Responding to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) on Monday, CNN's chief business correspondent slammed GOP "weird math" and "balanced budget nonsense" on the sequestration and accused Jindal of being "misleading." " And it's this weird math that the Republicans are using, that it's just three percent of the federal budget ," Velshi ranted. "Except you can't touch entitlements. So it's three percent of a small part of the federal budget, which makes it a very big part of some major agencies ," he insisted. [Video below the break. Audio here .] Jindal had argued for more carefully-planned cuts, not for... continue reading
CNN touted ex-president Jimmy Carter as a "new cult favorite" and asked if his image was "being rehabilitated" on Monday's The Situation Room . After friendly interviews of Carter and his grandson last week, it might be more accurate to ask if CNN is trying to "rehabilitate" Carter's image. Liberal historian Douglas Brinkley made the laughably thin case for Carter. " But when you look at the Iran hostage crisis, I mean, Carter eventually negotiated the release of all of those hostages . It cost his political re-election. He could have bombed Tehran during it, and maybe gotten himself re-elected... continue reading
New York Time s personal finance reporter Tara Siegel Barnard would love the U.S. to embrace Europe's cradle-to-grave safety net mind-set, lumping America with apparently inferior countries like Liberia, Suriname and Papua New Guinea for the sin of not offering paid maternity leave. Barnard made the argument in Saturday's Business section, in her first column since returning from maternity leave, " In Paid Family Leave, U.S. Trails Most of the Globe ." There I was, on the day my six months of maternity leave had ended, pushing my son’s stroller with one hand, clutching a jumbo box of 174 diapers... continue reading
ABC on Sunday continued to hype Barack Obama's hyperbolic claims about sequester cuts. World News reporter David Kerley played a clip of the President and then insisted that the relatively small $85 billion in spending "sounds like a disaster movie." Kerley warned, "Child care canceled for tens of thousands of kids. Long airport security lines. Flight delays with a shortage of controllers. And military cuts that will leave us 'second rate' according to the Defense Secretary." Reason Magazine's Nick Gillespie on Monday pointed out: "Widely quoted as $85 billion for spending in fiscal year 2013 (which ends on September 30),... continue reading
In an effort to hype controversy days before Pope Benedict XVI steps down as the leader of the Catholic Church, on Monday's NBC Today , correspondent Anne Thompson proclaimed: "Even in his final days as pope, scandal continues to dog Benedict's papacy and the Church." The chyron on screen throughout the segment declared: "Vatican Intrigue." [ Listen to the audio ] Beyond reporting on an actual controversy surrounding the resignation of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Thompson decided to also promote completely unfounded claims from the Italian press that "headline rumors of blackmail and conspiracy that the Vatican vehemently denies." NBC... continue reading
Charlie Rose led Monday's CBS This Morning by hyping the allegedly catastrophic effect of the sequester during a promo for a report from correspondent Major Garrett: " Kids without vaccines; schools without teachers; and massive airport delays – we'll show you the worst-case scenario for government spending cuts ." Garrett himself could have been mistaken for an Obama administration flack as he devoted much of the segment to publicizing the White House's bombast about the impending $85 billion in spending cuts. He uncritically forwarded the administration's hype about the general and local effect of the cuts, which are set to... continue reading
Acting like an extension of the White House press office on Monday's NBC Today , correspondent Peter Alexander promoted Obama administration talking points on the upcoming budget sequester: "This morning, the White House is picking up the pace of its PR offensive , they are rolling out reports for each of the country's states and how they will be affected by these automatic budget cuts." [ Listen to the audio ] Alexander listed the "dire warnings" coming from the executive branch: "In California, 9,600 low-income students could lose their college financial aid. In Florida, nearly $4 million could be slashed... continue reading
According to Goo d Morning America's David Wright on Monday, the upcoming "papal election campaign is getting ugly." The ABC correspondent then declared that Pope Benedict an "absolute monarch." (Do they have elections for absolute monarchs?) In a report live from Rome, Wright explained, "Pope Benedict is expected to issue new rules about the timing and procedures of the conclave [the meeting of cardinals to elect a new pope.]" He added, "[Benedict] can do that by degree. The Pope is an absolute monarch." [See video below. MP3 audio here .] Of course, Wright's experience in judging any kind of election... continue reading
HBO’s Sunday night dramady, Enlightened , is delivering something very rare: A true to life depiction of a journalist – specifically identified as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times – as a very obvious left-winger, one who cavorts with and reads books by far-left authors and goes to the newspaper newsroom wearing a “John Kerry for President” shirt. (video after the jump) Not surprisingly, the creators of the HBO show weren’t very creative and so made a show with a very common enemy: an evil corporation. In this case, “Abaddonn Industries,” a Southern California manufacturer of cleaning and household... continue reading
Former President Jimmy Carter claimed he didn't raise a dime of money in the 1976 general election and CNN's Piers Morgan wouldn't challenge him on Thursday's Piers Morgan Tonight . "As a matter of fact, when I ran against incumbent President Gerald Ford, you know how much money we raised? None," Carter bragged to Morgan. According to election law, general election campaigns couldn't take private money if they accepted public financing but Morgan still let Carter off the hook by refusing to question his claim of zero infractions. [Video below. Audio here .] All Morgan could muster was initial surprise,... continue reading