New York Times Perpetuates the Social Security 'Trust Fund' Myth
After serving as the virtual mouthpiece for the "there is no crisis!" crowd for at least a decade since George W. Bush's attempt to partially privatize Social Security in 2005, someone at the New York Times has finally recognized that there is one — but still won't level with readers about the system's true condition.
Eduardo Porter "writes the Economic Scene column" for the Times. Before that…
Michael Moore: The GOP ‘Really Is a Dead Party’
In his new documentary, Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore jaunts around Europe showcasing what he deems enlightened social and economic policies, including Italy’s lengthy paid vacations, Norway’s treatment of prison inmates, and France’s school-lunch program. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden observed that Moore’s “examples…are cherry-picked to make American audiences feel envious and…
AP Claims Christmas 'Spending' Up 8 Pct. — On Number of Transactions
As I noted in a pre-Christmas post, "The desperation is palpable at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, over how the Christmas shopping season is going."
Desperation has clearly descended into outright deception at the wire service, where an unbylined story claims that spending is up 8 percent, but that the source involved "does not include spending by dollar amounts." As will…
Another Gaffe Ignored: Sanders Doesn't Understand Interest Rates
While the establishment press lies in wait for Republican and conservative candidates to make some kind of off-color or foolish statement — or one that can be twisted to become one, even if it originally wasn't — it consistently ignores howlers made by leftists and liberals. The list of President Barack Obama's gaffes alone, all totally or almost completely ignored by the press when they were…
HuffPo: We Should Unplug Our Energy-Burning Christmas Decorations
In the annual competition between leftist media outlets for the screwiest (or most Scrooge-like) criticism of Christmas traditions, a Huffingon Post item published Thursday morning by Michael McLaughlin (HT Breitbart) was a formidable entry.
After the HuffPo reporter's headline noted that "U.S. Christmas Lights Burn More Energy Than Some Nations In A Year," he suggested that "maybe we should…
Part of a Real AP Headline: 'Emissions Need To Drop Below Zero'
The detachment from reality of those who actually believe that the recent international climate agreement in Paris is anything but a dangerous and potentially expensive charade has become especially irritating.
The goals identified in Paris are obviously unachievable, and have no direct tie-in to reducing "global warming." Convincing evidence of the link between carbon dioxide generation and…
Relative Media Mentions of 'Christmas Shopping Season' at 10-Year Low
Merchants haven't been the only ones discouraging those who work for them from using the word "Christmas" during the Christmas shopping season. The press has been at it for years, and those efforts have brought regrettable results.
This is the eleventh year of an effort I began in 2005. Each year has involved three sets of Google News searches on "Christmas shopping season" and "holiday shopping…
WRONG: As Xmas Shopping Disappoints, AP Claims 'Cheap Is the New Chic'
The desperation is palpable at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, over how the Christmas shopping season is going.
Having appearently learned something contrary to the "consumers will catch up with their spending" we've been hearing from the National Retail Federation and others so far, AP Business Writer Joyce M. Rosenberg shifted gears and decided that consumers are spending…
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CNBC’s Sorkin: Middle Class Is a ‘Historical Aberration’
Business
Politicians often complain about America’s struggling middle class, but according to Squawk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin, they should quit crying over spilt milk. Sorkin argued on Dec. 23 that the mid-20th century idea of middle class was a historical anomaly.
“This middle class that we keep talking about, this Leave it to Beaver middle class that was this panacea that people talk about is…
AP Continues to Push Bogus 'New Normal' Benchmark For New-Home Sales
The Census Bureau reported today that new-home sales in November came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 490,000. That was a 4.3 percent increase over October, but it only occurred because October was revised steeply downward by 25,000 to 470,000; August and September were also revised slightly downward. Actual sales were 34,000, the highest November figure during the Obama era but lower…
Blogger: Conservatism, Marxism Examples of ‘Rigid Dogma’
New York magazine’s Chait thinks that in a sense, conservatism and Communism aren’t such strange bedfellows when it comes to economic matters. In a Sunday post, Chait categorized “American conservatism” and Marxism as “rigid dogma,” whereas liberalism, he argued, focuses on “data.”
Chait contended that “liberals would abandon, say, new environmental regulations if evidence persuaded them the…
AP Tries to Impress With Expected (i.e., Puny) 'Pickups' in GDP Growth
Today's release from the government on economic growth estimated that the nation's Gross Domestic Product grew at an annual rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter, a slight downward revision from November's estimate of 2.1 percent. This continues the economy's dismal, worst-since-World War II growth performance since the recession officially ended over six years ago.
But never fear. According…
Russert Frets 'Hope and Change' Did Not Work, Invokes George Wallace
As MSNBC's Chris Matthews appeared on Tuesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports to promote his special on Donald Trump's life, substitute MSNBC host Luke Russert wondered why the "divisions that had ravaged the country" did not go away after President Barack Obama's election because "everybody thought that we were now coming into a post-racial society, that 'hope and change' was going to carry the day…
CNBC Changes Shopping Headline From 'Cut Deep' to 'Can It Be Saved?'
Yesterday, CNBC's Krystina Gustafson opened her article about the state of the Christmas shopping season by reporting that "procrastinators around the U.S. provided a much-needed boost to retailers" last weekend, but that "the lift was likely too little too late to salvage a slow start to the holiday shopping season." The story's headline: "Retailers cut too deep to save the holiday season."…
