Two weeks after ABC championed how the “stimulus” would enable mayors to create many jobs, World News on Wednesday night trumpeted how “the government is now ready to start writing the checks to get people working again in states and cities across the land.” Reporter David Muir touted how “with hundreds of millions of dollars in the pipeline from Washington, contractors are hiring now” and so “in the quiet college town of North Manchester, Indiana, 26 people are expected to be hired to build a water treatment plant. Economists say 26 people in a small town of 6,400 can have a huge impact.” Muir's one and only expert, economist Stephen Leeb, then saw a beneficial ripple effect:
It's not just 26 people. It's 26 people that are getting more money. Those people are spending money at, say, the corner store, the corner drugstore, maybe buying an extra shirt for their kids; and the people that are receiving that money, in the stores, are also going to spend their money. So you have this kind of ripple effect that can spill all the way through the town.
At the top of the newscast, anchor Charles Gibson, unlike CBS's Katie Couric and NBC's Brian Williams, credited President Obama's home mortgage bailout plan with causing a stock market up tick, citing a “ray of hope: The government outlines how it will help nine million homeowners avoid foreclosure. And the stock market responds positively.”
My February 17 item, “ABC Champions How 'Stimulus' Will Enable Mayors to Create Jobs.”
Gibson teased the Wednesday, March 4 World News:
Welcome to World News. In the headlines, ray of hope: The government outlines how it will help nine million homeowners avoid foreclosure. And the stock market responds positively.
Gibson opened:
Good evening. If you live in your house and are struggling with your mortgage, the government has got a $75 billion plan for you. And maybe, just maybe those $75 billion will bring stability to everyone's home price. The announcement of details of how the program will work seemed to hearten the stock markets today. The Dow industrials rose 150 points, and the NASDAQ was up 33.
The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcripts of the story on the benefits of all the spending:
GIBSON: And the mortgage program, of course, is just one part of the President's overall economic plan, which is centered on the giant stimulus package he signed two weeks ago. Well, the government is now ready to start writing the checks to get people working again in states and cities across the land, and they're more than ready to cash them. They have plenty of projects ready to go. Here's David Muir.DAVID MUIR: In cities and towns across this country, in order to be shovel ready, they're getting the workers ready.
BRIAN MAY, INDUSTRY PEOPLE GROUP: They can create a job alert.
MUIR: Brian May posts jobs online for contractors across Iowa. With hundreds of millions of dollars in the pipeline from Washington, contractors are hiring now.
MAY: One company, in particular, will be looking for 30 to 40 workers this year. And those could be anyone from flaggers to laborers, crane operators, dump truck drivers, foremen.
MUIR: In just the five weeks they've been posting jobs, they've already heard from 60 contractors, all looking to hire. In Iowa alone, they normally spend $550 million a year on road projects. They’re now banking on an additional $380 million. In Silver Spring, Maryland, this construction company has called back 59 people in just the last two weeks, 59 workers who’d been let go. They're hoping to call back nearly 300 more. Their first project, repairing this Maryland road. It's been 17 years since anything's been done to fix it. In the quiet college town of North Manchester, Indiana, 26 people are expected to be hired to build a water treatment plant. Economists say 26 people in a small town of 6,400 can have a huge impact.
STEPHEN LEEB, ECONOMIC ANALYST: It's not just 26 people. It's 26 people that are getting more money. Those people are spending money at, say, the corner store, the corner drugstore, maybe buying an extra shirt for their kids; and the people that are receiving that money, in the stores, are also going to spend their money. So you have this kind of ripple effect that can spill all the way through the town.
MUIR: In Elkhart, Indiana, home to one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation, the mayor confirmed today that he knows of $9 million in road work already on the way. This worker told us he'd take anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I'm not particular about what I do.
MUIR: And in Columbus, Ohio, 27 police recruits cut just days before they joined the force will now report to work.
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: We start work this Sunday, Sunday evening. I specifically start Sunday evening.
MUIR: Back to work, in days. Tonight, the Department of Transportation in Washington says in just the past two days, it’s greenlighted $1.5 billion in road work across 20 states. They've got $25 billion more for roads and bridges, and, Charlie, they’re poring through requests from governors across the nation tonight.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.





MAY: One company, in particular, will be looking for 30 to 40 workers this year. And those could be anyone from flaggers to laborers, crane operators, dump truck drivers, foremen.
STEPHEN LEEB, ECONOMIC ANALYST: It's not just 26 people. It's 26 people that are getting more money. Those people are spending money at, say, the corner store, the corner drugstore, maybe buying an extra shirt for their kids; and the people that are receiving that money, in the stores, are also going to spend their money. So you have this kind of ripple effect that can spill all the way through the town.
MUIR: And in Columbus, Ohio, 27 police recruits cut just days before they joined the force will now report to work.
















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Uptick in the market....?
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:04 ET by superconPfffttt.
Hey Charlie,don't pee on me and then tell me it's raining.
Because with a name like Obama... you know it has to be good.
~Wow
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:17 ET by choselife3xThose 26 people are gonna SAVE the other 6,374. The wealth is trickling upward, folks. It's a Festivus Miracle!
Hope and Change=
Despair and Socialism
Isn't it funny?
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:29 ET by MichelleC"So you have this kind of ripple effect that can spill all the way through the town."
Liberals only believe in trickle down economics when the money is trickling down from the government?
Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July. Democrats believe every day is April 15th ~ Ronald Reagan
That's exactly what I thought
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:47 ET by WhoIsJohnGaltwhen I read it! Amazing how their "trickle down" theory works, but our version doesn't.
→ Obama's uptick
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:34 ET by Cool ArrowDOW recovers 2% after losing 8% and suddenly it's time to pay attention to the "fits and starts" as indicators of sound Obamanomics?
What really happened is Obama kept his ignorant mouth shut for a day.
Of course his reference to "profit/earnings" ratios was a gaffe worthy of Joe Biden.
In other words: Buy stocks now, and you're going to lose money!!! How encouraging is that?
We won the cold war! Why did we surrender?
I am glad that 26 people are being put to work...
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:34 ET by bubbatech01but find it ludacrious to say that this is going to do something.
okay, since i am a simple guy, i try to boil things down...any thoughts as to the below:
Example: Goverment pays $80k to have a street paved. The company pays three workers $60k total and takes a $20k profit. Now, the government taxes everyones income. So, each worker makes $20k on the job and pays back to the government $5k of it (for $15k total). Plus, now that companies are taxed at a higher tax rate, that $20k yields $10k for the government in taxes.
So, lets see how everyone makes out:
The tax paying public shells out $80k.
The workers gets $15k to spend.
The company gets $10k.
The government gets back to use to pay for the recent pork package $25k.
So, in this scenario (which may be on the conservative side and is grossly simplified), of the $80k take out of the pockets of taxpayers, the government essentially gets to keep $25k of it to spend however it likes. That is about 30%.
Now, look at the stimulus bill and (again, agree simplified, but the point is there): it is probably going to be about $1Trillion by the end of the year, so the governement is actually keeping for itself $300 billion. Add that to the latest spending budget passed and the amount of money spent stimulating the economy is actually less than the amount of money going to pork barrel projects and earmarks.
Now thats change we can believe in.
Any economist worth his salt
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:41 ET by eaglewingz08Any economist worth his salt would tell the Obamanation (not that he would listen) that the way the puny tax credits and the spending have been constituted there will be very little multiplication effects from these insane bills. The nation was led to believe it would hock itself in order to get a priceless DaVinci, when in reality all it was getting were kindergarten finger paintings made with lead paint that will poison the kids' futures.
Trickle Down Economics Anyone?
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:50 ET by CBrauSounds like the Libs are perfectly ok with trickle down economics as long as it's the federal government doing the initial pouring. What a farce.
Cbrau
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:52 ET by SeashellGood point. What a bunch of hypocrites.
CBrau~ Exactly my
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 14:00 ET by MichelleCCBrau~
Exactly my thinking in my post above. Libs say "YAY for trickle down" as long as it's trickling from the government. But we're idiots because we think it's better to trickle down from corporate America.
Republicans believe every day is the 4th of July. Democrats believe every day is April 15th ~ Ronald Reagan
→ That Graphic?
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 10:57 ET by Cool ArrowAnybody else notice that graphic over Gibson's shoulder?
Was it intended to look so Hammer&Sickle-ish?
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Naw, it's a Hammer &
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 11:12 ET by Ruths husband BenNaw, it's a Hammer & Shovel, cause we are digging ourselves into a hole through socialism.
"Hey, it's amateur hour at our darkest moment." - Cramer
→ That makes sense RHB
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 11:51 ET by Cool ArrowI see somebody threw a wrench into the plan as well.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Dow Down 126
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 11:49 ET by richb313It is 10:30 AM Central time and the Dow is down $126 making yesterdays up tick a memory. What the close will be is anyones guess as Obama will speak about the high cost of health care today. Obama talks and the market responds, by going down.
→ DOW DOWN 145
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 11:58 ET by Cool ArrowThis could be Obama's "Baghdad Bob Moment".
Can you see him bravely denying there are any barbarians at the gate while the DOW drops a mere 800 points in an hour?
He can't avoid the cameras, and the DOW can't stand his voice.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Happy for those 26 people
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:04 ET by StarAZThey are going to widen our busy freeways with this loot. What will drive on them? No one can buy a car.
What I want to know
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:06 ET by Snede7711Has anyone in our government figured out what is going to happen when the money is gone? We all want are fellow citizens to work, but once the road is built or the bridge is completed (or whatever states are using the money for) those workers will once again be out of a job and looking for a new one. The only difference will be the amount of debt left for us to pay.
→ Obama knows
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:14 ET by Cool ArrowThat's the reason for the Stimulus kicking in so late.
Obama knows it will be election time again before the big bags of rice hit the streets.
There will be more beggars by then and he can buy their votes. By then, buying votes will be the only market left.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Don't worry there will be plenty money
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:21 ET by richb313Don't worry there will be plenty of money, the only problem is that it won't be worth anything. I lived thru Carter. Saw the same thing in Brazil and numerous South American Countries. You guys know what happens next? The IMF steps in, mandates Govt. Austerity Programs etc. It could actually happen here if Obama and Congress keep spending like there is no tomorrow. Maybe they know something we don't maybe there is no tomorrow?
Actually there is no money
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:32 ET by AgnosticActually there is no money now and there hasn't been for a very, very long time.
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Obama DOW -205
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:49 ET by Cool ArrowAfter encouraging Americans to "go shopping" for stocks, Obama's DOW got an uptick.
Obama's DOW is sinking today. Stand up Chuck! Say a few words on a down day!
Charlie Chicken unavailable for comment.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
cool -- my advice to you is
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:56 ET by Jack Bauercool -- my advice to you is to start drinking heavily
Now I stole that line, but who from?
→ Thanks Jack
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 12:58 ET by Cool ArrowSounds like something Glenn Beck would say. Beck would have been a great Bluto.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Funny you should mention
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 13:01 ET by Jack BauerFunny you should mention BLUTO because the the guy looks like Bluto -- and could easily have played him in Popeye!
John Belushi.
→ Must've been
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 13:06 ET by Cool ArrowMust've been a lost memory, clinging to some braincells I killed.
Obama - Change you can bereave in
Media
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 13:37 ET by adamsmithI wonder if all these chumps have a future once Obama and the Dem party blows up from overreach. Charlie Gibson is a clown. I don't watch this lightweight, and was appalled with the Palin interview, watching this mental midget try to look smart with his reading glasses slung low... If these idiots love socialism so much, Cuba is only 90 miles from the Keys. Start swimming Charlie, you have no credibilty..........
Wow, I am impressed
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 13:58 ET by TheHistorianAfter collapsing by over 1,300 points just since Obama has taken office with his all-Democrat congress, and we celebrate a 200 point uptick? Where were they when the Dow Jones was making history at 13,000 under Bush? I sure didn't see it on ABC.
Obama has CO2 and the stock market mixed confused, so he is trying to get both down to 500.
"What experience and history teach is this - that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it."
G. W. F. Hegel
I, too, clearly remember the
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 15:33 ET by MrDavisonI, too, clearly remember the deafening silence when the DOW was around 14000. In fact, all I ever remember is how bad things were according to them at that point. Now, things are actually bad and not a peep.
As I was reading this
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 15:02 ET by IamTinmanAs I was reading this the Dow was down 205 for the day and headed lower. Zillow.com just showed that my house dropped another $40 thousand, and because of the "buy American" push in the stimulus bill my export business is slipping into the toilet.
Excuse me ABC for not seeing that "ray of hope".
Oh wait, my water delivery guy whose house is deeper under water than the Marianas Trench, says that I'm going to help him keep his house at least until the next time he misses his mortgage payment.
How could things get any better? (sarc)
These twits and all their
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 15:21 ET by bigtimerThese twits and all their ilk must live on a different planet...they are totally divorced from any reality...it is mind-numbing any more.
Citi stock is now about just penny's, GE is something like six bucks a share last I heard earlier...on and on it goes...
The Dow is now down about 250...
Of course this is just what the leftist talking heads have wanted to happen for years now when President Bush was in office, that is all they constantly did, talk down the economy...now listen to the hypocrisy with all their blathering.
Funny, the saying be careful what you wish for is now being slammed directly in their faces... their agenda has now come to fruition....and there is now way they can worm their way out of this, the daily numbers don't lie...
The Strangulation Bill and the TARP BS is not working whatsoever, our kids and grandkids will be broke from all of this mess and paying for this for decades to come...oh yes, socialism, Nationalization, whatever word you want to use is working well.
The Timothy effect
Thu, 03/05/2009 - 15:30 ET by MrDavisonYou can thank that tool Geitner for another collosal drop. Nothing like declaring war on the oil companies for being so evil to send the market down even further.
Because of their policies, it is abundantly clear that:
Everyone will pay higher energy rates because of cap and trade and their new taxes on the oil and energy companies. Everyone will pay higher prices for goods and services because of, yep, cap and trade.
How many times do we have to scream that "Businesses DON'T PAY TAXES!". Their customers, you and me, pay for them!
It makes me so mad. WTH are these guys doing????
OK, I feel better. Not much though.
MrD.
ABC's Charles Gibson must
Fri, 03/06/2009 - 01:08 ET by TN MomABC's Charles Gibson must have been absent when they taught Econ 101...
btw, Joe Biden attends the AFL-CIO convention in swanky Fountain Blue Resort and not one word of rebuke from the MSM. Think of all the money the union is wasting at the luxury resort. Obama hasn't said a word. Oh, that's right, he hates Wall Street, loves Unions.