MSNBC's Chuck Todd on the December 7 "Daily Rundown" was uncharacteristically heated in his opposition to the compromise between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans on extending the Bush tax rates. Interviewing a Treasury Department official, Todd used flawed statistics to malign the proposed two-year extension of tax breaks for all families as unacceptably expensive. "The cost of this is astronomical though," proclaimed the NBC Political Director. "The payroll tax cut means essentially borrowing from the Social Security trust fund to do this temporary payroll tax. I mean, it's 120 billion, that's a lot of money!" Gene Sperling, counselor to... continue reading
Matching the distortion documented in a MRC study posted Tuesday, though under the Obama-congressional GOP compromise income tax rates will remain unchanged for all, fill-in CBS Evening News anchor Jeff Glor introduced a story by characterizing a "battle over tax cuts" and how at a White House news conference President Obama "said agreeing to cuts for high-income earners was the only way to get middle-class cuts." Except neither group is getting any income tax "cut" and the agreement simply forestalls a hefty tax hike. Over on ABC, World News anchor Diane Sawyer's tease presumed "tax cuts" were under consideration when... continue reading
On Tuesday's Newsroom, CNN tried to spin the proposed compromise between President Obama and congressional Republicans to keep the current tax rates as a " package that increases spending dramatically ." Correspondents Jessica Yellin and Joe Johns forwarded the liberal talking point that the Republicans were breaking their campaign promise to reduce government spending with this proposal. Yellin appeared with anchor Brooke Baldwin just after the bottom of the 3 pm Eastern hour. After playing a montage of several clips of President Obama promising to "roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans," Baldwin stated that "it's not... continue reading
On Tuesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports, Republican Senator Judd Gregg had to remind Andrea Mitchell that hardworking Americans' money belongs to them and not the government, after the NBC reporter pressed him to "justify" a "larger tax cut for those who really don't need it." On to discuss the tax cut deal in Congress, Gregg explained to Mitchell that the "problem we have as a government today isn't that we're an under-taxed people. It's that we're an overspending government." However an undeterred Mitchell then went on to cite billionaires Bill Gates and Warren Buffett as saying "at a time of deficit... continue reading
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, who recently implored viewers to "Keep Calm and Carry On" by seeking civil political debate over nasty partisanship, rebuked those who laughed at him last year for his 2010 predictions. "For all of you that made fun of me when I started saying a year-and-a-half ago that this was going to be 1994 - kiss my ass," the co-host blurted to viewers Monday on "Morning Joe." A shocked co-host Mika Brzezinski gasped before Scarborough kept ranting. Newsweek editor-in-chief Jon Meacham interrupted to briefly lecture Scarborough. "Civility," he reminded the co-host. "Terrible. That wasn't very civil," Brzezinski bemoaned... continue reading
Good Morning America's Jake Tapper on Tuesday spun Barack Obama's reaction to a tax deal with Republicans this way: " The devil made him do it ..." The devil, apparently, being GOP representatives. Picking an easy target as an example, Tapper asserted that, as a result of tax rates staying the same, the "family of the average Wall Street banker [who] paid more than $300,000 last year, will keep more than $9300 of it." Co-host Robin Roberts and news anchor Juju Chang both made sure to highlight Democratic unhappiness over the deal. In an 8am news brief, Chang noted that... continue reading
Even with Monday's deal between President Obama and top Republicans, no American's income tax rates will actually decline on January 1 (although, if the deal passes, workers will notice a modest reduction in their payroll taxes in 2011). Yet throughout this debate, the broadcast networks have insisted on framing the debate as about "tax cuts" and "tax breaks," not about forestalling a tax increase that could jeopardize the weak recovery. MRC analysts reviewed all 23 ABC, CBS and NBC evening news stories about the tax debate from the start of the lame-duck session of Congress on November 15 through December... continue reading
Invited on Tuesday's Today show to discuss the tax cut compromise in Congress, CNBC's Erin Burnett initially whined that "We can't afford it" but then went on to tell viewers that if Congress were to forego tax cuts we could afford "universal pre-school for free and provide free college tuition for half of the college students." When asked by Today co-host Meredith Vieira about the "price tag" of the tax cut agreement and whether America could afford it, Burnett went on to bluntly assert "The answer to that is no" and then went on to cite a New York Times... continue reading
The Today show cast, on Tuesday, previewed a guest appearance by reality show star Kate Gosselin on Sarah Palin's TLC show, and after showing a clip of the former Alaska Governor frightening the celebrity mother of eight kids by firing off a gun, Vieira revealed she shared Gosselin's fears as she yelped: "You're with a woman with a gun. The whole thing makes me nervous, you know?" The following is the full segment as it was aired on the December 7 Today show: MEREDITH VIEIRA: So what happens when the Momma Grizzly meets Momma Gosselin? MATT LAUER: Well the world... continue reading
Brian Williams adopted a liberal framework as he opened Monday's NBC Nightly News by declaring "it's a fair question to ask and for a while now Americans have been wondering how lawmakers in Washington could possibly extend tax breaks for wealthy Americans while allowing benefits for jobless Americans to be cut off." Then, after Chuck Todd outlined the Obama-GOP compromise to maintain income taxes at their current rates for two years while extending unemployment benefits and implementing a temporary reduction in the payroll tax, Williams fretted the deal contradicts how "the fight has been over anything in government that isn't... continue reading