Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Thursday put the responsibility for passing health care on the shoulders of the pro-life Bart Stupak, worrying that the Congressman is " now threatening a mutiny over the issue of abortion ." The GMA host interviewed Stupak and pressed him three times on voting for the legislation. [Audio available here .] At one point, he solemnly queried, "If the President doesn't change the language, if your language is not accepted, you and your 11 colleagues who voted yes the last time will vote no this time. Does that mean you're prepared to take responsibility... continue reading
Introducing a story on the latest effort pass health care reform on Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez proclaimed: "This morning President Obama is putting health care reform on the fast-track, declaring that it's year-long journey must be completed in Congress quickly." At the top of the show, co-host Harry Smith had similarly declared: "President Obama says the health care debate is over. He wants a reform bill on his desk in the next few weeks." A Headline on screen read: "Health Care Fast-Track." White House correspondent Bill Plante reported on the so-called "fast-track" plan: "The President yesterday rejected... continue reading
"Despite persistent violence and a critical election coming up, President Obama hardly ever mentions the war in Iraq," Joseph Curl reports in Thursday's Washington Times , and the news media are largely aiding in this neglect. Curl discloses that "the last time a White House reporter asked about the Iraq war was June 26," while ABC, CBS and NBC aired just 80 minutes of coverage in all of 2009. The near-media blackout means that the success of President Bush's "surge" policy in 2007 - a policy opposed by President Obama and Vice President Biden when both were presidential candidates and... continue reading
ABC squeezed in a short item Wednesday night on a House resolution to put Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill, a report most notable for the enticing mock-up ABC's graphics artists created. Anchor Diane Sawyer announced on the March 3 World News: All right, quick, who is on the $50 bill? If you said Ulysses S. Grant, you're right. But if some people have their way, that's going to change soon. There's a move afoot to put Ronald Reagan on the $50, led by 14 Republican Members of Congress who are sponsoring a new bill calling for the change in... continue reading
What is Katie Couric drinking these days? Who has taken over her body? The CBS Evening News anchor on Wednesday night cited hypocritical positions or actions taken by President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. On the day when Obama pressed forward with using "reconciliation" to pass his health bill in the Senate - and while MSNBC hosts obsess over Republican hypocrisy in now opposing it when they used it to pass bills when the GOP had the Senate majority - Couric recalled that "in 2007 when President Obama was a Senator, he criticized the use of the reconciliation... continue reading
After ignoring the Tea Party - the fast-growing anti-government movement - for two months, the New York Times finally noticed the massive country-wide protests that took place on Tax Day, April 15, 2009. Even then, the Times reacted to the rallies with snide accusations of anger and Astroturf - that is, of not being a genuine grass-roots movement but instead being funded by right-wing paymasters. By contrast, it took the Times a mere week to jump on the nascent leftish "Coffee Party" movement for Tuesday's report from Kate Zernike, " Coffee Party, With a Taste for Civic Participation, Is Added... continue reading
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer ranted against Republican Senator Jim Bunning's opposition to a spending bill: "it's unconscionable what has happened here....this is about politics. It is not - it was not about anything of substance." [Audio available here ] Co-host Maggie Rodriguez began the segment by explaining that Bunning had stopped blocking the legislation and asked Schieffer: "Isn't this just another example of why it takes so long to get things done in Congress?" Schieffer agreed, claiming: "it's another example...of why there is so much anger and disillusionment out in the country about... continue reading
ABC on Wednesday continued to berate Senator Jim Bunning for daring to hold up a $10 billion spending bill, despite the fact that the Kentucky Republican has since allowed the unemployment legislation to pass. Reporter Jonathan Karl piled on, " Even after the deal was struck, Democrats lashed out at Bunning for causing such a mess ." Karl replayed video of him harassing Bunning on Capitol Hill and forcing his way into a Senators-only elevator. Yet, Karl spun, "...Unemployment benefits can now be extended, but only after Senator Jim Bunning tied the Senate up in knots for a week, snapping... continue reading
On Wednesday's Today, NBC's Matt Lauer, during an interview with DNC Chairman Tim Kaine seemed to overtly take sides with the Dems as he mocked the GOP's PR strategy of calling reconciliation the nuclear option, as he questioned Kaine: "It does appear, pretty clear now, that the Democrats are gonna have to go it alone in the Senate, what, what we call reconciliation , what the Republicans are calling the nuclear option." Now perhaps Lauer was using the term "We" as in "we in the media" and not "we Democrats" but later on Lauer expressed concern about the state of... continue reading
John Roberts and Kiran Chetry omitted mentioning that Annabel Park, the founder of the so-called Coffee Party, worked as a volunteer for President Barack Obama's presidential campaign, during an interview on Wednesday's American Morning. The anchors also didn't mention Park's past work for the liberal New York Times. Roberts and Chetry interviewed the Coffee Party USA founder at the bottom of the 8 am Eastern hour. After an initial question about the origin of the name, the two asked about the principles of the nascent movement and if health care "reform" was going to be a major issue for it... continue reading