Appearing on Wednesday's NBC Today, CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer blamed the debt ceiling standoff for stocks falling on Wall Street: "All people can talk about is the whole slow down that Washington triggered, the 'manufactured crisis,' as the President mentioned..." Co-host Ann Curry wondered: "To what degree did the spending cuts called for in this bill have an influence in this perception?" Cramer argued: "We've seen a trillion dollars lost in the stock market. Much of it is associated with companies that were doing well because of government – some people call it hand outs, I would say... continue reading
CNN's Piers Morgan kept bludgeoning Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) with provocative liberal questions, and finally the congressman had enough of the theater. Mack berated the CNN host for making a "joke" out of his show during a testy interview Monday night. Morgan and the congressman started bickering when Morgan asked whether Mack thought Speaker Boehner should resign because of the "terrible deal." Mack had voted against the bipartisan debt ceiling agreement, and Morgan tried to exploit any disagreement he held with his leader. [Video below.] Mack immediately shot down that notion, but Morgan then followed up with another provocative question... continue reading
Channeling liberal disenchantment with President Obama, CNN anchor Don Lemon wondered Monday if the President would be "better off running as a conservative" in the next election. "Your colleague in New York Gary Ackerman said the Republicans invited the President, quote, 'to negotiate at a strip poker table, and he showed up half-naked,' and then liberal columnist Paul Krugman calls the deal an abject surrender," Lemon quoted the two liberals downcast over the debt ceiling deal. "Would the President be better off running as a conservative in 2012?" he asked Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) [Video below.] Lemon, like colleagues Anderson... continue reading
Framing a shortcoming in the debt deal as a liberal would and does, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley on Tuesday night regretted the how 'the last time the President and the Congress compromised on a major spending bill, Republicans got tax cuts and Mr. Obama won an extension of unemployment benefits,' but this time 'there are only budget cuts and no relief for those suffering in this economy.' The missing action by Congress: Extending unemployment benefits beyond the 99 weeks authorized last December. The victim CBS showcased, however, is guaranteed payments through this December – another five months/20-plus weeks... continue reading
Remarkable uniformity amongst some major national newspapers on Tuesday as they simultaneously worried about how the supposed spending 'cuts' in the debt-ceiling deal will harm the economy. As USA Today put it the top of the 'cover story' for the 'Money' section: 'Spending cuts could further weaken economy.' Echoing that theme, from the Washington Post 's front page: ' Deal risks undermining fragile growth ' On page 2 of the August 2 Wall Street Journal: ' Deal Seen as Mild Drag on Economy ' And, from a Los Angeles Times front page plug for an interior article: 'Deal offers little... continue reading
CBS's Norah O'Donnell played the role of a clairvoyant on Tuesday's Early Show as she hinted that President Obama's reelection is assured in 2012. Anchor Erica Hill asked O'Donnell how the White House viewed the debt ceiling bill. She replied, "I think they feel like this was... not necessarily a victory for the President. He did get an extension of this debt ceiling through 2012 and through his reelection " [video clips available here ; audio can be downloaded here ]. Hill brought on the new CBS News White House correspondent, as well as Nancy Cordes, their congressional correspondent, to... continue reading
Chris Matthews doesn't seem to be running out of violent imagery to use in his smears against the Republican Party. On Tuesday, the Hardball host bombarded the GOP, comparing them to "muggers" who assaulted Barack Obama during the debt limit standoff. Explaining his current metaphor, Matthews slammed, " What we saw, what I saw at least, was one guy with a knife and the other trying to avoid being cut. It was a thug attacking a victim. It was a mugging ." He acidly added, "Now, the good news...is that the victim did get through it." Ratcheting it up, Matthews... continue reading
During a live 7pm ET edition of MSNBC's Hardball to cover the House vote on the debt ceiling increase, host Chris Matthews interrupted his August 1 panel's supportive reaction to the appearance of injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords by linking her shooting by an insane man last January with the Tea Party and 'violent level of the right-wing in this country.' 'She was shot by a violent act, of course, a person using a gun, breaking up a political meeting with a gun, bringing one to a political event which we saw a lot of during the Tea Party demonstrations, people... continue reading
On Monday, Politico reported that "several sources" in a private meeting of House Democrats confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden accused Tea Party Republicans of having "acted like terrorists." CBS and ABC completely punted the story on their evening and morning newscasts. NBC made mention of the controversy, but only to further Biden's denial of having made the comment. CBS's omission was particularly stunning given that Evening News anchor Scott Pelley interviewed the Vice President on Monday. Politico noted that Pelley actually did ask about the 'terrorist' remark: "'I did not use the terrorism word,' Biden told CBS Evening News... continue reading
Apparently, cutting a $3.7 trillion budget by $21 billion will hurt the economy. Talking to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Tuesday, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos worried about the just-agreed to debt deal: " But, don't you think that any deficit reduction now will hurt the attempts of the economy to recover ?" The former Clinton White House official turned journalist highlighted "economists who say cuts like this will make our weak economy weaker and cost Americans jobs." In total, Stephanopoulos raised the question three times, wondering, "So, this won't cost us jobs?" Of course, the anchor didn't point out... continue reading