Scarborough Rips Krugman: 'Blind Ideologue' Only Bloggers 'Still Livin

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough on Friday took some well-deserved shots at New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. After "Morning Joe's" Mika Brzezinski read bits of Krugman's most recent rant against "Republican extremism," her co-host responded, "If you’re a blogger, and you’re still living in your mom’s basement, and you got Cheetos all over the keyboard, you type in your underwear...you look at…
Noel Sheppard
July 29th, 2011 11:11 AM

Open Thread Friday

Today's starter topic: As you likely know, there still is no agreement on the debt ceiling. Perhaps the government should hit up computer manufacturer Apple for the cash, since the liberal-loved company now has more cash on hand that the U.S. Treasury:
NB Staff
July 29th, 2011 11:09 AM

Huffington Post’s Stein Suggests GOP Budget ‘Would Actually Hinder

 Appearing as a guest on Thursday’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein suggested that the budget plan that the House Republican leadership is trying to pass would harm the economy, and, as if the government did not take in lots of tax revenue already, referred to the absence of a tax increase as "no revenues." Stein:
Brad Wilmouth
July 29th, 2011 2:30 AM

Brian Williams Demands of Mitch McConnell: ‘Why Shouldn't Rich Folks

Running a brief excerpt from his Sunday night Dateline special, “Taking the Hill: Inside Congress,” Brian Williams on Thursday evening showcased one and only one question he posed to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He demanded: “Why shouldn't rich folks pay more?” Williams insisted on NBC Nightly News that’s “a hot topic, no tax increase in any of these plans being discussed” in “…
Brent Baker
July 28th, 2011 9:03 PM

CBS's Schieffer Wrongly Claims Social Security Checks Can't Go Out Wit

On three occasions between July 22 and July 26, 2011, CBS's Bob Schieffer carried water for President Obama when he echoed the Democrat's inaccurate claim about Social Security: "Millions of Americans...may not get their next [Social Security] check if the debt ceiling crisis is not resolved." In reality, there is enough federal revenues and authorized expenditures to pay for the program [audio…
Matthew Balan
July 28th, 2011 7:08 PM

CNN Incorrectly Hypes Seniors' Fears of Social Security Default

Even Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) believes the government can still pay out social security checks if the debt ceiling is not raised, but CNN highlighted disgruntled seniors Thursday who fear the opposite. CNN correspondent Sandra Endo reported live from a senior center and emphasized that the citizens were "scared," "worried," and "angry" about possibly not receiving their Social…
Matt Hadro
July 28th, 2011 6:22 PM

Flashback: With March 2006 Debt Ceiling Hike NBC, CBS Noted $30,000/pe

During the current debt ceiling debate, have the media told you what your personal share of the national debt would be after the ceiling is hiked? Yeah. I didn't think so. But when it was a midterm election year in which Democrats thrashed President George W. Bush and the GOP on overspending, it was a different story.
Ken Shepherd
July 28th, 2011 6:19 PM

After the 'Great' John McCain Bashes the Tea Party, Chris Matthews Gus

Chris Matthews' infatuation with John McCain has returned. The day after the Republican senator bashed his own party, knocking "Hobbit" Tea Partiers, the Hardball anchor on Thursday lauded him as "great" and even suggested McCain as a MSNBC guest host: "...He can substitute for me some night with that kind of talk!" The former GOP presidential nominee criticized 2010 Senate candidates…
Scott Whitlock
July 28th, 2011 6:11 PM

GOP's 'Cut, Cap and Balance' Mostly Just Cut By Media

Republican budget plan only mentioned by name in 10 percent of stories.
Julia A. Seymour
July 28th, 2011 5:58 PM

Archdiocese Blasts Magazine Over 'Agenda-driven Travesty of Salacious

This past month, Philadelphia magazine published what can only described as a vulgar, unfair, and reckless piece of yellow journalism designed to shock readers and lambaste the Catholic Church. Utilizing anonymous and discredited sources, writer Robert Huber authored a lengthy article seeking to portray the Church as a callous cabal that is oblivious to the pain of child sex abuse. Enter…
Dave Pierre
July 28th, 2011 5:37 PM

Bozell Column: The Hate-GOP Machine

The latest polls show the people are not happy with President Obama's handling of budget matters, but Republicans look even worse. And yet, while the GOP delivers one idea after another, Obama has offered nothing, instead just attacking, attacking, attacking, blaming everyone but himself in utter denial of the reality that no man on the face of this Earth is more responsible for our debt…
Brent Bozell
July 28th, 2011 5:30 PM

Press Celebrates Unemployment Claims Drop Below 400K, Ignores Track Re

Two "alert" emails hit my inbox this morning concerning the Department of Labor's just-released unemployment claims report. The one I expected came from CNNMoney.com, which read: "Initial unemployment claims fall below 400,000 for the first time in more than 3 months, dropping 24,000 to 398,000 in latest week." The other one came from USAToday.com, which does not ordinarily issue alerts when…
Tom Blumer
July 28th, 2011 4:16 PM

MSNBC's Brewer Floats Unconstitutional Idea That Obama Could Unilatera

Shortly after noon today, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer followed her colleague Chuck Todd in using the anniversary of the 14th Amendment becoming law to cite the liberal fantasy of a clause in the amendment empowering President Obama to end-run Congress on raising the debt ceiling. Like Todd she got her history and the text of the relevant clause wrong. This occurred during a satellite interview…
Ken Shepherd
July 28th, 2011 3:39 PM

NBC Highlights Sniping at Boehner Debt Plan, No Criticism of Dems

On Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, Capitol Hill correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declared the delayed vote on House Speaker John Boehner's debt ceiling plan "took precious little time," and touted how "Democrats filled the time with sharp words." A sound bite was featured from Tennessee Congressman Steve Cohen: "I've had kidney stones that are easier to pass than this." O'Donnell focused…
Kyle Drennen
July 28th, 2011 3:28 PM