NBC Promotes Obama: Stimulus Started Economic 'Healing,' Auto Bailout

An otherwise straightforward report on bad economic news on Friday's NBC Today cited economist Diane Swonk, who argued government stimulus prevented things from getting worse: "We basically had a massive coronary during the financial crisis....Financial stimulus and monetary stimulus, you know, got us to the stage where we're healing but we're in still in a lot of rehab." Correspondent Tom…
Kyle Drennen
June 3rd, 2011 2:54 PM

Incoming NYT Editor Recalls Considering Paper 'Absolute Truth'; Times

Some time on Thursday, the New York Times scrubbed a very telling quote from its website. "In my house growing up," said the paper's new executive editor, Jill Abramson, "The Times substituted for religion. If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth." Well isn't that nice. The paper's new head honcho was indoctrinated in Times-ology from childhood. When someone says they read the paper "…
Lachlan Markay
June 3rd, 2011 2:49 PM

CNN's Richard Quest Advocates (More) 'Classic Keynesian Economics' to

William F. Buckley Jr. once said his job was to "stand athwart history, yelling stop!" If more liberals took this advice, they wouldn't end up looking like two CNN anchors who just don't know when to say no to unsustainable deficit spending. On the eve of a disappointing jobs report in which the unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent, CNN International's Richard Quest plowed ahead like the…
Alex Fitzsimmons
June 3rd, 2011 1:52 PM

Only One Party Can Solve Debt Problem, But It's Running Out of Time

Do you think it's conceivable that yet another round of dismal economic news might cause President Obama to finally dig deeply enough in his id to find some hidden humility and consider reversing course? Let's be serious. Why should he do that when it's much easier — and more profitable politically — to just demonize Republicans?
David Limbaugh
June 3rd, 2011 12:52 PM

NY Times Omits John Edwards's Party ID After Indictment; Quick to Labe

UPDATE: Some hours after the Times's initial filing, the phrase "former senator" in paragraph one was changed to read "former Democratic senator." Where’s the party? New York Times reporter Katharine Seelye filed an online report early Friday on the breaking story of the indictment on campaign finance violations of John Edwards, the former senator and 2008 Democratic presidential candidate (…
Clay Waters
June 3rd, 2011 12:20 PM

CBS Complains Obama 'Saddled' By 'Stubbornly Sluggish Economy

On Friday's Early Show, before the new 9.1% unemployment figure came out, CBS's Dean Reynolds bewailed how President Obama is being "saddled" by the "stubbornly sluggish economy." Reynolds played up how "GM, Ford, and Chrysler have all returned to profitability," and tracked down a beneficiary of the auto industry bailout, who sang the praises of the Democrat. [Audio clips from Reynolds's…
Matthew Balan
June 3rd, 2011 11:57 AM

Media Mash: Palin Bus Tour Derangement Edition

Sarah Palin is "running against the press, mocking them," NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell argued on the June 2 edition of "Hannity," pointing to the media's consternation over the former Alaska governor's bus tour. "She's having a field day running against them" and "knows exactly what she's doing," the Media Research Center founder added, pointing to polls showing Americans largely…
NB Staff
June 3rd, 2011 11:03 AM

CNBC's Santelli Right, 'Experts' Wrong; Unemployment Spikes to

CNBC panelists and guests always make predictions in the minutes leading up to the Labor Department's release of the jobs report and June 3 was no exception. While economists Diane Swonk and Mark Zandi and CNBC's own Steve Liesman all made predictions of job gains between 100,000 and 150,000 - Rick Santelli threw his own lower prediction in just seconds before the announcement: 55,000. (…
Julia A. Seymour
June 3rd, 2011 10:32 AM

NewsBusted: What's Lindsay Lohan's Punishment

Happy Friday, NBers! Plenty of great material in today's all-new episiode of NewsBusted. Take a look below the break, and then subscribe to our YouTube channel (oh, and have you checked out MRC TV yet?). Enjoy!
NB Staff
June 3rd, 2011 10:31 AM

Howard Kurtz Bashes Sarah Palin With His Own Ignorance Of Insurance Ma

CNN's Howard Kurtz took a cheap shot at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin Friday via his Twitter account. Unfortunately, the joke's on him for his mocking of the former vice presidential candidate conveyed to his 73,000 followers his own total ignorance of insurance mandates:
Noel Sheppard
June 3rd, 2011 9:54 AM

Open Thread: Americans Still Rejecting Class Warfare

Via Ed Morrissey, Gallup has released a new poll showing that a narrow plurality of Americans reject income redistribution via high taxes on "the rich." In light of today's miserable jobs report, Morrissey notes, the numbers at first seem counterintuitive. But a closer look reveals the opposite. Check below the break for more.
NB Staff
June 3rd, 2011 9:42 AM

On Twitter, Katie Couric Wonders If Weinergate Is a 'Legit News Story

Due to perpetually low ratings, we won’t see how former CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric would dismiss Weinergate. But on her Twitter page on Thursday, Couric tweeted: “I'm curious if anybody thinks this Anthony Weiner Twitter scandal is a legit news story or just fodder for late-night comedians...thoughts?” So much for Couric's Twitter motto: "True journalism separates fact from fiction…
Tim Graham
June 3rd, 2011 6:48 AM

CNBC's Joe Kernen Mocks Chris Matthews: 'You Studied Economics

MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Thursday got a much-needed economics lesson from CNBC's Joe Kernen. In the midst of a discussion about the economy and how it's going to impact the 2012 elections, the "Hardball" host bragged about having studied economics in grad school leading Kernen to marvelously ask, "You studied economics?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
June 2nd, 2011 11:37 PM

CNN, CBS Zero In on Breitbart's Role in Spreading Word of Weiner Scand

Both CNN's Anderson Cooper on Wednesday's AC360 and CBS's Nancy Cordes on Thursday's Early Show highlighted conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart's early part in spreading news of the lewd photo Tweeted from Rep. Andrew Weiner's Twitter account. Cooper played up Breitbart's supposedly "questionable credibility," while Cordes reported how "supporters of Weiner note that it was [the] right-wing…
Matthew Balan
June 2nd, 2011 10:35 PM