With the unemployment rate soaring in 10.2 percent in Friday's report on October, two old hands in the Washington press corps appeared on Sunday morning shows where they asserted that means we need another stimulus bill and/or the problem is the current “stimulus” bill wasn't big enough. On This Week, ABC News vet Sam Donaldson maintained “we're going to have to have more stimulus, more spending.”
Over on NBC's Meet the Press, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, a former Washington correspondent for the New York Times before covering politics for the Post, complained: “The problem is the stimulus was too small, and they compromised it down and so you had less effect. I mean, the fact is these numbers would be a lot worse without the stimulus.”
Donaldson contended:
Paul Krugman is often on this program, a New York Times columnist, and I think he's right, we're going to have to have more stimulus, more spending. You say, well that's terrible. Frank [Luntz], you say you hand it to the Republicans. Well alright, so we don't come out of the recession. Oh, good. Tremendous. In other words, which is worse? More spending, more debt -– which we're going to take care off -- but we come out of the recession because of it, or let's just stay wth a lot of people out of work.
Later in the roundtable on the November 8 program, Donaldson lamented the loss of liberal Republicans, lecturing George Will:
When I came to the town, there were people in the Senate, Republicans Leverett Saltonstall, John Sherman Cooper, Clifford Case, later Tom Kegal [?], Hatfield from Oregon, Chafee –- where are they today? They're not there because your party has driven out the moderates from the party. And you can't have a party that represents this country with the kind of people that now seem to be the voices of the Republicans.
I have no idea who “Tom Kegal” is and see no one by any name close to that in the list of all past U.S. Senators.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Doubling down
November 8, 2009 - 16:40 ET by Jerry MackDoubling down on failure is not a good idea.
It is really doubling
November 8, 2009 - 17:08 ET by TheHistorianIt is really doubling down on STUPID. The money spent by the government is on capital items. That will buy some short term jobs, but the way it is currently being done is they are allowing the states to cover their shortfalls, also known as what they spent in the Bush years. The result is that the safety net may have a few more threads, but you cannot grow the economy this way. This is why the guys who were such "deficit hawks" with Bush want to spend so much more.
The problem is, where does the money come from? It is either financed by borrowing from others, or it is monetized. The former is future debt, and the latter is inflation. However, Sam is so stupid he probably took basket-weaving instead of economics in college, so he thinks all of this is a good idea.
"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
Increase my income the Donaldson way !!!
November 8, 2009 - 17:20 ET by PaarlTomorrow night I am going to stroll down Morris Avenue in wonderful Morristown , NJ carrying my shotgun and do some financial tricking and treating and 'request' that my neighbors contribute to my income growth.....much in the same fashion that the IRS requests of me my contributions to Obama's GDP growth....of course my neighbors can contribute their cash or they can borrow via their Visa and AMEX cards.....
economic and income growth...it is all so easy ;>) and I did not have reread the many tomes of Van Mises to 'learn it' again ;>)
Paarl of Rhodesia
PS..yesterday I suggested intelligence tests in order to become a journalist....I think this proves I was dead on !!!
Throw Donaldsons money up in the air...!
November 9, 2009 - 09:09 ET by Patriot IIThen let him tell us how much of a stimulus it was? Phony ignorant socialists!!!
Donaldsons' college major---
November 8, 2009 - 17:59 ET by matthewdeanWas underwater yodeling.
He minored in political suckup, then changed it to combover coverage in the media, then changed it to toupee application under stress.
A tertiary field (though a field Sam was much enamored of) was Government subsidies 101a,b,c.
a. Taxpayer money available to rich liberal newscasters
b. Taxpayer money available for goat and/or pig farms
c. Taxpayer money available for any male newscaster who has property in New Mexico.
MD
"There is no distinctly American criminal class - except Congress."
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
The first thing that...
November 8, 2009 - 19:04 ET by Apodictic... he needs to do is remove the dead squirrel from the top of his head. This freak (and a Texan to boot) has far outlived his phony usefulness. They keep changing his Depends and proping him up before a camera. He's nothing but a male Helen Thomas. Irrelevant.
“The problem is the
November 8, 2009 - 16:45 ET by motherbelt“The problem is the stimulus was too small, and they compromised
it down and so you had less effect. I mean, the fact is these numbers
would be a lot worse without the stimulus.”
Quickfisk:
Too small? Would it matter if it were twice as big, given how much of it has been utilized already?
A lot worse??? How does he know that? How does anyone?
Oh yeah, I forgot: all those jobs that were "saved."
And I'm always suspicious when a liberal says "the fact is...."
A sure sign that what's coming is B as in B, S as in S.
Give a tax cut to anyone
November 8, 2009 - 17:04 ET by mostlymoderateGive a tax cut to anyone making over $40,000 and up to $200,000 a year. You know, the "middle class". These people will spread their tax-savings back into the economy by increased spending. Do this by cutting the Federal work-force by 5% within the next 5 years. Start by privatizing the U.S. Postal Service.
Oh, and vehemently oppose any support to illegal aliens and their families. Anyone who "intentionally" enters the U.S. illegally does not give birth to "citizens" any longer under the 14th Amendment.
That is how you fix America's financial woes.
Can't fault
November 8, 2009 - 17:12 ET by UpNorthyour ideas MM. If you cut their taxes, they'll spend it. If the stimulus had been bigger, would unemployment now be at 15% instead of 10.2%?
I heard the glittering
November 8, 2009 - 17:12 ET by bigtimerI heard the glittering jewel of colossal ignorance this morning spewing this BS...how dumb do the left think we are out here...they are in fear, they saw and know what last Tuesday means in the coming election...they all have said we have to have moderates...meaning RINOs who will vote with the dems....they are pining for the days, just yearning, moaning Woe is me rhetoric...the where have all the flowers gone rhetoric....just praying the anger of the American people will subside because they say so...John McC is a perfect example of what they want...and who they want to control, be their little darling in the msm which suits the RINOs they love the adoring face time they think they are getting...
All a game...and repub big-wigs better not do this again behind the scenes to us...or there will be a big surprise coming to even them.
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Sam's thinking with his
November 8, 2009 - 17:17 ET by Chris NormanSam's thinking with his toupee again. And, yeah, he misses those days of yore, when the seemingly permanent Democratic majority was extended by about half the Republican members, who went along with them.
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
Dumb Donaldson
November 8, 2009 - 17:28 ET by Trix RabbitI'm not an economist, but I have had enough experience in accounting to know that if I were to spend other people's money the way that this media moron suggests, I would be put in jail.
Which is where an idiot deluxe like Donaldson belongs. By the way, Sammy old son, you might want to consider changing your name to Brenda.
For the MSM: In your pomp and all your glory, you're a poorer man than me. As you lick the boots of death born out of fear.
Ian Anderson "Wind up"
More stimulus/porkulus I
November 8, 2009 - 17:55 ET by kangarooMore stimulus/porkulus
I guess the Chinese have approved their loan.
What did they put up for collateral Texas
Here you have Sam Donaldson
November 8, 2009 - 17:35 ET by fitzfongHere you have Sam Donaldson and E.J. Dionne, who are high-priced liabilities to their respective failing employers, dispensing analysis on how to bring economic recovery by spending more money that we don't have. Is it any wonder that ABC and WaPo are shedding employees like they're going out of style? Perhaps the House of Mouse and the Post ought to consider that they can save some jobs in their own organizations by trimming the excess fat of Donaldson and Dionne.
"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." -George Best
Excellent point, fitzfong
November 8, 2009 - 17:56 ET by GalvanicThey're two liberal media icons who thought that Obama's election was the gateway to their drema of a socialist America, and they are disappointed that Obama's wasteful spending hasn't stimulated anything.
And, staying true to their gamebook, they still believe the tool was right, but just not big enough.
History has proven that tax cuts are the tool to recover from recession. But what have Donaldson and Dionne ever leaerned from history anyhow?
The Post office
November 8, 2009 - 17:54 ET by ForeverOnTheRightMost of the mail we get via USPS is junk mail. If we made junk mail illegal we we could easily shrink the size of the post office and save millions of dollars. More savings. Then all we would get is bills and packages. Next step would be to send and receive bills via the internet or as they used to deliver bills was by hand using part time help. Delivery by hand is what my father did when he was young in the 30's. Now with packages use FedEx and UPS. Last step no post office, and who knows how much that would save tax payers.
Same old Sam Donaldson
November 8, 2009 - 17:55 ET by sms5217Seeing Sam this morning on "This Week" brought back a pain in my rear from the 1980's. Nice to see that die-hard liberal fanatics masquerading as journalists don't fade away.....they just keep spouting their nonsense into their 7th decade.
Moreover, I am so sick of these Sunday talk shows and other shows on the lamestream media channels. They have someone like George Will or Dr. Luntz who are mild-mannered folks. Then they bring in either complete partisan hacks like Donna Brazile or partisan media hacks like Donaldson who completely take over the roundtable and spout their nonsense with no challenges.
The only roundtable worth anything hypothetically would be Donaldson vs. Hannity or Brazile/Carville vs. Coulter/Mark Levin.
Of course, the lamestreamers would never do that, as they would actually be challenged on every syllable coming out of their mouths.
Trial lawyers are the scum of the earth
By now Donaldson could well
November 8, 2009 - 17:57 ET by ForeverOnTheRightBy now Donaldson could well be a millionare and he does not care about the unwashed masses. The arrogant useful idiot!
Out of which box of Cracker Jacks did this goober...
November 8, 2009 - 18:19 ET by R D Helm...get his economics "education?"
BTW, Sam, what they passed what not a stimulus anything, but a liberal's wet dream of a vote-buying scam.
If you haven't yet noodled that out, maybe you should just shut up and go away.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
What in the HELL is that thing on top of his head?
November 8, 2009 - 18:54 ET by Army BratAn alien life form that has taken over the operation of his severely limited intellect?
I thought that "journalists" were supposed to have a basic working knowledge of history. If this liberal twit had a single independent functioning brain cell, he'd know full well that...oh...wait...
never mind....
islam is a lie and Truth is killing it.
Army Brat,
November 8, 2009 - 23:44 ET by R D HelmLOL-Maybe it's the glue he uses to keep the toupee in place.
-Dave
Our elected representatives have failed us.
STFU Sam
November 8, 2009 - 19:05 ET by tssclshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRUbwnkEPqc
"...the fact is these
November 8, 2009 - 20:25 ET by RR GOP"...the fact is these numbers would be a lot worse without the stimulus.”
How can one argue with that?
It's like saying we'd all be speaking Italian now if Mussolini hadn't been taken out.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
Donaldson? They found a new ventriloquist to tug his wires?
November 8, 2009 - 21:12 ET by Willis_Leon_JohnsonI thought, and the picture seems to bear out that thought, that he is just another old corpse occupying a chair in fron of a camera.
He still manages to prove that he is, economically speaking, completely stupid on just how this Nation functions, and WHO PAYS THE BILLS!
The government has NEVER 'created' a job that the PRIVATE SECTOR did not pay for through their taxes.
http://gjresult.com
Donaldson
November 8, 2009 - 22:37 ET by back to basicsWhat the hell!!!!!! It's the facts people, just the facts! Does anyone care anymore? We need to stop this insanity now. I for one refuse to sit by and watch as our country is pushed into oblivion by radical (and they call us radical!) exremists. Our founding fathers would not allow this to go on. We need another revolution. STAND UP AMERICANS and vote out these mainiacs!
More stimulus? Hasn't anyone seen this chart?
How can anyone in their right mind think that more spending will fix the problem? All my hair has been pulled out and now I just wail in anticipation for 2010.................
btb... Amen to all you
November 8, 2009 - 22:42 ET by bigtimerbtb...
Amen to all you stated...'10 here we come!
'Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart
Calm down! If you give
November 8, 2009 - 23:46 ET by tssclsCalm down! If you give yourself a coronary, that means one less vote next year and in '12.
These people are insane, and
November 9, 2009 - 00:02 ET by AlanaThese people are insane, and can't add.
More Stimulus . . .
November 9, 2009 - 04:58 ET by DoktorFranken. . . for that gosh-awful hair thingy that has invaded Sam's skull.
JMHO, you understand.
If Saul Alinsky owned a news channel it would be MSNBC. ---- Me
sporting a new hairpiece
November 9, 2009 - 07:54 ET by spepperI see that Sammy D is sporting a new hairpiece, made from the harvest of hair grown on his llama farm--
These socialists sound like
November 9, 2009 - 13:54 ET by deerjerkydaveThese socialists sound like a broken record.
Q. Why did socialism fail in Russia?
A. It wasn't tried on a large enough scale
Q. Why is education failing in America?
A. We aren't putting enough money into the system.
Q. Why hasn't the Obama stimulus worked?
A. It wasn't big enough to make a difference.
At some point somebody needs to wake up and admit that the problem isn't the scale, it's that socialism NEVER WORKS!
A minor
November 9, 2009 - 16:03 ET by Willis_Leon_JohnsonA minor correction...
Socialism has never worked in the Citizens favor.
But! It's really really good for those who control the government.
Russia didn't have 80+ million registered gun owners to disarm either.
http://gjresult.com
Sam
November 9, 2009 - 20:30 ET by NorthCoasterThe problem is that the stimulus is back loaded! Nothing really kicks in until the leadup to the 2012 elections so that the Dems get the benefit of improving unemployment!
Bu!!$#!T