The start of the new year always ushers in new taxes that people are expected to pay rather than find ways to keep as much of their money as possible. At least, that's what liberals claim others should do.
But on Thursday, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly charged that former vice president Al Gore is a hypocrite for attempting to sell his low-rated Current TV cable channel for an estimated $500 million before 2013 brought higher taxes that would diminish the amount of money he'd get from the sale to Al Jazeera.
During his Talking Points Memo segment, the host of “The O'Reilly Factor” said that Gore had “shamed himself” by dealing with the anti-American network, a move O'Reilly described as “just sleazy.”
His father, Albert Gore Sr,, an oil man and a Senator in the United States, raised Al in privilege, and with all the comforts. He became a champion of the Left in adulthood, cashing in big time on the global warming issue.
“The former vice president used some of that money to then invest in a far-left cable cable network that has become a colossal failure,” the host continued.
“And so, Al and his merry men [business partners] decided to sell the network," he added, and “wanted to close the deal last week to avoid the higher capital gains tax this year.”
“Sounds like good business sense, right?” O'Reilly asked. “But here is what's confusing: Just two months ago, 'Old Al' gave an interview to the Reuters news service and said this to a reporter:
The single most popular proposal we had was to reduce taxes on working people and lift the higher rate. Let's give an incentive to work, and let's ask the most fortunate in the society, including me and you, to do our fair share.
“Ah, to do our fair share,” the host repeated. “Isn't that fascinating? So what is our fair share? I guess that means selling assets at the lower capital gains rate.
“And it even gets worse,” he noted. “Al Gore sold his cable network to … wait for it … Al Jazeera, the anti-American network out of Qatar, which recently ran a documentary sympathetic to Osama bin Laden.”
O'Reilly then showed a clip of the film:
This is the story of bin Laden through the eyes of people who met him.
“When he looked me in the eyes as he was answering my questions, he had the tone and manner of an old uncle,” a reporter said.
“Ah, an old uncle who was a mass murderer,” the Fox host stated. “Now when you think about it, this is really stunning: Talking Points believes that Al Gore has shamed himself simply by selling to Al Jazeera, which will now have access to 40 million more American homes.”
“Now, I'm not for censoring Al Jazeera,” O'Reilly continued. “That's what they do in the Islamic world. We're better than that here, but this is just sleazy, Al. This is just disgraceful.”
The host stated that perhaps the press got it wrong and Gore did not try to avoid paying higher taxes. “If that's the case, we'll be happy to correct the record and give him all the time he wants on 'The Factor' to set things straight.
“But I think that we all know that 'Old Al' isn't coming on this program. He never has, and I believe he never will because we have problems with hypocrites in the No Spin Zone, and Al well knows it.”
On Friday morning, Associated Press reporter Erik Wemple charged that O'Reilly, “like the rest of the conservative media crew, has pounced on Gore for allegedly trying to hustle the sale of Current TV before year’s end.”
As NewsBusters previously reported, Gore rejected an offer last year from conservative media personality Glenn Beck since “the former vice president was concerned that his cable channel be sold to interests that reflect his own political views.”
Speaking of political views, another Associated Press reporter, Lisa M. Ruth, stated that “Al Jazeera is the state-funded Arab news network” and is “an arm of the biggest of big oil, and famously provided the platform for Al Qaeda to broadcast its explanations for its 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.”
So on top of trying to sell his network before the Obama tax increases kicked in, the “environmentally friendly” Gore did business with an organization that is not only an enemy of America, but is supported by the sale of oil around the world, which the former vice president has vehemently criticized.
Ruth also noted:
Al Jazeera leaders intend to rebrand the network, with a tentative name of “Al Jazeera America.” Sixty percent of its programming will be produced by Al Jazeera in the United States, while 40 percent will come from its global English-language unit, Al Jazeera English.
In his statement about the sale, Gore emphasized the shared philosophy of Al Jazeera and Current TV, which is "to give voice to those who are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the stories that no one else is telling."
As NewsBusters also reported, Media Research Center President Brent Bozell appeared on CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report” on Friday, when he stated that Gore's sale of Current TV to Al Jazeera demonstrated “an incredible double standard.”
Despite his best efforts, Gore wasn't able to sign the deal until Friday, so he and his partners will pay the new 23.8 percent capital gains tax rather than 15 percent, or an extra $8.8 million.
I guess that's another "inconvenient truth" for the former vice president.
