Working hard to run defense for the Obama administration on Tuesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry interrogated journalist Ron Suskind on his new book critical of the White House and announced she wanted to go through unflattering parts of the book "one by one," while using Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney-approved talking points to discredit it. [ Audio available here ] Curry began the interview with Suskind, author of "Confidence Men," by touting White House claims that the Pulitzer Prize winner plagiarized some background information in the book from Wikipedia: "Did you or did you not lift that passage from... continue reading
President Barack Obama's nicknaming his new tax increases on the wealthy the "Warren Buffett rule" is fitting since the billionaire has spent a decade campaigning for a tax hike, a campaign his friends in the liberal media have been more than willing to join. For over 10 years the media promoted Buffett's complaint that the wealthy in America don't pay enough in taxes, spurred on by a Buffett's anecdote that he pays less in taxes than his secretary. But even the AP has pointed out, the idea that secretaries pay more in taxes than their bosses is inaccurate. A review... continue reading
After the last two Republican presidential debates, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos turned to Democrats for reaction. After President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress, the morning show host again featured a Democrat. On Tuesday, Stephanopoulos brought on Democrat James Carville for reaction to the President's tax plan. The journalist asked his former Clinton White House colleague how the Obama administration would deal with a new book charging incompetence and sexism. But Stephanopoulos seemed interested in extracting the White House from possible danger: " How does that portrait strike you? Does it square with what you've seen? And... continue reading
'President Obama has declared it is time to take action on taxes because people in the middle class are paying a larger percentage of income tax than the super-rich,' ABC anchor Diane Sawyer announced Monday night without bothering to note, as neither did CBS nor NBC, that the super-rich are already paying a disproportionate share of income taxes. ABC reporter Bianna Golodryga, who is married to former Obama OMB chief Peter Orszag, assured Sawyer that Obama would not raise taxes immediately, but insisted 'the more secure a plan is right now the better it will be in the long run.'... continue reading
Bill Keller, who earlier this month stepped down as New York Times executive editor, wrote a column for Monday, September 19, 2011 (32 months into Barack Obama's presidency, or two-thirds of his term), blaming George W. Bush and 'Republican resistance amounting to sabotage' for Obama's political decline. The decline in Obama's political fortunes, the Great Disappointment, can be attributed to four main factors: the intractable legacy bequeathed by George W. Bush; Republican resistance amounting to sabotage ; the unrealistic expectations and inevitable disenchantment of some of the president's supporters; and, to be sure, the man himself. Obama inherited a country... continue reading
Talking to Meet the Press moderator David Gregory on Sunday's NBC Today, co-host Jenna Wolfe asked about President Obama's proposed "Buffet Rule," designed to increases taxes on the rich, which she assumed "will sit well with the American people overall." David Gregory agreed but lamented: "...the President's got to think about what he can do to actually get some agreement with Republicans. And I don't see this getting anywhere." Gregory complained: "If Democrats are supposed to cut entitlements, aren't Republicans going to have to give at all on the idea of tax increases?... But we saw in the debt fight... continue reading
CNN business correspondent Christine Romans claimed Monday that "any serious budget expert's analysis" concludes that taxes must increase. During CNN's coverage of President Obama's address concerning his deficit reduction plan, Romans asked not if, but when Republicans should get on board with his proposals. "So at what point do Republicans say, okay, we agree that taxes have to go up, and here's what we'll agree to?" Romans posed to former Bush CBO director, Douglas Holtz-Eakin. According to Romans, President Obama's proposal to raise taxes on millionaires is just fine. "So what's wrong with raising taxes for that crowd so they're... continue reading
A new book alleging sexism, dissension and incompetence inside the Obama White House has, thus far, only gotten major coverage on one network, ABC. Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Monday proclaimed that the " bombshell book " is sending "shock waves through the White House." The morning shows on NBC and CBS skipped the allegations in Ron Suskind's "Confidence Men ." However, on the September 19 GMA, Jake Tapper provided a full breakdown of the allegations, explaining, " Damning details about the Obama White House fill the pages of 'Confidence Men .'" He recounted, "Behind the artifice of White... continue reading
In a softball interview with Bill Clinton on Monday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer gushed over the former president's Global Initiative: "One of the things that's always impressed me....you're really good in a closed room. I mean you get people to commit to things, to invest money.... Are you surprised at how good you are at that?" At the same time, Lauer allowed Clinton to slam Republicans as stubborn ideologues when he asked: "Mitch McConnell came out on that and basically said, 'We've thrown a big wet blanket over the private sector economy and now we're threatening to raise taxes... continue reading
It wouldn't be an awards show in Hollywood if there weren't the typical cheap shots against conservatives and the 63rd Emmy Primetime Awards host Jane Lynch didn't disappoint as she mocked the Tea Party as anti-Latina. The star of the Fox hit show Glee, during that network's broadcast of the Emmys on Sunday, joked that her "daughter had a tea party with her little friends" where "they complained about taxes, called Obama a communist and wondered how the Latina kid got in?" Later on in the broadcast, Lynch also went on to name check MSNBC's ultra liberal host Rachel Maddow... continue reading