CNN's Lemon Peppers Rand Paul With Dem Talking Points After Asking Pau

After asking Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to discard his talking points and be frank on the debt ceiling issue, CNN's Don Lemon repeatedly interrupted the senator, and even lectured him and threw some Democrat talking points at him. Lemon interviewed Paul on Saturday's 5 p.m. EDT edition of CNN Newsroom. "At this point though, and can we do this – let's do this interview without…
Matt Hadro
August 1st, 2011 2:49 PM

NBC Hosts Fret Obama Had to 'Give In' to GOP With 'Not Balanced' Debt

In an interview with White House advisor David Plouffe on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer worried about liberals being unhappy with the proposal deal on the debt ceiling: "So did the President compromise here, David, or did he give in simply so that he wouldn't be labeled as the president who was on duty as the nation defaulted on its financial obligations?" Plouffe defended the plan…
Kyle Drennen
August 1st, 2011 1:02 PM

The Debt Ceiling Argument is the Wrong Conversation

Not another cent for incompetence and corruption.
Dan Kennedy
August 1st, 2011 12:24 PM

George Stephanopoulos Parrots Lefty Paul Krugman to Hit Obama From the

Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Monday hit senior White House advisor David Plouffe from the left, highlighting liberal columnist Paul Krugman's complaints about the debt ceiling deal. The morning show also played up a Democratic congressman's attack that the bill is a "Satan sandwich." Quoting from the New York Times' Krugman, Stephanopoulos fretted, "Paul Krugman in the New…
Scott Whitlock
August 1st, 2011 12:19 PM

Openly Conservative Actor Kelsey Grammer Considering Run for Mayor of

The entertainment industry is notably short on actors who are confident enough to express any rightward beliefs in notoriously left Tinseltown, but one of the few who does, actor Kelsey Grammer (best known for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane on Cheers and then later Frasier) told the New York Post that once he's done with his thespian career he may end up running for mayor of New York City. The…
Geoffrey Dickens
August 1st, 2011 12:10 PM

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

Sometimes, the yelling stops long enough to remember that there are real people involved in abortions. And not just the youngest one, who doesn't get a say in the decision. I read the other day a piece about the "safe and successful" telemedicine abortions, getting "high grades" in Iowa. That's an abortion where a doctor doesn't even have to be present. The clinical efficiency with which…
Kathryn Jean Lopez
August 1st, 2011 11:34 AM

New York Gets Al Jazeera English

Look out MSNBC. The market for “vicious, inaccurate, and inexcusable” cable news just got more crowded in New York. The New York Times reported August 1 that Al Jazeera English will begin appearing in New York for the first time, “subletting air space from a channel owner.” This marks a victory in AJE’s campaign to gain widespread access to the U.S. cable market. It’s also a victory for the…
Matt Philbin
August 1st, 2011 11:15 AM

Open Thread: Debt Agreement Reached With Bipartisan Support

Late last night, President Obama announced that Democrat and Republican leaders had agreed on a plan with Obama's approval to raise the debt ceiling. The plan would prevent any possible defaults that could occur on August 2 if the deal is not passed in Congress. The plan is still subject to congressional approval, and many Democrats and Republicans are already speaking out against it. Check…
NB Staff
August 1st, 2011 9:42 AM

Krugman: 'Those Demanding Spending Cuts Now Are Like Medieval Doctors

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is not happy with the deal Congress and the President apparently have agreed upon to end the debt ceiling impasse. In his Monday piece, the Nobel laureate wrote, "[T]hose demanding spending cuts now are like medieval doctors who treated the sick by bleeding them":
Noel Sheppard
August 1st, 2011 9:09 AM

Take Barney Frank. Please

Barney Frank has to be the biggest sourpuss in Congress. The liberal representative from Massachusetts has made an art form out of ripping out his ear piece and abruptly ending an interview. This testy feller could pick a fight in a phone booth. So Frank would be the last person you'd expect, in commenting on the debt ceiling deal, to break out a classic line from comedian Henny Youngman. …
Mark Finkelstein
August 1st, 2011 9:00 AM

Sharpton Pushed for Comcast/NBC Merger - And Now Is In Line for Own Sh

Remember how Al Sharpton was among the first black leaders to speak out in favor of Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal? My recollection of this was vague at best, tending as I do to dismiss nearly everything coming from Sharpton as insignificant, predictable or clownish. Then after FCC approval of the merger back in January, Sharpton began appearing more often as a guest on MSNBC, a…
Jack Coleman
August 1st, 2011 8:46 AM

Ben Stein Slams Tax Cuts, Tea Partiers, Bush, and Obama as ‘Careless

 During a commentary aired on CBS Sunday Morning, supposedly right-leaning actor and economist Ben Stein blamed the "folly of supply side economics" - singling out President George W. Bush’s tax cuts in addition to President Obama’s spending - for the current federal budget deficit. The CBS contributor also complained that some Republicans have an "inflexible belief" that "low taxes were an…
Brad Wilmouth
August 1st, 2011 4:20 AM

George Will Proposes 'Krugman Election': 'Resolved - Government Is Too

George Will and Paul Krugman had another great debate Sunday about the role of government spending in stimulating the economy. As the New York Times columnist predictably whined about the need for more federal spending not less, ABC's lone conservative said on "This Week," "It would be good to go to the electorate and have a Krugman election this time, saying: resolved, the government is too…
Noel Sheppard
August 1st, 2011 1:33 AM

CBS’s Cordes to Boehner: ‘How Can You Even Allow These Soldiers to

 On Saturday’s CBS Evening News, correspondent Nancy Cordes seemed to put the burden on Republicans of causing U.S. troops to wonder if they will be paid on time during the budget battle, as a clip of her was shown asked House Speaker John Boehner, "How can you even allow these soldiers to wonder whether they're going to get paid?"
Brad Wilmouth
August 1st, 2011 1:19 AM