Regulation

On this morning's Today show, NBC's Meredith Vieira and Dr. Nancy Snyderman became born-again libertarians in their opposition to New York City's ban on bottle feeding babies. Vieira called the measure "drastic" and Snyderman urged, "not so fast." The ban even inspired "Today" to coin a new series segment called "Nanny State." However, back in 2006, when New York City infringed on another right - the right to eat fatty foods, Snyderman struck a different tone, as she gravely warned about the dangers of trans fats.

First up Vieira opened the bottle feeding ban segment on the August 2, "Today" this way:

You'd think it was the news media that "got a raise" last week for all the cheering. The federal minimum wage was increased on July 24 by 70 cents to $5.85 an hour and will go up by the same amount in 2008 and 2009.

CNN's Ali Velshi gleefully greeted the change on "American Morning" July 24. He called it "unmitigated good news."

ABC's Claire Shipman also called it "good news for thousands of low-paid workers," on "Good Morning America" the same day.

Media merriment over the 13.5 percent increase was to be expected since CNN, PBS, ABC, USA Today and The Washington Post all showed support for an increase when it was on the Democrats “100 hour” agenda.

The front of the New Jersey section of Sunday's New York Times was dominated by "Now You Own It, Soon You Don't? -- Homeowners fight, and legislatures grapple with, eminent domain that benefits private businesses."

In a sympathetic story, reporter Russ Buettner relayed the plight of local property owners fighting abuse of eminent domain -- the taking of private property for public use -- by local governments. Such "takings" were made infamous by Kelo vs. New London, the controversial 2005 Supreme Court decision which found that the city of New London, Conn., was within its rights to condemn private property and hand it to a development corporation under the control of the city government, a decision that enraged left and right alike.

Buettner wrote:

Last week's economic report couldn't have been much rosier. The economy grew at a faster-than-expected rate, faster than any time in over a year. But far from sparking runaway prices, inflation actually moderated.

But that didn't stop the Axis of Gloom, AKA the New York Times and its Beantown subsidiary the Boston Globe from publishing op-ed items this morning finding the cloud on the silver lining. A lugubrious Times editorial laments:

By the end of last week, any lingering hope that the housing downturn would be contained had vanished. As this week begins, signs of contagion seem to be everywhere . . . The fallout of housing-related turmoil is also likely to extend beyond financial markets.

The editorial ends with a call for closer monitoring of hedge funds.

Over at the Globe, liberal economist Robert Kuttner [pictured here] emits a sky-is-falling column "The crash that could come."

Just how far is all this global warming nonsense going?

Well, on Tuesday, four senators proposed a bill that would create a new federal bureaucracy to oversee the growing multi-billion dollar carbon trading market.

Just what we need, right? Another monolithic bureaucracy, this one designed to help solve a problem the existence of which is greatly questioned.

As Duke University reported Tuesday (emphasis added):

Eleven companies announced on July 18 to self-regulate and stop advertising to children under 12 in order to "help curb the child obesity problem."

But that wasn't enough for ABC "World News with Charles Gibson" or CBS "Evening News." Both shows supplied food fascists to complain that even this change isn't going to be enough.

"Today’s changes are getting a lot of attention, but as American children face an epidemic of obesity, will these changes really make a difference?” wondered “World News with Charles Gibson” anchor Elizabeth Vargas on July 18.

As oil and gas prices have risen over the past few years, more and more Americans have become familiar with the name Trilby Lundberg.

For those that aren’t, the Lundberg Survey has been the source for information related to fuel prices, fuel taxes, and all things petroleum for over fifty years.

With that in mind, Lundberg was interviewed by the folks at CNN.com last Wednesday, and the never shy energy maven spoke candidly about a variety of issues that most in the media would be afraid to share with the citizenry (emphasis added throughout):

Hardly a week goes by without the New York Times editorializing for more government regulation of something or other. But the Grey Lady takes things to another level in its jeremiad of this morning: scolding the Chinese communists for insufficient regulation of their economy.

Now it's true that a variety of defective Chinese products have made their way into international commerce, from, as the Times enumerates, toothpaste sweetened with an industrial solvent [NB: file photo, not of defective brands] to tainted antibiotics. But for entertaining irony, it's hard to beat the spectacle of the New York Times criticizing a communist government for insufficient regulation of its society.

It seems the network newscasts will put anything on in the name of stopping global warming, including a report about trying to put penguins on the U.S. Endangered Species list.

Wait, a minute. Penguins don’t live in the U.S. except at the zoo.

But that didn’t stop ABC “World News with Charles Gibson” from promoting the left-wing group trying to accomplish that.

“If the group can get them [the penguin] protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, they say it’ll send an important message about the global problem of climate change,” said ABC science correspondent Ned Potter on July 11.

Apparently, “CBS Evening News” thinks it shouldn’t be your responsibility to remember to balance your checkbook. Anthony Mason’s July 11 report bashed banks for *GASP* profiting from overdraft fees.

“Banks are cashing in on overdrafts, raking in more than $17 billion in fees last year, according to the Center for Responsible Lending” said Mason.

The segment, called "Hidden Charges," did not include comment from the banking industry and it also ignored the risk taken by banks by offering overdraft protection service – which can be a benefit to consumers. Bouncing a check is costly too from what I've heard. 

Under the guise of "food safety," USA Today called for stricter regulation and more labeling of foreign food.

A sidebar to the newspaper's cover story on July 11, cited two left-wing food police groups supportive of more country-of-origin-labeling (COOL), but buried opposition until the last paragraphs.

"Will knowing where food comes from make it safer?" asked USA Today's Elizabeth Weise before quoting a spokeswoman from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) and pro-regulation nutritionist Marion Nestle.

So much for that non-political “Live Earth” I heard about from the concert people and NBC brass.

It turned out that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the radical environmentalist, had some strong words for politicians who stand against climate change legislation.

“Get rid of all these rotten politicians that we have in Washington, who are nothing more than corporate toadies … This is treason. And we need to start treating them as traitors,” Kennedy said at the July 7 concert held in New Jersey, according to Newsday.

On Saturday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Pete Williams presented a one-sided look at the Supreme Court's "shift to the right," conveying complaints by liberals over recent court rulings, but without showing any conservatives who supported some of the court's recent right-leaning decisions. Williams began his piece by quoting liberal Justice Stephen Breyer's complaint that "It's not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much,"  before playing a soundbite of the ACLU's Steven Shapiro: "Civil liberties and civil rights took a beating virtually across the board from race to religion to abortion to speech to the basic right to come into court and sue when you've been a victim of discrimination." Williams also found that Chief Justice John Roberts "has turned out to be more conservative than even some of the court's liberals thought he would be." (Transcript follows)

On Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, while reporting from Lake Tahoe, correspondent George Lewis relayed one homeowner's complaint that environmental regulations had contributed to the danger of wildfires in the area. She further contended that the only reason her home survived was because she had cleared away brush near her home in violation of the law. Lewis: "She blames environmentalists and bureaucrats for creating rules that, in her opinion, increased the fire hazard. Says she had to break the law to clear brush off adjacent federal land."

Below is a complete transcript of the report by George Lewis from the Tuesday June 26 NBC Nightly News:

GEORGE LEWIS: As the fire has jumped those lines, additional evacuations of people who live here are under way. This, as people who live in the previously burned areas were trying to get back home. This morning, after she pleaded, argued and reasoned with the authorities, Sue Abrams was granted permission to return to her home, still standing in one of the burned out areas.

In its rush to paint yesterday's Supreme Court ruling that struck down an issue ad ban contained in the so-called McCain-Feingold Law, the Chicago Tribune described the case as a win for President Bush and the GOP, even though the Bush administration's lawyers lost the case in question and even though the case benefits liberal activist groups as much as it does conservatives. What's more, Bush's appointees to the court actually restrained the conservative majority from taking a bigger swipe at the campaign finance law.

Here's the lede from the Tribune staffer David Savage:

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court gave President Bush and Republican leaders two important 5-4 victories Monday by clearing the way for corporate-funded broadcast ads before next year's election and by shielding the White House's "faith-based initiative" from challenge in the courts.

Oh really? President Bush signed the campaign finance bill into law, it was his Federal Election Commission that pleaded and lost the case, and he's not able to run again for reelection, yet somehow he won yesterday by virtue of his Federal Election Commission losing?

What's more, Republicans, conservatives, and business interests can certainly benefit from the change in the law, but so can Democrats, liberals, and labor unions, a point that the Washington Post's Robert Barnes picked up on in his reporting, which tracked favorable reaction from labor and business leaders:

And now for something completely insipid…

As the media and their alarmists like soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore have shamefully convinced enough of the population that man can actually impact the climate, law firms around the nation are gearing up to sue possible offenders.

I kid you not.

As reported in Monday’s Dallas Morning News (h/t NBer alamojb, emphasis added throughout):

The big New York Times expose hyped on Drudge over the weekend on Rupert Murdoch, media mogul (and worst from the Times' perspective, the creator of Fox News) appeared on Monday's front-page in the off-lead position. The Times put four bylines on the beat for its attempted hit piece: Jo Becker was the lead writer, with help from media reporter Richard Siklos, Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner, for "An Empire Builder, Still Playing Tough."

What's they find? Not much new, but at least presented with that special, hostile Times' spin.

"His vast media holdings give him a gamut of tools -- not just campaign contributions, but also jobs for former government officials and media exposure that promotes allies while attacking adversaries, sometimes viciously -- all of which he has used to further his financial interests and establish his legitimacy in the United States, interviews and government records show.

On June 22, all three networks covered the Senate bill mandating higher automobile fuel efficiency. NBC's "Today" only ran an anchor brief on the story, but ABC's "Good Morning America" and CBS's "The Early Show" both ran short stories on the news.

On "Good Morning America" David Kerley spun it in a positive fashion hypothesizing the bill "should save you some money." They then played the clip of Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) hailing passage of the bill implying the United States will be less dependent on Middle Eastern oil. GMA did play a clip of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner stating "we think there are ways to do it that are smarter," but there was no mention of the potential increased danger of automobile accidents as documented by the CATO Institute.

Complete with a background track fit for an indie horror flick, NBC’s “Today” bashed student loan companies and colleges with a segment on “student loan schemes.”

On June 21, consumer correspondent Janice Lieberman ignored personal responsibility as she bashed colleges and lenders without giving them a chance to rebut.

“You would assume that the college you choose would be on your side and find the best interest rate for a loan that you’ll be paying for many years. Well, think again,” said Lieberman.

Wait a minute - why should a borrower assume anyone else will find them the best deal? We all know what assuming does.

The supposedly “free speech” left are out in force trying to silence all voices in the media with views different than their own just in time for the 2008 presidential campaign.

Potentially more worrisome, one liberal advocate in the middle of this debate has close ties to the Clintons, although it is quite unlikely the press will convey such when its recommendations are disseminated with their predictable stamp of approval.

*****Update: Michelle Malkin is all over this.

With that in mind, the left-leaning Center for American Progress published a report Thursday detailing how conservatives dominate the talk radio dial, and exactly what needs to be done legislatively for liberals to wrest control over this medium (emphasis added throughout):

What you don't know about your kids' sneakers can kill them!

Hmm, I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu.

The Washington Post's Fredrick Kunkle let a leftist group skate away with the bland "nonprofit group" tag. The group, the Boston-based World Against Toys Causing Harm (WATCH) named Heelys -- a pair of sneakers with small wheels recessed into the heel -- the worst toy of 2006.

But a review of WATCH's Web site reveals that the group is headed by a trial attorney who boasts of raking in "record-setting settlements and jury verdicts throughout the country."

Oh, and they don't like toy laser guns, although they, you know, don't actually shoot real lasers:

Environmentalism is hip, green celebrities are “very sexy” and saving the planet is “simple,” according to the media.

It is certainly not “extreme” as far as journalists are concerned. The deluge of celebrity books, films and even rock concerts is making green look good – because journalists leave out the cost to individuals, businesses and the economy.

“Going green” is all the rage – from Live Earth to “green” weddings and interior decorating. The problem is, media reports imply that people won’t have to make enormous sacrifices to do what is right for the environment. That downplays the reality of environmentalism, which is anti-business and anti-economic growth; even, at times, anti-human rights.

But the truth is, like the recent Dilbert comic pointed out, environmentalism is extreme, inconvenient, and costly. In one recent case, environmentalists have even limited people’s right to travel in their own country.

That’s right, a food police group has turned cereal killer. What's worse, the media don't see any foul play.

Fruit Loops cereal’s brightly colored mascot Toucan Sam, along with Sugar Smack’s Dig ‘Em and Rice Krispies’ Snap, Crackle and Pop are likely to be axed due to an agreement between Kellogg Company and the food police group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

“Early Show’s” Hannah Storm was happy about the announcement. She called getting rid of the popular cartoon figures a “great idea” on June 14.

Video (0:57): Real (1.55 MB) or Windows (1.82 MB), plus MP3 audio (275 kB).

“[B]ecause you can’t even take your child to the grocery store because they’re clamoring for the products with characters on them. When are we going to see them disappear?” Storm asked correspondent Nancy Cordes.

The student loan industry has been too cozy with colleges and universities and has harmed students, at least that’s what the media say.

“For weeks, an investigation of the student loan business has been scrutinizing whether close ties between lenders and colleges have enriched them at the expense of debt-laden students,” explained the May 29 USA Today.

But that investigation has been an anti-industry “crusade” waged by liberal New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and the media have been fighting alongside him.

On Tuesday's The Situation Room, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer covered filmmaker Michael Moore's trip to the California state capitol and rally with nurses who support his push for universal health care and the abolition of private health insurance. At one point, Blitzer plugged the segment referring to Moore getting support from "people at your hospital bedside." Blitzer: "Why's he getting some unexpected support from people at your hospital bedside?"

Correspondent Brooke Anderson reported live from the state capitol -- once during the 5:00 p.m. hour and again during the 7:00 hour -- to cover Moore's activities, as she included a clip of the filmmaker complaining about profits in the health care industry. Moore: "This doesn't look good, folks. I mean, it doesn't look good to the rest of the world, and it won't look good to the anthropologists who dig us up hundreds of years from now. They'll wonder, what were these people thinking?" (Transcript follows)

“American Morning” today included an interview with the mother of the track athlete who apparently died from an overdose of the well-known muscle cream.

Alice-Lynn Newman called for the regulation of products like BENGAY on the June 12 program:

“I think that it should be given by prescription so limited amounts are given out, limited amounts at a time. So, if someone is using it too much, it is monitored by a physician,” said Newman.

Anchor John Roberts did not mention other possible factors involved in Arielle Newman’s death and only provided a short statement from manufacturer Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. Nor did CNN include consult any medical experts on the show.

When asked if the scene from “Sicko” where Michael Moore passes by Guantanamo Bay was just a publicity student, CNN’s Lola Ogunnaike got serious.

“I think he was trying to prove a point. The point he was trying to make is you have these detainees at Guantanamo Bay that in his mind are receiving far better care than the people on 9/11 who are sick now as a result of the injury they sustained rescuing people down at the site of 9/11,” said the pop culture and entertainment correspondent.

Ogunnaike should be on Moore’s payroll instead of CNN’s, because she was basically reading his talking points. The nearly two and a half minute segment was practically a commercial for the film which advocates socialized health care, the abolition of the health insurance industry and a government regulated pharmaceutical industry. 

While past ABC reports have mourned the hardship facing the American auto industry, ABC aired liberal support for higher fuel efficiency standards that would make competition more difficult and manufacturing more expensive.

But reporter Dean Reynolds gave almost no time to the auto industry in his June 7 “World News with Charles Gibson” story.

Reynolds cited left-wing Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Phyllis Cuttino of Pew’s Campaign for a Fuel Efficient America.

“We have better cup holders in cars, we have better music systems in cars – that’s all good,” Dorgan said, “But the fact is we need cars that are more efficient.”

On Thursday's The Situation Room, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer seemed to worry that the recently announced G-8 plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions was "full of hot air" because it is not strict enough in requiring cuts. Blitzer introduced a story filed by correspondent Brian Todd: "President Bush joined other G-8 leaders today and forged an agreement to try to fight global warming, but is that agreement full of hot air?"

The CNN anchor then set up Todd's story: "Is there less to this deal, Brian, than meets the eye?" Todd thought there was some "substance" to the plan, but cited "experts" who accused G-8 leaders of "over the top rhetoric." After a clip of British Prime Minister Tony Blair contending that it was "a huge thing" that they were "considering" cutting emissions in half by 2050, Todd made his own clarification: "'Considering' cutting emissions in half by 2050, not actually agreeing to that hard target for cutting them, as the German chancellor and other European leaders had hoped." (Transcript follows)