It's no surprise that Democratic National Committee chair Tim Kaine would agree with the Obama administration about the effectiveness of last year's stimulus packages. That's why CNN's "American Morning" should have at least included a single critical guest Feb. 17.
Kiran Chetry began the interview by citing a CNN poll that showed public skepticism regarding the stimulus.
"What do you say to Americans who feel that this $862 billion was basically wasted?" Chetry asked.
Kaine defended the stimulus by citing a New York Times piece saying that the stimulus "has pretty much done exactly what it was intended to do." The former governor gave the stimulus credit with getting the economy growing again. Kane also said it saved or created 2.4 million jobs.
According to the CNN poll, only 36 percent of people believed the stimulus benefited the economy, while 63 percent thought that the stimulus was made up of political projects that had no economic impact.
Chetry pressed the point to Kaine again: "Why do you think nearly a third of people actually only a third, according to our polling, think that the stimulus money is actually benefiting the economy? Why is there that disconnect then if you think it is working so well?"
"Because people are still hurting," replied Kaine.
In addition to not including a critic, Chetry neglected to point out the failure of the stimulus to prevent unemployment from rising above 8 percent (as promised), the most jobs lost in one year since 1940 and the many examples of waste and misuse of stimulus funds that some media outlets have reported in recent months.
The Business & Media Institute examined the year of network news coverage of the stimulus package and found all three broadcasts networks to be unofficial boosters of the massive government spending by picking more supporters than critics to include in stories and leaving criticism entirely out of almost half of their reports.
—Julia A. Seymour is an assistant editor for the Business & Media Institute.
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nuance
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 14:53 ET by sevenIt costs 375,000 dollars for every job "saved"
If 100 million Americans pay 8,000 dollars, we can pay back the debt created. If we do not pay off the borrowed money, it will cost 32 billion a year to pay interest. That means if all the 2 million jobs saved paid every penny of their earnings to pay interest on the 800 billion, it would be 16,000 per year per person.
Done everything
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 15:16 ET by UpNorthit was intended to do? What was that, there, Timmie boy? Keep the unemployment rate from exceeding 8%? Oops, that didn't work out so well, did it? The dems keep telling anyone who'll listen that the "Stimulus" saved or created jobs, but no one can come up with a credible figure for either. Meanwhile, even the DoL statistics show that jobs keep being shed each month. But, in some months, it's less than we expected, so that must be a good thing, right?
Timmie, even Evan Bayh said what we all know, government can't create a job. "If I could create one job in the private sector by helping to grow a
business, that would be one more than Congress has created in the last
6 months."
Damn
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 15:17 ET by CCsteelcityI am so glad he is gone from Va.
Kaine was nothing more than a butt kiss for Obummer, now we just need to get rid of Warner, the other cheek kisser.
"A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee." - Bill Clinton in 2008 from "Game Change"
he did nothing
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 15:47 ET by spepperKaine did nothing to improve the economy of Virginia while either mayor of Richmond, much less governor of the entire commonwealth-- to find him as sycophantish mouthpiece of the DNC, spewing the party line on their de facto network CNN, is no surprise.......
Joe Biden .. on the stimulus bill.
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 16:00 ET by Gary HallJust got to throw this out. Was out in la la research land, and this popped up. To borrow a line from NS - set your coffee cup down, and cover your keyboard. USA Today - 12/23/2008:
Yikes!
(;~/ gary
Par
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 19:06 ET by general companyBiden is a walking contradiction, and it's obvious he is unaware? Someone should give him his own sit-com.
My Gov. thinks I am dangerous, so be careful
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Kaine was also on Fox News
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 16:11 ET by ThisnThatKaine was also on Fox News this morning, spouting the same crap. But in addition, he kept blaming Bush. And that's their bottom line -- blame Bush,and then lie about the "saving jobs" manure they keep throwing around. I still can't believe anyone lets these jokers off the hook when they say "saving jobs". Prove it. Prove that one job was saved. Cite the industry; the state; the town; the business; the employee.
__________
"He [obama] got the best press known to man" - Tina Brown. "In the entire universe" - Howard Kurtz
a mirage is also an
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 16:56 ET by jkwtradinga mirage is also an illusion...so is the saving of the economy by the stimulus package..
eventually llusions disapear and so do the people whom advocated the stimulus packages.
Let em eat cake.... CNN
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 17:50 ET by wolfemanicLet em eat cake....
CNN Has Lowest Viewer Night in 4 Years; Lowest Demo Night in Nearly 9 Years.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/cnn_has_lowest_viewer_night_in_4...
Porkulus is going to do what it was intended to do all along
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:34 ET by R D Helm...and that is going to be an attempt by the far-left to put a permanent, defeat-proof socialist congress in place next November.
Anyone who thinks this loot was going to be used to 'improve' the economy (which it couldn't do NO MATTER HOW IT WAS SPENT) hasn't been paying attention.
-Dave
Thanks, Obama.
Dave
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:36 ET by MrShyWhy is it I always walk away from your posts really depressed?
:p
I'm not looking for anyone's pity. - Jer
There have been studies. - Jer
Shy,
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:53 ET by R D HelmI jezz calls it the ways I sees it. :-)
Of course, I am not saying they will pull it off, but they are going to give it everything they have.
If the repubs figure it out, and the Tea Party movent holds together and does not splinter off into a bunch of different factions, they can very likey be stopped.
-Dave
Thanks, Obama.
Th
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 11:36 ET by jessieHThe stimulous is working- not one elected official lost any money.
Man O Man
Thu, 02/18/2010 - 11:37 ET by kilrodMan o man, i read the whole article from the Business and Media Institute, by Dan Gainor, and i just got madder. It's worse than i knew. Here is one excerpt, among many, that stood out;
[Another CBS story celebrated how D.C. had turned into a new financial capital. Mason told viewers about “matchmaking sessions to link them with government agencies giving out stimulus money.” He even quoted Washington power broker and “King of K Street” Thomas Hale Boggs Jr. who seemed thrilled that the “total pie is way over $2 trillion” to grab for clients. As Mason added, “Government officials like these at the Transportation Department can’t give it out fast enough.”]
Thanks Ms. Seymour for the eye-opener.
Folks, i don't know what we can do but, some how we have to stand up and fight this bunch till we get control of this gov. again.
kilrod
If an unborn child cannot trust you, why should I,??