The three nightly news broadcasts on Monday touted Barack Obama's new spending as "investments," highlighted victims of the White House's cuts and ignored key facts about the President's 2012 budget. Evening News reporter Chip Reid used the preferred White House language, asserting, "But the President unveiled his budget at a technology school to highlight new investments , especially in education and innovation, including funding for 100,000 new math and science teachers, $32 billion for biomedical innovation and a doubling of funding for green energy research." On ABC, Jake Tapper pointed out that the White House budget adds seven trillion dollars... continue reading
On Friday's O'Reilly Factor, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly held ABC and NBC News to account for failing to cover the recent Planned Parenthood video stings conducted by the pro-life organization Live Action: "Fox News and CNN covered the...tapes extensively and CBS News did as well...However NBC and ABC News both ignored the situation....it was a pretty big omission." [ Audio available here ] O'Reilly challenged two liberal political science professors on the lack of coverage and the reasoning behind it. Speaking to Dr. Caroline Heldman of Occidental College and Dr. Mark Sawyer of UCLA, O'Reilly cited the Media Research... continue reading
On Monday's Hardball Chris Matthews, who devoted much of last week's shows to Egypt, got caught up on some conservative bashing as he mocked those who attended CPAC as "zany" and likened the conference to a "carnival act." The MSNBC host, joined by fellow liberals David Corn of Mother Jones magazine and Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, led the show by describing the event as a "right wing jamboree that puts the zany in the same room as the zanier." The following Matthews outbursts were aired on the February 14 edition of Hardball: CHRIS MATTHEWS: The Right goes wild!... continue reading
The ABCNews.com website on Tuesday used the Sesame Street character Big Bird to worry about potential Republican cuts to PBS. Next to a picture of the forlorn puppet and some concerned children, a graphic alerted, " Big Bird on the Chopping Block? " The article , by Huma Khan, discussed the efforts by the House GOP to cut of funding to PBS, but didn't feature a single quote from any such Republican. Yet, the reporter made sure to highlight fears by NPR's Vivian Schiller: "[Cuts would] would diminish stations' ability to bring high-quality local, national and international news to their... continue reading
On Monday's American Morning, CNN's Kiran Chetry indicated that individual liberty and the pro-life movement weren't compatible. During an interview of Congressman Ron Paul, Chetry stated, " Freedom to make your own decisions ... giving people the ability to make their own decisions, and the right to life movement don't always go together ." The anchor interviewed the libertarian-leaning Republican at the bottom of the 6 am Eastern hour. Midway through the interview, Chetry claimed that Paul is "not a huge social conservative," and then asked about his recent speech at CPAC: "This is one of the largest social conservative... continue reading
Of the three morning shows on Monday, only ABC's Good Morning America aggressively pushed the Obama administration on a lack of substantial cuts in the 2012 budget. NBC's Today and CBS's Early Show either downplayed the issue or didn't fully explain the President's new spending. ABC's Jake Tapper declared that Obama's plan " shows that the President will not take the lead in any aggressive measures to reduce the debt ." He also pointed out, "President Obama's budget projects at least $1 trillion in deficit reduction over ten years, but it still creates $7.2 trillion in new debt, pitting the... continue reading
Discussing the state of the Republican Party with political analyst John Dickerson on Saturday's CBS Evening News, anchor Russ Mitchell concluded: "...it has been a tough week for House Republicans." On Friday's NBC Today , co-host Meredith Vieira made an identical observation, declaring: "It has been a rough, rough week for the Republicans, to say the very least." Mitchell explained his assertion: "Of the four bills planned for votes this week, only one passed. You also had a Republican congressman resign in a scandal." Speaking to Meet the Press host David Gregory on Friday, Vieira made the same points and... continue reading
According to a new History Channel special on Ronald Reagan, the profound economic recovery of the early '80s can be credited to " the Reagan tax increases ." The February 9 program contained this odd assertion while highlighting the President's path to reelection in 1984. Of course, the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 actually cut the top marginal rate from 70 percent to 50 percent. Despite this, narrator David Jeremiah asserted, "By 1984, Ronald Reagan is cruising toward re-election. After enduring a recession that threatened his hopes for a second term, the economy, thanks in part to the Reagan tax... continue reading
President Barack Obama is "a pragmatic centrist," Norah O'Donnell, NBC News reporter/MSNBC chief Washington correspondent, insisted Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher , though not even Maher bought the claim Obama is a centrist. O'Donnell noted "they're trying to make inroads" into the business community with outreach to it as evidenced by hiring Bill Daley and speaking to the Chamber of Commerce, but she contended "other than that tonal switch, he's still the same centrist he's always been." Maher countered: "But he's not really. If you woke him up in the middle of the night, of if... continue reading
As CNN's Fareed Zakaria concluded his Fareed Zakaria GPS show on Sunday, he recommended to his audience that they read former President George W. Bush's memoir, Decision Points, but, even while recommending the book, he still took a dig at the former President as he described the book as "surprisingly well written." He also acknowledged that "you might not think he's super-smart" before praising the former President as "agreeable" and "frank." Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, February 13, Fareed Zakaria GPS on CNN: Before we go, I want to recommend a book. This week... continue reading