effective in trimming the deficit than spending cuts alone, and asked Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) if tax hikes weren't "part of a rational independent strategy here?"
Burnett also pressed the conservative presidential candidate as to why she stuck to her positions on social and…
