[See update below] Appearing on a panel for Wednesday's edition of "Hannity," "Good Morning America" news anchor Chris Cuomo once again fretted about a lack of support for Barack Obama's massive new spending bill. After mentioning an earlier interview he conducted with House Minority Leader John Boener, Cuomo complained, "He [Boehner] said that he was impressed by President Obama, that they thought there would be compromise, that they would get away from the politics as usual."
Following a discussion of the fact that not one House Republican voted for the "stimulus" bill, Cuomo lamented, "They said they were thinking about us. They said that was the analysis, because they don't know how to deal with this situation. So there's no reason to cling to the normal partisan lines. They did just that." In an earlier interview with Boehner on Wednesday's "Good Morning America," Cuomo asserted that the pressure was on politicians to "get past the age-old battle over tax cuts versus spending." And although Cuomo did at least admit that there has been wasteful spending in last year's bailout bill, he also introduced the GMA piece on a lack of congressional action with horror stories about the awful economy.
Also appearing on "Hannity" was former ABC reporter Jami Floyd. Floyd, who is now an anchor on In Session's "Best Defense," chided the Fox News host for attacking the "stimulus" bill from a conservative angle. She derided, "See, I want to talk about bipartisanship, and you want to talk about socialism. This isn't socialism." While not offering specifics, she also asserted, "This is time for all Americans to step up to the plate and give. That's what's got to happen."
Floyd is perhaps best known to MRC readers for a shockingly biased report that compared Muslim terrorist to a group of radical anti-abortion protestors. On the November 28, 2001 edition of "20/20," she attacked, "Since September 11, the word ‘terrorist’ has come to mean someone who is radical, Islamic and foreign. But many believe we have as much to fear from a home-grown group of anti-abortion crusaders."
UPDATE 2009-01-29 18:19:23: Ms. Floyd contacted the MRC and asked for a clarification. As noted in Brent Baker's CyberAlert, Floyd's story looked into the tactics of a radical abortion group that sent a powdery substance to a New York doctor. The MRC's Brent Baker wrote this about the story:
After recounting how last week many abortion clinics received letters containing a white powdery substance, which tested negative for anthrax, Floyd warned: "If Americans can learn something from the Wortmans about how to live with fear, then perhaps we can also learn something from those who live to spread fear. Since September 11th the word terrorist has come to mean someone who is radical, Islamic and foreign, but many believe we have as much to fear from a home-grown group of anti-abortion crusaders."
Floyd proceeded to list those who have murdered abortion doctors, such as Paul Hill who killed two, and then she interviewed Army of God leader Donald Spitz about his belief that he prefers "live babies over live abortionists."
Critiquing the segment's tone and substance, he added:
There's no doubt a small number of radicals use intimidation tactics, and sometimes even murder, to achieve their ends, tactics which can be classified as terrorism. But to equate that with al Qaeda's tactics as displayed on September 11 is ridiculous. There are at least two major differences. First, the anti-abortion terrorists are targeting specific individuals, not murdering everyone in a neighborhood around a clinic or thousands in a community because they elected a pro-abortion city councilor. Second, while the anti-abortionists are subverting the democratic process which has delivered a result with which they disagree, they are aiming to end a specific policy, not trying to destroy U.S. society and all the rights and freedoms it protects.
A partial transcript of the January 28 segment, which aired at 9:33pm, follows:
SEAN HANNITY: And tonight on our "Great American Panel" he is the co- anchor of "Good Morning America" on ABC News. Chris Cuomo is here. She is the coauthor of "Why You're Wrong About the Right." Conservative columnist, also, on Sports Illustrated, S.E. Cupp joins us tonight. She is a criminal defense attorney and the anchor of "Best Defense" on Tru TV. Jami Floyd also is with us. All right. Big news of the night is an issue we all care about, the economy. Republicans voted against it, Chris; Democrats all voted for it. I talked to John Kyl today. He expects, similarly, the same result in the Senate.
CHRIS CUOMO (news anchor, "Good Morning America"): Look, I think it's troubling to all of us. We had the opportunity to speak to the whip, John Boehner. He said that he was impressed by President Obama, that they thought there would be compromise, that they would get away from the politics as usual. What is upsetting about this- because it's not surprising. Right? A party line vote, you expect it on something where there was so much disapproval going into it, but they said they'd do it differently. They said they were thinking about us. They said that was the analysis, because they don't know how to deal with this situation. So there's no reason to cling to the normal partisan lines. They did just that.
HANNITY: But there are some real fundamental principles. S.E., we're conservatives.
S.E. CUPP (columnist): Yes.
HANNITY: I believe in limited government. I believe capitalism. I believe tax cuts. It worked for JFK. It worked for Reagan. It didn't work for George W. Bush to get him out of the recession and the negative impact of 9/11. So why should Republicans abandon their principles? I'm glad they stood firm.
CUPP: Me, too, and I'm really proud of Republicans, and I hope this - this bill gets a tougher go of it in the Senate. You know, I've got to say my favorite part of this package is that no money goes to Illinois if Blagojevich is still in office. Democrats got it right there. Good job.
HANNITY: Contraception, we went through the whole list of the radical spending and pork barrel in here. Barack Obama has promised no earmarks. This is full of earmarks.
JAMI FLOYD (host, "Best Defense"): I think there's one place we agree. This is an opportunity for the Republican Party to begin redefining itself. We know what the values of the party is, and we know- are. And we also know what the party has stood for in the past. But as Chris said, there is a promise in Washington to the American people from both sides of the aisle to work in a bipartisan fashion. And so it is disappointing-
HANNITY: But let me ask-
FLOYD: -even though I hear where you're coming from. We know what you stand for: 80 percent of the American people support this plan. And they're watching.
HANNITY: I like the word "bipartisan." It sounds nice. You know, let's sing "Kumbaya." We can all get along. But here's the reality. There are fundamental principles. Rush Limbaugh has created a big controversy in the interview with me. He said if Barack Obama were to adopt Reagan along with Lincoln and FDR and cut taxes, he'd support him. He would defend him. But if he's going to adopt socialism, if we're going to expand health care, he's going to oppose him and wants it to fail, because he knows it's not in the best interests of the country. And it's been misinterpreted almost all over the media.
FLOYD: See, I want to talk about bipartisanship, and you want to talk about socialism. This isn't socialism.
HANNITY: It's not?
FLOYD: This is time for all Americans to step up to the plate and give. That's what's got to happen.
HANNITY: Give. To be patriotic?
FLOYD: That's what's got to happen.
HANNITY: Wait a second. To give-
FLOYD: This is a time- this is a time for service across the board. That's what this is about.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this. All right, let me ask S.E. this.
FLOYD: And sacrifice is what we're all going to have to do.
HANNITY: Wait a minute. The average American works five and a half months a year to pay their tax bill.
CUPP: Right.
HANNITY: And Joe Biden says, Chris, that we're not patriotic if we're not willing to step up and pay more. That's almost offensive to people that pay so much.
CUOMO: What it is, is partisan rhetoric that you're used to hearing. The question is will anything be different? We've talked before. So do you cut taxes? Will that help? Do you spend? Will that help? I've read hundreds of pages of experts on this. You know that when you read the research, it's very specific. There seems to be no real answer. It depends on what the situation is at the time. And this is totally unprecedented. So my concern as a journalist is when I hear that you're telling me the same thing you would have told me four years ago, eight years ago, 12 years ago, when this is supposed to be different -that you care about the Americans first.
HANNITY: It worries me. See, I pointed this out the other day. Reagan had a far worse economy than he inherited: 21.5 percent interest rates, inflation out of control. We lost 10 million new jobs.
CUPP: That's right. Right.
HANNITY: He dropped the top marginal rates from 70 to 28 percent, we created $20 million new jobs and we doubled revenues to the government.
CUPP: Yes. Yes.
HANNITY: It was, you know, unprecedented success.
CUPP: Tax cuts work. What bothers me about this is that this wasn't bipartisan. This is a Democratic package. Republicans were largely shut out.
HANNITY: Yes.
CUPP: And the plan the Republicans had cost half as much, would have created twice as many jobs in twice as fast a time. Why wasn't that looked at?
CUOMO: They weren't shut out. They weren't shut out. They had this big powwow. They all come up. They say they want a compromise. That's not what happened. Tax cuts definitely work as long as the people getting them spend that money. In this economy-
HANNITY: Republicans can't offer any new bills as these new Draconian rules were accepted by Nancy Pelosi.
—Scott Whitlock is a news analyst for the Media Research Center.




















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Comments Policy
Socialist Stimulus spending cannot help the economy
January 29, 2009 - 17:50 ET by PopularTechOnly to economic illiterates such as Cuomo could worthless stimulus spending be a good thing. Why not try what works, Tax Cuts, Reduced Government Spending and Reduced Regulation!
Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Goverment Is Not Stimulus (Video) (Daniel J. Mitchell, Ph.D. Economics)
Obamas So-Called Stimulus: Good For Government, Bad For the Economy (Video) (Daniel J. Mitchell, Ph.D. Economics)
Arrogant Conceit: Obama Thinks He Can Reform The Economy (John Stossel, ABC News)
200 Economists Oppose the Stimulus Package (PDF) (Cato Institute)
There's No Pain-Free Cure for Recession (Peter Schiff, The Wall Street Journal)
Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure (Murray N. Rothbard, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Economics)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is Not Pollution
Good evening Pop
January 29, 2009 - 17:58 ET by cocodrieThanks. Been waiting fot your critique on this. Thankx again.
Jesus Loves You
Another good set of links Pop
January 30, 2009 - 00:56 ET by thebutlerdiditHey, Jami Floyd, if you are out there, I just want to say that I was watching this last night, and I wanted to come through my laptop screen and slap you! Yes, this is Socialism, you dim wit!!! And when you quoted the figure of 80% of Americans supporting the stimulus, can you please provide this poll result for the rest of us? I have seen Rasmussen and Pew, and the most support I saw was around 52%. Another poll I saw was only 39%. And this is taking in to account that most Americans have no clue what is in this porkulus bill. We are not stupid sheeple like your usual viewers, we know how to read the dang thing ourselves. Cuomo just came off like the prissy boy he always does, she's the one I got livid watching.
Bringing the government in to run Wall Street is like saying, "Dad burned the dinner, let's get the dog to cook." PJ O'Rourke
With all these water carriers
January 29, 2009 - 18:05 ET by BlondeThey ought to just take the name of this show and change it to "Good Bye America".
What about Lack of American Support
January 29, 2009 - 18:07 ET by deerjerkydaveI just saw a poll over at foxnews that says that less than half of Americans think that this gigantic spending bill by Obama and friends is a good idea. That same poll says that Americans think tax cuts is a better sollution to the economic troubles.
Of course, to Cuomo and his friends in the liberal media, opinions only matter among enlightened liberal Northeasterners. The rest of the country consists of red neck hill billies who can't think or reason like they can.
any GOP rep who voted in
January 29, 2009 - 19:38 ET by puredmashieany GOP rep who voted in favor of this bill would have to answer to his base. the united opposition will prove effective.
swing hard in case you hit it.
If Chris Cuomo wants to whine about something -- Andrew is..
January 29, 2009 - 18:21 ET by Gary HallIf Chris Cuomo wants to whine about something -- his brother Andrew Cuomo should be the target of his disaffection.
After all, Andrew was the leader of the pack - da man - that all should be cursing these days
From the left:
From the right:
Now that is consensus opinion.
(Yes, PopTech - the Fed and Greenspan also played their part - a major part) (;~> gary
Cumo said
January 29, 2009 - 18:22 ET by katiejaneThey weren't shut out. They weren't shut out. They had this big powwow. They all come up. They say they want a compromise. That's not what happened. Tax cuts definitely work as long as the people getting them spend that money. In this economy-
So is his idea of being bi-partisan to "powwow" and ignore the other side's input? He's right - the Republicans didn't compromise if his definition is that they should have just rolled over in gratitude that the Left even talked to them. Doesn't bi-partisan mean both parties give a little - get a little?
I had the same thought.
January 29, 2009 - 20:44 ET by motherbeltI had the same thought. If they weren't shut out, and had input, the President wouldn't have had to invite 10 of them to the White House the night before the vote in order to persuade them to convince their colleagues that this was a good plan.
Show me any abortion clinic
January 29, 2009 - 18:41 ET by eaglewingz08Show me any abortion clinic bombings in the past ten years? I can produce thousands of Islamist bombings during the past ten years. Chris Cuomo and the dems are terrified because Repubs haven't given them any cover. This is a dem bill they will reap the glory if it works but the grief when, not if, it fails.
The liberal glossary says...
January 29, 2009 - 18:44 ET by c5thenBi-partisan means pretending to listen to the other side and then ignoring them and doing what you want.
Crossing the aisle and working with the other side means adopting rules so that only the majority can introduce any new legislation.
You see? It's all very clear if you know what the terms mean.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012
The Obama's "bipartisan
January 29, 2009 - 18:53 ET by Chris NormanThe Obama's "bipartisan outreach" program was nothing but a dog and pony show to get him cover on the Big Government Stimulus Bill and Political Payoff. If it worked, he would have cover when the voters turn against him when the thing fails, since it didn't work, he gave the media a "reason" to criticize the GOP's "ingratitude" and "lack of cooperation".
The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.
I hope Cuomo gets to cover
January 29, 2009 - 18:57 ET by SickofLibsI hope Cuomo gets to cover that CERN black-hole experiment.
These two donkeys threw it
January 29, 2009 - 19:33 ET by soulpileThese two donkeys threw it all out in the open: bi-partisan means Republicans have to roll over and acquiesce to eveything the Democrats want. No compromise. Even Pelosi has made this clear, in addition to The One.
Also, I couldn't find it in the transcript above, but Floyd said something to the effect that made it clear they expect The One to be in office for 8 years. She said something about an 8 year.. something. Policy or conversation? I believe they were talking about The One's sneaky interview with al-Arabia tv (or whatever it's called) at the time.
"Tax cuts definitely work
January 29, 2009 - 19:42 ET by ckc1227"Tax cuts definitely work as long as the people getting them spend that money."
And yet, didn't Obama criticize Bush for suggesting that people spend money to keep the economy going after 9/11?
People will spend the money they get, but if they don't, it gets put in a bank, which then lends it out or invests it in some way. That money does get spent, and in a much better way than giving millions of dollars to the Endowment for the Arts, or spending millions on STD treatment, or spending millions on abortions in Africa and Mexico.
Hey, I know, let's recommend everyone go out and catch an STD. Just think of all the jobs, meds, etc that will be created to address this increased demand for services.
New Dictionary?
January 29, 2009 - 20:33 ET by klchadwickA definition from The New and Revised Obama Dictionary (127th edition) as distributed to Liberals---
bipartisan - (1) when everyone agree with me because "I won"; (2) Republicans abandoning their values and voting for my bill because I am such a nice and charismatic guy and "I won"; (3) a bill that is passed with votes from both sides so that the Republicans can not disown the debt and lack of jobs and I can bring this issue up at re-election time because "I won" the first time and wan to win again
(footnote in the unabridged version: bipartisan can also refer to a two party system in which both sides so exactly what I want...after all "I won". To be distributed on both sides of the aisle....hey that's another good definition for bipartisan, let's add that to the 128th edition next week!)
If this darn bill is so
January 29, 2009 - 22:22 ET by RMRChris, if this darn bill is so fantastic why are you and your Democrat friends so desperate to share credit with the Republicans? That goes against everything I know about politics, uh, Chris.
No politician worth his salt will ever share "victory" with the opposition. Go ahead Dems. Take the credit for this bill. You deserve it!
....So there's no reason to
January 29, 2009 - 22:13 ET by TN Mom....So there's no reason to cling to the normal partisan lines-GMA's Chris Cuomo
Tell that to Obama who said: "I WON, so I trump you"
Tell that to Pelosi who said: "yes we wrote the bill, yes we won the election"
...and Chris, have you read the Stimulus Bill? It is very partisan!!!
ABC needs to hang a sign on their bldg:
Please pardon us, we are in FULL ATTACK MODE this morning.
Only the opposition to the bill was bipartisan
January 30, 2009 - 00:13 ET by DaMavThat's the most obvious and damning response to whining about the partisanship of the Republicans. Actually, they voted with Democrats in opposition to the bill.
BOHICA
January 30, 2009 - 02:45 ET by JWFThey said they were thinking about us. They said that was the analysis, because they don't know how to deal with this situation. So there's no reason to cling to the normal partisan lines. They did just that.
Yes, god forbid they cling to partisan lines because bipartisanship means bending over and taking it from the Democrats.
I've read hundreds of pages of experts on this. You know that when you read the research, it's very specific. There seems to be no real answer.
Ahhh. So there are no real answers but for the love of GOD ALMIGHTY you better ditch partisan lines and bend over and take it from the Democrats because they have no answers either and it is much better TV when we all see the Republicans taking it from the Democrats.
Sincerely,
a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.
Is there any evidence
January 30, 2009 - 05:35 ET by RR GOPIs there any evidence whatsoever that government spending has helped any economy in the long run or even most of time in the short term?
They always point to World War II and the Rosie the Riveters, etc. getting jobs. But, in that case there was little in the way of goods to spend money on (what was left over after increased income taxes) until after the war. Also, there was a flood of electronic innovations including air condtioning/refrigeration, the rise of the plastics industry, a suburban housing boom and a successful labor movement that garnered more pay and benefits for millions of American workers.
If not for a combination of circumstances, the U.S. would merely have stepped back into the Great Depression after the war.
Why is it these 'progressives' are increasingly looking backwards for guidance, but at the same time conveniently ignoring the obvious historical lessons that state managed economies and artificial spending are little more than temporary, stop-gap measures?
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.
If there's one thing
January 30, 2009 - 19:43 ET by exLibOne thing that's really starting to bother me is this mantra by the MSM that we all just "go along, to get along" and that is is only Republicans that are "playing politics".
Weren't Republicans in the vast majority in 2000 and won seats in 2002? So why didn't the media constantly chastise Democrats for not getting with the program and supporting Bush?
From the begging the Democrats were whinning and fighting and kicking and screaming about everything Bush did.
On the contrary, the media was always chastising Republicans and Bush for trying to push their agenda and saying, "Now that you won, you should come to the middle and give up a few things so that Democrats will be happy".
Democrats NEVER play politics according to these liberal media people, Democrats are always sincere and doing what they should be doing while Republicans are always the ones playing politics.