BiasAlerts

World News anchors and reporters on Sunday chided Barack Obama from the left, complaining that he was "caving" and "breaking one of his biggest campaign promises" by preventing tax rates from increasing in January. ABC's Washington editor Rick Klein worried, " President Obama has been clear this was a critical position and he is caving on it, in, in allowing all the tax cuts to be extended. " Reporter David Kerley fretted, "The President is preparing to break one of his biggest campaign promises. He is poised to extend tax cuts to the richest Americans in exchange for helping millions... continue reading

Bill Press appeared on Fox News' Geraldo At Large, on Sunday night, as part of a discussion about whether the Bush era tax cuts would be extended and the former CNN host couldn't get his story straight as he recommended that Congress go back to the Bill Clinton era "tax cuts." In fact Clinton, back in 1993, passed the largest tax increase in history but this bit of truth didn't get in the way of Press claiming, three times, that Clinton had cut taxes. Oddly enough Press, near the end of his segment, eventually backed into truth, when he bragged:... continue reading

During Tuesday's 1PM ET hour on MSNBC, anchor Andrea Mitchell highlighted a new poll from the left-wing pro-abortion group Planned Parenthood that claimed that voters do not trust Sarah Palin on so-called "women's health issues": "A new poll suggests that she may have a tough time getting voters to trust her on at least one front....54% of registered voters do not trust Palin on those issues." Later in the same segment, deciding to get in a few more shots at Palin, Mitchell claimed that the former Alaska governor's new book, 'America by Heart,' had not appeared on the New York... continue reading

On Sunday's Face the Nation, Republican Senate whip Jon Kyl kept correcting host Bob Schieffer about how extending tax "rates," not "cuts," is what is being debated, leading Schieffer to conceded "I gotcha" and even prompted Schieffer to let Kyl fill in for him the correct term. Schieffer: "Are the votes there now in the Senate, in your opinion, to extend these tax ah-" Kyl: "Rates." Schieffer had asked: "Is the Senate going to get down to business and resolve this whole business of the tax cuts?" Kyl chastised: "Nobody is talking about tax cuts. We're talking about extending the... continue reading

Appearing as a panel member Sunday on the syndicated Chris Matthews Show, Andrew Sullivan of the Atlantic charged that Republicans are "trying to keep this economy bad" to hurt President Obama as the group discussed extension of the Bush tax cuts. He then tagged the GOP as "the most irresponsible political party I've seen." Sullivan began his rant against Republicans as he jumped into the conversation: "Can I just point out the fantastic irony that we've just gone through an election in which the Republicans campaigned day in and day out about the debt, and now we find after the... continue reading

During a discussion of the agreement to prevent tax rates from increasing in January, on ABC's World News Sunday, anchor David Muir and ABC's senior Washington correspondent Rick Klein fretted that the federal budget deficit would increase - against the wishes of the voters - as a result of both the blocking of a tax increase and the extension of unemployment benefits. But neither acknowledged that raising taxes could depress the economy and cause tax revenue losses. After a full report had run that recounted the agreement to extend the Bush tax cuts, Muir conveyed his belief that the plan... continue reading

On Saturday morning, FNC's Fox and Friends Saturday and ABC's Good Morning America highlighted Democratic Senator Bob Menendez's assertion that negotiating with Republicans over taxes is like negotiating with terrorists, while NBC's Today show included a brief mention. CBS's The Early Show and CNN Saturday Morning ignored the New Jersey Democrat's over the top rhetoric. FNC included a soundbite of Menendez in the opening teaser, as co-host Alisyn Camerota asked if the "hostile words" of Democrats would "hurt negotiations." On ABC, correspondent David Kerley included a clip of the "tough language," and co-host Bianna Golodryga gave Republican Senator Orrin Hatch... continue reading

On Friday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith discussed a potential deal between the Obama administration and House Republicans on maintaining current tax rates, declaring: "The Democrats are - their noses are out of joint about this." Political analyst John Dickerson agreed: "Very much so, because they want the President to stand up and fight." Dickerson went on to detail liberal efforts to put pressure on Obama: "There are ads that are going to be running this weekend saying, 'Don't Cave, Mr. President.' They want Barack Obama to make a stand and say Republicans want tax cuts for the wealthy...and... continue reading

MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and his Morning Joe co-hosts on Friday commiserated over the "sad," "terrible" ordeal that Charlie Rangel suffered through while being censured. Echoing many liberals in the media, Scarborough commented, "People want to forgive Charlie. They do." He fretted, "And, Norah, a sad day yesterday on the hill." Journalist Norah O'Donnell recounted the censure for failing to pay taxes as a "very moving moment" and complemented Rangel's "very emotional statement." on the floor of the House. At one point, co-host Mika Brzezinski offered a one word description for the Democrat's punishment: " Terrible. " Later in the morning,... continue reading

According to CBS Evening News host Katie Couric on Thursday, the censure of Charles Rangel was "painful" for "everyone watching" and a "fall from grace." Reporter Nancy Cordes also tried to find the "silver lining" in the Congressman's reelection. Cordes sympathetically recounted, "It was a shaken Speaker Pelosi who read the resolution censuring her longtime ally, 80-year-old Charles Rangel, as he stood in the well of the House." Apparently asserting a universal emotion, Couric proclaimed, " It was painful for him and for everyone watching. " In closing a report on the subject, Cordes seemed to put the best possible... continue reading