MSNBC’s Ratigan Wonders If Americans Should ‘Stop Whining
November 20th, 2009 2:50 PM
Citing a Democratic congressman who recently proposed a no whining day, on Friday’s Morning Meeting on MSNBC, host Dylan Ratigan asked: “...unemployment, health care, a couple of wars, Americans got plenty to be frustrated about these days...But some people say stop the whining....Is ‘shut up and deal’ the new American mantra?” Ratigan made that question the topic of discussion for the ‘Trend or…
Vintage Santelli: PelosiCare Threat to Recovery; Dow Climb Due to Mark
November 6th, 2009 10:26 PM
A rising Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) means better times are on the way, right? Not necessarily, according to CNBC CME floor reporter and tea party movement inspiration Rick Santelli. Santelli made an appearance on CNBC's Nov. 6 "Fast Money," a show which the host, Melissa Lee, is skittish about a discussion that politics interferes with the market is a reality. Nonetheless, Santelli…
Unemployment Surges to 10.2 Percent, CNN Asks About Second Stimulus
November 6th, 2009 1:57 PM
President Obama lobbied for government stimulus almost as soon as he took office. In order to gain passage of that $787 billion spending spree, Obama warned of economic "catastrophe" including double-digit unemployment. Roughly 9 months later, we now have proof that those billions of taxpayer dollars spent didn't stop the unemployment rate from soaring to 10.2 percent. Still, that failure didn't…
Unemployment Rate Jumps to 10.2%; AP Reports 'Economy Is Rebounding
November 6th, 2009 9:43 AM
The October unemployment rate has just been released and it has jumped to double digits at 10.2%, the worst rate since 1983. Just a little over half a point higher would make this the worst recession since the Great Depression. So how is the Associated Press reporting the growing unemployment numbers? "The economy is rebounding." I kid you not. This AP report by Christopher S. Rugaber was…
CNN's Romans: Unemployment Benefits Extension 'Would Not Come Out of
November 5th, 2009 10:27 PM
On her segment of CNN Newsroom this morning, anchor Heidi Collins asked business correspondent Christine Romans about Senate action on extending yet again unemployment benefits:CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You're right. And Heidi, all of those things that you mentioned are incredibly important to your money and all of them could affect you very, very near-term here. This…
Wait, I Thought It Was Over; AP Blurb Says Recession 'Will Likely Take
November 3rd, 2009 2:35 PM
Laurie Kellman, call your office, check your e-mail, and tap in to your Twitter. The Associated Press reporter didn't get the memo that recession is supposedly over, and that at a minimum you shouldn't be writing as if it will be with us for a while. She also erred in citing the weak economy as a bad thing for Democrats. The New York Times told us about a week ago that a bad economy is a good…
White House's Media Attacks Part of a Troubling Trend
November 1st, 2009 4:36 PM
The White House is taking it upon itself to police the news media. The trend started of course with the Fox News Channel, but the administration has moved on to bash other organizations, most recently the Associated Press and car site Edmunds.com. It seems to believe that any criticism of its policies is worth attacking.The White House claims, in the words of Valerie Jarret, that it will go…
Kudlow, Santelli: Dollar Devaluation Creating 'Façade' Bush/Obama Int
October 31st, 2009 6:01 PM
Now that the Obama administration is attempting to take a victory lap on the U.S. economic recovery, claiming the $787-billion stimulus passed earlier this year was what did the trick, despite a cost of $160,000 per 'stimulus' job, as ABC's Jake Tapper pointed out, it has come at the cost of the U.S. dollar. Since then, the stock market has rebounded nicely. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (…
Politico Says White House 'Under Pressure' Will Announce 1 Million Job
October 30th, 2009 1:16 PM
The Obama administration continues to push its "jobs created and saved" theme, taking credit for up to a million jobs on account of its $787 billion economic stimulus package (roughly a quarter of which has been spent). But some in the media remain skeptical. Politico.com announced on Oct. 30 that White House officials planned a Friday afternoon announcement for the same day claiming "at…
CBS Says White House Is Fudging Stimulus Jobs Numbers
October 30th, 2009 11:53 AM
When Katie Couric and the folks at CBS start doubting what the Administration says about how effective February's economic stimulus package was, you know President Obama is in trouble.Consider that on Thursday's CBS "Evening News," Chip Reid began a segment with the following startling statement about a jobs report card to be released by the White House Friday:Well, Katie, that report is going to…
AP Waters Down Impact of Romer's 'Stimulus Has Had Biggest Impact' Rem
October 24th, 2009 10:35 AM
It would appear that the Apparatchik Press -- er, the Associated Press -- thinks that part of its job is to soften the impact of embarrassing admissions made by Obama administration members. Take the wire service's Thursday afternoon AP report by Jim Kuhnhenn on Council of Economic Advisers' chair Christine Romer's observations about the stimulus package. Romer said (in AP's words) that "the…
Year-end Deficit Report, Part 2: AP's Crutsinger Misses 'The Year of G
October 23rd, 2009 12:34 AM
As I pointed out Monday night (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), Associated Press reporter Martin Crutsinger, in his Saturday morning report on the federal government's full-year fiscal results, conveniently "forgot" about a major accounting change that enabled President Obama's Treasury Department to report a final "deficit" of "only" $1.417 trillion. That's hundreds of billion of dollars lower…
MSNBC: Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, What’s the Difference
October 21st, 2009 5:59 PM
Showing that Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have become interchangeable, in the 2:00PM ET hour on MSNBC, anchor Contessa Brewer mistakenly introduced Jackson as Sharpton: “Joining me now to talk about this and the nation’s real problem of joblessness, the Reverend Al Sharpton....I’m so sorry, the – the script in front of me said Reverend Al Sharpton...I know who you are, Reverend…
What CNN’s John King Didn’t Ask McCain: If the Wall Street Bailout
October 12th, 2009 8:09 AM
Here was a chance for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. to admit he was wrong, and to conclude publicly that government intervention in the private sector doesn't always result in the best of outcomes. McCain appeared on CNN's Oct. 11 "State of the Union" in a pre-recorded interview and was asked by host John King if the lackluster recovery of the economy warranted more government intervention. "The…