Former Democratic aide turned journalist George Stephanopoulos interviewed current Democratic operative James Carville on Monday's Good Morning America. The two good friends agreed that Democrats simply have to pass a health care bill. Stephanopoulos wondered, "Do the Democrats really have a choice here?" He later spun, "...The Democrats in the White House who are pushing for this strategy, pushing for passage, say that once this does pass, the country will get it. Democrats will be unified. They'll get a huge benefit ." [Audio available here .] Stephanopoulos minimized the negative effects for the party in passing a government-run health care... continue reading
On Monday's CBS Early Show, White House correspondent Bill Plante reported on the possibility of Democrats using reconciliation to pass a health care reform bill and noted how Republicans used the procedure when they were in the majority: "In the past it has helped the majority party push through some controversial legislation. In 2001, Republicans used it to pass a giant $1.3 trillion tax cut." A Media Research Center special report conducted from January 20 to March 31 in 2001 found that out of 94 judgements of the size of the Bush tax cuts on ABC, NBC, and CBS, "84... continue reading
Demonstrating how Hollywood writers aren't reticent about inserting gratuitous political points into prime time dramas, on last Sunday night's (February 21) episode of ABC's Brothers and Sisters , " Nora Walker ," played by liberal actress Sally Field, walked into her kitchen during a kick-off party for her daughter's Republican senatorial campaign, and complained to another daughter, a son and his husband: I can't believe the three of you are in here drinking while the GOP is out there denying global warming. The far-fetched current storyline has " Kitty Walker ," played by Calista Flockhart, weeks after a battle with... continue reading
Quite a contrast in how ABC's Elizabeth Vargas, taking her turn hosting This Week, approached House Speaker Nancy Pelosi versus Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, all before agreeing with Sam Donaldson when he urged President Obama to become "ruthless" to pass his health care reform bill since that's what FDR and Truman "would have done." She affirmed: "That's a good point." With Pelosi, she forwarded process questions about whether the Speaker has the votes to pass the health bill and whether it would have been "more helpful for you" if Obama had put up his proposal earlier, pressed the Speaker from... continue reading
Sarah Palin sends liberals into irrational frenzies of contempt and, in the case of Bill Maher, fits of condescension which drive him to denigrate anyone stupid enough to see anything good in her. Maher began and ended his Friday night HBO program, Real Time with Bill Maher , with derogatory "jokes" based on the presumption Palin and her supporters are morons. He started with how at the health care summit the attendees recited stories about health care perils: "John McCain told how he once carried a brain-dead woman through an entire campaign." About 56 minutes later, Maher raised Tiger Woods... continue reading
The Washington Post couldn't provide a solely objective analysis of the health "summit" in Friday's newspaper. Instead, they put liberal columnist Dana Milbank on page one to crow that Obama had badly paddled the Republicans. The headline was "Prof. Obama walks tall and carries a big paddle." The opening came with a heaping spoonful of sugar for Obama: Republicans had been hesitant to accept President Obama's invitation to participate in Thursday's White House health-care summit. Their hesitance turned out to be justified. An equal number of Democratic and Republican legislators assembled around the table....But members of the opposition party may... continue reading
A report on the health care summit on Friday's CBS Early Show featured a clip of President Obama scolding lawmakers for "trading talking points" during the meeting, that was followed by correspondent Bill Plante pointing a finger at the GOP: "But from their first speaker, Republicans never backed down from their opposition to the Democrats' bill." Plante noted that "John McCain, the President's opponent In 2008, challenged the process by which the Democrats' bill was produced." After a clip was played of McCain denouncing the lack of change in Washington, Plante touted how "the President shot back," playing a clip... continue reading
Chris Matthews, during a special post-health care summit two hour edition of Hardball on Thursday night, dissected the GOP strategy as one of keeping their "crazies" like Michele Bachman and Joe Wilson, "in the closet" and mocked that their "rehearsed" phrases made them sound like a "North Korean assembly" and exclaimed it was "an example of Pyongyang democracy, which is "What the Dear Leader told us to recite." The following Matthews outbursts were aired during the February 25 edition of Hardball: CHRIS MATTHEWS: The Republican strategy was "Don't show your ugly faces tonight." Today they kept all the crazies, all... continue reading
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Friday offered liberal spin for the issue of using reconciliation to pass the health care bill, a process that would allow legislation to go through the Senate with only 51 votes: "Reconciliation has been used for President Bush's tax cuts, for welfare reform, for other health care bills in the past." [Audio available here .] Stephanopoulos' guest, John McCain, quickly dismissed this obvious talking point: " George, it's not been used for one-sixth of the Gross National Product. " The ex-Clinton aide turned journalist also promoted the idea that Barack Obama has been bipartisan... continue reading
After the Democrats regained control of the House in 2006 , Nancy Pelosi promised NBC's Brian Williams that she would "drain the swamp" and "turn this Congress into the most honest and open Congress in history." So when news broke that a House Ethics committee found that long time New York Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel accepted corporate money for trips to the Carribean one would think Williams would be all over the story - he wasn't. On Thursday's NBC Nightly News Williams completely ignored the charges, as did ABC's World News. Of the three broadcast network evening news shows, only... continue reading