NBC's Mitchell: Is GOP Doing Democrats 'A Favor' by Pushing 'Voter Sup

August 27th, 2013 10:59 AM
On her 1 p.m. ET hour MSNBC show on Monday, host Andrea Mitchell touted Attorney General Eric Holder "speaking about the national battle for voting rights" in the wake of new state voter I.D. laws and lead off a panel discussion on the topic by wondering: "How will the President take on those voter suppression laws?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump] Mitchell eagerly…

New York Times Gets Obama Interview, Fails to Ask Anything About IRS

July 30th, 2013 8:23 AM
Over the weekend, The New York Times promoted its July 24 interview with President Obama – after being shut out for almost three years – but reporters Jackie Calmes and Michael “Macaca” Shear couldn’t find time for a single question about the IRS scandal, Benghazi, or other Obama scandals. They found time to ask a softball about whether Obama would help observe the 50th anniversary of Martin…

Which Way Is It, NY Times? Will Social Programs Suffer 'Cutback' or Ju

April 5th, 2013 1:34 PM
The deck of headlines over Friday's lead New York Times story by White House reporter Jackie Calmes illustrated how hard it will be for conservatives to actually reduce the national debt: "Social Programs Facing A Cutback In Obama Budget -- Smaller Increase Seen -- Show of Compromise Is Aimed at Reviving Deficit Deal." The Times actually contradicted itself within its headline, announcing…

NY Times Sees 'Austerity,' "Poor May Be Hit Particularly Hard' by 'Pai

March 4th, 2013 3:19 PM
The perils and victims of the round of the mandatory federal spending cuts known as sequestration led the New York Times' weekend coverage, with the 2.4% cut in annual federal spending that went into effect starting Friday labeled "austerity" and ushered in with headlines warning that "Poor May Be Hit Particularly Hard." Also: those who still approve of Congress tend to be "Obama haters,"…

NYT Plugs Obama as Eager to End D.C. 'Dysfunction' & Fighting 'Hazardo

February 20th, 2013 2:00 PM
Basking in the campaign-like trappings of Obama's White House press conference, reporter Jackie Calmes repeated in Wednesday's New York Times, the president's horror stories on the purportedly deep impact of mandatory budget cuts, known as the "sequester," that are scheduled to hit March 1: "Obama Tries to Turn Up Pressure on Republicans as Cutbacks Near." The cuts amount to an estimated $85…

NYT's Harwood: Obama Has Tax-Hiking 'Mandate,' Stubborn House GOP 'Out

December 17th, 2012 7:47 PM
On the front of Sunday's New York Times, reporters Jackie Calmes and Jonathan Weisman suggested President Obama has a "mandate" for tax hikes in the ongoing tactical battle in Congress over the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts in "Soured History Hampers Talks Between Obama and Boehner." Last year, Mr. Boehner had the edge as Mr. Obama faced a difficult re-election campaign and needed…

NYT's Calmes Wins Dubious 'Unbiased' Title From Analyst Who Thinks Med

December 12th, 2012 4:24 PM
New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan posted Monday on a report by two "centrists" ludicrously lambasting the media for letting Mitt Romney get away with lie after lie during the campaign: "Did the Mainstream Press Really Bungle the Campaign’s ‘Single Biggest Story’?" In one of the most fascinating media-related pieces I’ve read in a while, Dan Froomkin interviews Thomas Mann and…

NYT's Calmes Celebrates Notorious 1990 Tax-Hiking Deal, Pits 'Genial

November 29th, 2012 4:01 PM
New York Times White House reporter Jackie Calmes celebrated President George H.W. Bush's 1990 budget deal "achievement" in her "Debt Reckoning" column Thursday, part of a new feature on the debate over the "fiscal cliff": "Looking for Lessons In the 1990 Budget Deal." The deal was blasted by conservatives as a disaster which failed to close the deficit as promised, because the proposed…

NYTimes Videocast Hits Disrespectful, 'Peevish' Romney's 'Serious Gaff

October 17th, 2012 2:12 PM
The second 2012 presidential debate hosted by Candy Crowley got the full court press from the New York Times, with live fact-checking online and a 40-minute TimesCast wrap-up, that found Times reporters wrongly defending Obama and bashing Mitt Romney on a fiery exchange on Libya. Times journalists were highly supportive of Barack Obama's performance and critical of the "peevish" Mitt Romney,…

Pre-Debate, New York Times Defends Obama from 'Bad Hand' Dealt by Bush

October 3rd, 2012 1:50 PM
On Wednesday, New York Times political reporters Jackie Calmes (pictured) and John Harwood offered a pre-debate fact-check which predictably leaned in Obama's favor (and blamed former President Bush): "A Closer Look at Assertions the 2 Sides Have Made on Economic Issues."

NYT's Jackie Calmes Defends Obama, Again Claims ObamaCare Will Cut Def

September 29th, 2012 6:05 AM
New York Times White House correspondent Jackie Calmes off lead in Wednesday's edition on Obama's struggle with the federal deficit, "Test for Obama As Deficit Stays Over $1 Trillion." Credit Calmes for the premise and the Times for the prominent placement, but as usual, Calmes waved the blame away from Obama and again clung to the dubious idea that ObamaCare would actually reduce the deficit…

New York Times Blares Mildly Good Poll News for Obama on Two Consecuti

September 17th, 2012 2:38 PM
The New York Times is milking its latest poll, showing some good news for Obama, to maximum effect. Sunday's front-page featured a poll story from one of the paper's top Obama boosters, White House correspondent Jackie Calmes (pictured): "Challenged on Medicare, G.O.P. Loses Ground." Text box: "Polls Show Favor for Obama on Issue of Party Trust." Calmes writes from Orlando:

Once More, NYTimes Dubiously Defends Obama's 'You Didn't Build That' a

September 11th, 2012 1:53 PM
New York Times White House reporter Jackie Calmes filed from Charlotte on Saturday after the Democratic National Convention had passed, "Democrats Face a Juggling Act Over Jobs." Surprisingly, Obama loyalist Calmes discerned political problems in the president's anti-business rhetoric. More predictably, she defended Obama's anti-entrepreneurship remark "you didn't build that," accusing the…

NYT's Calmes Elevates Liberal 'Fact-Checking': GOP 'Falsehoods' Have

August 31st, 2012 4:16 PM
White House reporter Jackie Calmes talked to Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod for a strong hit of Republican Convention bashing in her Friday New York Times story "Obama Team Sharpens Attacks on Rivals' Character." Calmes cited liberal media analysis to bolster her contention that even "independent fact-checkers" think the Republicans are lying. As the Obama campaign heads into its…