Howard Kurtz: Media Giving Republicans a Pass for Blocking Deficit Deal
As you've watched and read media reports concerning the debt ceiling, have you gotten the feeling the press have given Republicans a pass for standing strong in their pledge to not raise taxes?
CNN's Howard Kurtz thinks they have, and said so quite often on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
HOWARD KURTZ: Katrina vanden Heuvel, here’s David Brooks saying, “Republicans are not a normal Party.” Have most in the media been unwilling to point a finger and say the Republicans are largely responsible for blocking any deal here?
That's some question to ask the editor and publisher of The Nation, America's most left-leaning major magazine.
Of course, there's no need to bother sharing her answer. Care to guess what it was?
Next, Kurtz pushed this line of thinking further with Newt Gingrich's former press secretary Tony Blankley:
KURTZ: Tony Blankley, I’m not taking sides here. The Republicans have their standing on principle, but journalists could easily write that by saying we’ll negotiate anything except tax increases, which is of course half of the debate, Republicans are blocking progress toward a deal.
Does Kurtz actually think they haven't been doing that? It was CNN contributor Donna Brazile's entire point on Sunday's "This Week."
The Associated Press made a similar case in its piece about the stalled negotiations Saturday evening, as did Mike Barnicle on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday, the New York Times editorial board Friday, the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson Thursday, and NBC's David Gregory Thursday.
For the past several weeks, virtually every media outlet has been incessantly blaming the lack of a deal on the Republicans and demanding they give in to tax hikes. Exactly what world has Kurtz been living in that he's missed this?
Quite cluelessly, he continued pressing this absurd position with his guests:
KURTZ: But on that point, Katrina, the Democrats have their own sacred cows. Medicare is one of them. It’s a great issue for the Democratic Party. But, President Obama has put nearly $500 billion in Medicare cuts on the table saying the Republicans should now give something on revenue. But, again, I don’t see the press, I think the press is so worried about appearing to take sides that they don’t want to say, “Well, the Democrats took another step here, and Republicans, and look Boehner is under a lot of pressure from his caucus, are still digging in.”
"The press is so worried about appearing to take sides?" Not that that's what they're doing, but isn't it supposed to be?
Kurtz - who claims to be a media analyst - is now complaining that the press are worried about taking sides. Look at the chyron that was at the bottom of the screen during most of this segment:
GIVING REPUBLICANS A PASS? Media neutral on debt crisis
Horrors! The media were neutral on a subject rather than taking sides!
I guess that should have given his viewers all they needed to know about which side he was on concerning raising taxes.
Maybe he was trying in one segment to compensate for this supposed "neutrality," which is a heck of a position for a media analyst.
Better for Kurtz to stop watching the press for a week and study the Historical Budgets of the United States in order to get a rudimentary understanding of why America is at this juncture.
Since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007, spending has risen by $1.1 trillion or 41 percent. If we spent this year what we did in fiscal 2007, we'd only have a $160 billion deficit, which just so happens to be what the deficit was in the last budget created by Republicans and signed by George W. Bush.
Even if spending had increased at the rate of inflation since 2007, today's deficit would only be $370 billion and we wouldn't be anywhere near the debt ceiling.
As such, this matter isn't about tax receipts, tax rates, or tax loopholes. We've gotten ourselves into this crisis with reckless spending, and the only solution is to reduce it.
Maybe if Kurtz was better informed about our historical budgets, he would be complaining that the media are devoting way too much time pushing for tax hikes and not enough time demanding more spending cuts.
A conservative can dream, can't he?
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Comments
Howie's career is nearing its
Submitted by d1carter on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:41pm.
Howie's career is nearing its end...thankfully.
Well, I've got on FoxNews Sunday
Submitted by bkeyser on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:42pm.
and Brett Baier was much tougher on Jim DeMint than he was on Xavier Becerra.
And even though I didnt see it
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:53pm.
My bet is, DeMint held up better
BK - Early Intervention
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 12:30am.
It breaks my heart that I used to hang around with Xavier after school in second and third grade at Hollywood Park Elementary and wasn't more of an influence on him politically. If I had only known back then he was going to be a liberal and run for office.... " :)
it is interesting
Submitted by pilgrim4jc on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:51pm.
That the "supposed" media CNN watchdog needs to be watched for his ignorance and bias!
it is interesting
Submitted by pilgrim4jc on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:52pm.
That the "supposed" media CNN watchdog needs to be watched for his ignorance and bias!
So to Kurtz horror, the media has been un-bias?
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:03pm.
Least we will never have to fear that Kurtz is.
BTW, are these the same 500bil in Medicare cuts that are in the Obama care bill? If not, then these cuts pretty much eliminate it dont they
More on FoxNews Sunday
Submitted by bkeyser on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:09pm.
It's incredibly frustrating listening to both sides of this argument when one side continues to put forth a position that offers absolutely no economic benefit. After all, we're talking about the looming "catastrophe" of defaulting on our debt- a decidedly economic problem. I keep hearing the ideological "shared sacrifice" line as in, 'we Democrats are willing to cut spending, so long as Republicans are willing to make sure everyone feels the pain' or 'we Democrats want the super rich in this country to contribute their fair share.'
And yet no one is following up on Juan Williams' (and virtually all Democrats' and lefty media pundits') talking points by saying, "but what if raising taxes on the rich -the only people capable of creating jobs in this country- hurts the economy in the form of stagnant hiring or an increase in unemployment? And since the so many people are unemployed now, and that number has only gone up since Obama took the office, aren't the rich already paying the majority of the bill now?"
It's the crap sandwich analogy I made earlier this week: why compromise when the other side is offering nothing but a sure-fire failure for no other reason than pleasing their deranged base?
Is Katrina vanden Heuvel...
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:26pm.
....gay? She speaks and acts like lemon and maddow; and even BJ King. If so, her viewpoints on anything political will be subconsciously biased and not to be taken too seriously as she represents a very small percentage of the people...albeit deviant. Just wondering.
She's married, but in NY that means little.
Submitted by daveinboca on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 3:50pm.
The specimen she is espoused to has no name, gender, or species identification yet to speak of. I understand she and an ancient satyr named Victor Navasky used to get it on during office hours.
I'm willing to compromise.
Submitted by Kingfish17 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:27pm.
They want to grow the government 10%, I want to shrink it by 50%. I'll settle for a 20% reduction in the size of government.
"You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas...on the taxpayer’s dime." Barack Obama
The Tax-and-Spendocrats.
Submitted by Phryj1 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:32pm.
Bound and determined to increase taxes and refusing to make meaningful cuts, then blaming the GOP when they don't get their way. Is that the Dems idea of grown-up politics? They keep claiming to be the party of mature, realistic politics, but they demand tax increases, stubbornly refuse real budget cuts, and lie, name-call, and point fingers when things don't go exactly the way they want them to.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
And all the while, the leftist media
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:55pm.
Inserts themselves into the fray, by claiming they havent been vicious enough on the Right. Like Kurtz here. Hey Howie, show me were you have given any critique of the Dimwits. How about showing what effects greater taxes have had historically? You want to be un-bias, how about following the policies to their predictable conclusions.
If the Repubs give in, were all in trouble, not just the Right. But of course this is not even an issue for ideologues like Kurtz
Incompetent
Submitted by redherkey on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:34pm.
The left should fire these hacks and replace them with more competent public relations experts. Kurtz and the others aren't even trying to conceal the leftist framework they place the story within (e.g. who is "obstructing" a deal -- it would seem demands to increase taxes or have no deal qualify equally in obstructionism as do demands that there will be no tax increases).
To get to an objective position, I'd cite an authority on how to settle these tiebreakers: President Barack Obama. Shortly following the presidential election, Republicans were screaming about being locked out of health care negotiations, and having an unread bill crammed down their throats. President Obama, citing Machievelli, declared "Deal with it, losers. I won, you lost. Elections have consequences." (per my approximation).
2010 elections have since occurred and as such, the Republicans ran on a campaign of no tax increases, spending reductions. The Democrats ran on a campaign of more "stimulus" spending, more government programs, and more seizure of the private sector by the public. The Republicans trounced the Democrats and the people gave them a clearer mandate than they did with Obama's election.
There's your tiebreaker, Kurtz. Unless you're a closet fascist, you must recognize that the defacto position of the citizenry of the U.S. is that of no tax increases, government spending decreases. If you're unable to represent both as "obstructing" (though only President Obama and the left are obstructing the clear will of the people), then you must objectively side with the most current mandate stated through the electoral outcomes.
That you're unable to recognize this is just evidence of the complicity of the media in facilitating the democratic farce of the progresso-fascist movement. History will remember you (especially since it's increasingly clear you won't be writing it, we will) as a dullard and a thug who wrote whatever the global elites demanded in order to continue their schemes against the will of the people.
Well Said
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:37pm.
You should post here more often, Red.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
thanks... definitely love
Submitted by redherkey on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:45pm.
thanks... definitely love newsbusters.
Good!
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 3:58pm.
Don't be such a stranger then.
And welcome (back)!
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
You can't hear it, redherkey,
Submitted by ant on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:17pm.
You can't hear it, redherkey, but it's the sound of applause and an 'amen'.
Really?
Submitted by octavioj on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 4:04pm.
If the pounding the Rs are getting is a pass I imagine a bashing would involve stones and the public square...
This is the same guy
Submitted by djwolf12 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 6:05pm.
that trashed Elizabeth Smart being chosen by ABC News on being a spokesperson for Missing Kids based on "experience". By that standard, Howard Kurtz's whole career as a journalist should be called into question, based on his "impersonation" of being one.
The same "pass" given to
Submitted by WarEagle66 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 6:38pm.
The same "pass" given to Demmunists who have not passed a budget in TWO STINKING YEARS!??
the only truth that counts
Submitted by ohio granny on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:39pm.
according to CNN the only truth they know is what helps democrats. anything else by their definition is a lie.
democrars = liars,cheats,crooks and hypocrites
Is CNN still broadcasting?
Submitted by rono on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:58pm.
Kurtz is laughable. He hasn't had an unbiased opinion since his mother crapped him out of her womb.
Right...when Kurtz defended Limbaugh
Submitted by Jer on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 12:51am.
Right...when Kurtz defended Limbaugh after Rush had called Tom Daschle a traitor, the devil, a supporter of the axis of evil, and Tokyo Tom, I thought it seemed like a fairly biased opinion as well.
Jer
I don't remember much
Submitted by ant on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 1:26am.
I don't remember much circling of the wagons on behalf of Daschle by any Dems or media, a little, but not much. I don't think he was a well-liked man, I know I don't like him and I never met him.
~No need to bring his mother into it
Submitted by Wrathful Brunette on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 8:54am.
No woman has ever "crapped" anything out of her womb.
Kurtz is Guilty as Charged
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 12:44am.
This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about when I have said in the past that Kurtz, as a news media critic, is, at best, totally incompetent. He softly criticizes the news media - but mostly every time for exactly all the wrong reasons - "short attentions spans", "sensationalism", and "laziness" - but rarely, if ever, for liberal bias. And now he criticizes the news media for giving the Republicans a pass?! What the hell planet is he reviewing the news on? I can only only conclude that he isn't incompetent - he's in fact just another lying liberal shill deliberately offering phony "criticism" of the the other media liberal shills in order to protect them deflect the real criticism of their most obvious and egregious conduct - the liberal bias and promotion of the Democratic Party and it's agenda.
Little known secret about Howie
Submitted by ConservaSerb on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 12:43am.
His family's last name had an "n" before they changed it. His great-grandfather's name was Whatta . . . his grandfather's nickname was "stinky," and his dad's name was Allwayza.
A wise & frugal government, which shall leave men free 2 regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, & shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. T. Jefferson
The compromise is this
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 7:45am.
If you cut spending we will raise the debt ceiling. Tax increases would be an additional compromise.
If you cut spending, we will raise taxes and the debt ceiling. See how they change the basis of the discussion.
Media in an apocalyptic state now
Submitted by ChrisNH on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 7:52am.
The whole Leftist media cabal is in utter shock at how the noose around Obama's neck has also ensnared them. They were the ones who force-fed us Obama under false pretenses. They are feverishly trying to defend the indefensible.
The point is clear: Raising taxes ought to come BEFORE you decide to spend money; not afterward. In fact, Dim Libs are pleading with everyone that taxes need to be raised to pay for a stimulus that didn't stimulate. If the stimulus had done its job, the appetite for higher taxes might be a bit more palatable.
Kurtz
Submitted by jessieH on Mon, 07/11/2011 - 4:32pm.
The media give only liberals a pass.