"Critics say it's about time" for President Barack Obama to offer his plan to reduce the deficit, CBS's Chip Reid acknowledged Tuesday night before he proceeded to rationalize Obama's disengagement, validated by CBS's in-house political analyst. Reid asserted: "Political analysts say the President had good reason to wait. He wanted the Republicans to go first and they did last week when influential Congressman Paul Ryan released his controversial plan." CBS News political analyst John Dickerson proposed: The President needed Paul Ryan's House budget plan to use as a foil for his own argument about what government should do, what government... continue reading
In an interview with President Obama's half-sister Maya Soetoro-Ng on Tuesday's NBC Today, weatherman Al Roker wondered: "When you look back on the President's campaign of hope do you see that - is it still that same message or has it had to change, do you think?" Soetoro-Ng replied: "I think that the message is absolutely the same. The President is still hopeful." Soetoro-Ng was on the show to promote her children's book, 'Ladder to the Moon,' a story about the influence her and Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, had on their lives. When Roker asked about that influence, Soetoro-Ng... continue reading
Nightline co-anchor Bill Weir on Monday couldn't help but fawn over former Obama White House social Secretary Desiree Rogers, lauding her as a " fashionable, vivacious, interesting, telegenic person in a town with not a lot of that, frankly. " The journalist failed to offer much in the way of tough questions. Regarding the 2009 fiasco of having Michaele and Tareq Salahi crash a state dinner with the President, Weir gently wondered, "...What are your thoughts now that that night won't be remembered for [being a success]?" Instead, he hyped, "But in those heady days of Obama mania, how could... continue reading
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, reporter Jake Tapper attacked the " bizarre," "non-reality-based " conspiracy theory about President Obama's birth certificate. Yet, the ABC program has not done a similar expose on the belief that the government was involved with, or knew of, the 9/11 terror plot. Speaking of the false idea that the President was born somewhere other than Honolulu, Tapper described it as the "bizarre conspiracy theory that is as seemingly persistent as it is erroneous. It is the lie that will not die." In contrast, GMA lacked such outrage for truthers and repeatedly promoted Rosie O'Donnell, ignoring... continue reading
During the panel discussion on Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC, host David Gregory gushed over President Obama's Friday night address to the nation on the budget deal: "The message was clear. Here he was to save the day, that it was President Obama - and he went to the Lincoln Memorial on Saturday - that he was able to rise above the fray. That's the image they want Americans to see." The rest of the political panel agreed with Gregory's assessment. Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver argued: "I think the President appears to be a mediator, and I think... continue reading
While discussing Paul Ryan's plan for Medicare on Monday, Hardball host Chris Matthews smeared the Republican congressman, trashing his idea as something that is " going to kill half the people who watch this show." [MP3 audio here .] Matthews, along with liberal guests Howard Fineman and Richard Wolffe of Newsweek, dismissed Ryan's reform goals. Fineman hyperventilated, "The good thing for the President is the Paul Ryan Medicare plan, because it makes people angry. And, first of all, it scares seniors." Matthews lobbied, " Yes. Well, it should. " Fineman defined scaring seniors as a "valid reason" for such talk... continue reading
Washington budget reporter Jackie Calmes' lead story Monday showcased Obama as (finally) coming off the sidelines to engage in the debate over the future of U.S. finances with a Wednesday speech: " Obama To Call For Broad Plan To Rescue Debt - A Challenge To G.O.P. - Proposal Said to Include Some Tax Increases and Military Cuts ." Examine Calmes' word choice: While she portrays Republican plans as involving a "shrinking of Medicare and Medicaid," Obama "envisions a more comprehensive plan" that includes finding "savings in Medicare and Medicaid," as if Obama was making a painless offer. Which phrase will... continue reading
A cocky Chris Matthews on Monday dismissed the possible 2012 Republican presidential nominees as a " dog pound " and a "pig pen ." The Hardball host briefly mentioned candidates such as Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, but focused mostly on Donald Trump and lesser known individuals like Herman Cain. Talking to Republican strategist John Feehery and former Hillary Clinton aide Mark Penn, Matthews mocked, " This looks more, sounds more like a dog pound than it does like a group of people running for President. " The cable anchor then ran down a list of Trump, Cain, Newt Ginrich... continue reading
Just hours before a last-minute deal was struck between Republicans and Democrats to prevent a government shutdown, CNN's Eliot Spitzer did some politicking of his own on Friday's In the Arena. The former Democratic Governor of New York interviewed the wife of an army private and delved into the family's medical and financial information - a rather awkward spectacle - all to make the case against a government shutdown and cast a bad light on House Speaker Boehner's position on budget cuts. After playing the father's good-bye message to his own family as he was leaving for Iraq, Spitzer thought... continue reading
Emphasizing that all but one of the top 30 income earners in the United States are white males, Mika Brzezinski clamored that it is time for the wealthy to pay their fair share and help solve the budget crisis on Monday's Morning Joe. Co-host Joe Scarborough and liberal New York Times columnist Charles Blow were in the midst of a debate about cutting entitlement spending when Mika chimed in. After Scarborough argued that making cuts to middle-class entitlements is necessary for the country's fiscal health, Brzezinski quipped that the rich should be contributing more to solve the budget deficit. "I... continue reading