Government shutdown

NewsBusters readers know that one of the problems with liberal media members is their poor math skills. Barbra Streisand demonstrated this perfectly Thursday publishing an op-ed on the tenth day of the new fiscal year that began, "As we now enter the third week of the unnecessary government shutdown."

Wrapping up a report on the government shutdown for Thursday's NBC Today, White House correspondent Peter Alexander eagerly promoted negative political fallout for Republicans: "Both parties are taking a hit in their approval ratings as a result these days. But the damage to the Republican brand appears to be proving to be much worse. A new Gallup poll...shows only 28% of Americans say they have…

So here's an angle on the federal government shutdown that you're not getting from the liberal broadcast media. With non-essential personnel furloughed, federal regulators have not been at work, which is a huge blessing to an overregulated American economy, the Wall Street Journal's editorial board noted today. Indeed, new regulations published in the Federal Register have slowed to a trickle…

  ABC's Good Morning America on Wednesday rightly highlighted the "outrage" over the delay of death benefits to the families of fallen U.S. soldiers. A day later, the program's hosts barely had time for the story, allowing a mere 28 seconds (within a larger report). Reporter Jon Karl briefly referred to the "disaster on military benefits," but he didn't explain that a private charity had stepped…

The Vietnam War is beloved by liberals, Ann Coulter once observed, because it's the only war America lost. Looks like the Civil War could become the left's new fave, if it hasn't already. Not only have left wingers deluded themselves that Barack Obama is the second coming of the Great Emancipator (Steven Spielberg's unstated motive for filming "Lincoln"), they now view the partial government…

 Chris Matthews, who has publicly insisted that he doesn't like "cheap shots," on Tuesday trashed conservatives in the House as "troglodytes" from the movie Planet of the Apes. According to the Hardball anchor, Republicans opposing the President in the government shutdown believe that "if the country goes down, the economy goes down, the world comes apart, 'hey, we get an extra inch of flesh off…

Even though the Nov. 4, 2014, mid-term election is more than a year away, liberals are already doing some wishful thinking regarding the prospects of Democrats winning back control of the U.S. House of Representatives, which is currently under Republican leadership. During an interview on MSNBC's The Cycle program on Monday, NBC News chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd stated that such…

On Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer wrung his hands over Congress, particularly Republicans, not yet reaching a budget deal to end the government shutdown: "...the Tea Party seems very much dug in here. Both sides seem dug in." Chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd responded by removing the criticism of "both sides": "You're right, the Tea Party side of this is dug in." [Watch the…

In recent days you can't swing a dead cat without hitting some media member or politician blaming the Koch brothers for the government shutdown. On Wednesday, Koch Industries sent a letter to a number of people on Capitol Hill trying to set the record straight while attempting to end the misinformation campaign (published with permission):

The liberal media have taken sides in the government shutdown debate and not surprisingly holds only one party to blame - the GOP.  In the last week liberal anchors, reporters and writers have depicted fiscal conservatives in terms usually reserved for terrorists as they’ve hyperbolically charged that Republicans were being run by a “suicide caucus” that is holding America “hostage.” The…

On Monday's All In show, MSNBC host Chris Hayes devoted a segment to blaming a "fatal flaw" and "quirks" in the U.S. Constitution for making it possible for government shutdowns to happen, as he suggested that parliamentary governments are preferable because they make it more difficult for divided government to exist.

 One way to know if a journalist is asking a softball question is when the President of the United States compliments the reporter after he or she asks it. That happened twice on Tuesday as Barack Obama talked to reporters about the government shutdown. The President called on Sam Stein of the liberal Huffington Post website. Stein dutifully wondered, "With Speaker Boehner so far unwilling to…

In case you haven’t noticed, the government shutdown is all the GOP’s fault.  Today’s Chicago Tribune wanted to make sure readers knew that with a front-page headline titled “Hard-right bloc sticks to its guns: Shutdown stalemate continues as lawmakers in safe seats hold sway.” The article reports that some House Republicans “have chosen to defy Washington’s traditional norms of conversation and…

[***UPDATED*** 17:30 ET: More analysis and full transcript added] Appearing on Andrea Mitchell's MSNBC 1 p.m. ET hour show on Tuesday, Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy slammed the press for not doing its job in pointing out the hypocrisy of ObamaCare being delayed for certain groups but not for all Americans: "...the media won't even ask the question about, 'Why are you [the Obama administration…