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CNBC Plays Coy with Mr. Skin on Squawk Box [VIDEO]

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Oh, Joe Kernen acts like he doesn’t know what Mr. Skin is, but we know he does. He’s awful quick to drop the name “Mr. Skin” right after he claims first that he checked out our site after seeing Knocked Up, and second, that he’s “never seen” our site. Sure, Joe. In fact, we bet that the entire cast and crew of CNBC’ s morning chat show Squawk Box are premium members. Especially that Becky Quick , she seems awful knowledgeable in the field of Mr. Skin history. In fact, she’s probably reading this right now. Hi, Becky! (Oh, and our apologies for the ad on the video. There was no way to take it off. At least it’s for a company called Siemens…heh, Siemens.)

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Misread and Misreported: Tea Party Activism Bullish for Economy

Posted on September 23, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Misread and Misreported: Tea Party Activism Bullish for Economy

One of the most common threads in the media recently has been how bad the Tea Party movement has been for this United States . It has been derided for lacking racial diversity , promoting policies outside the so-called mainstream and blamed for creating a civil war within the Republican Party. The media often stress those “negatives” at the expense of the positive basic tenets of the Tea Party movement: smaller government, fiscal responsibility and free markets – tenets that, when highlighted, are in fact bullish signals for an ailing economy. This is a phenomenon Larry Kudlow, host of CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report,” explained. “Tonight, free-market capitalism on the comeback trail,” Kudlow said on his Sept. 15 program . “That is one of the messages of the Tea Party power. We saw a lot of that power last night in the primaries. I tell you what folks, that Tea Party power, that free-market capitalist power is so totally bullish for the stock market.” And it has been bullish as of late, both as a forward-looking indicator and in gauging investor sentiment in general with each Tea Party candidate victory. Tea is good for the markets. However, this trend is being missed largely by the media. Charting the course of the Tea Party movement chronologically, from the 2008 presidential election cycle prior to its birth up to today, Kudlow’s hypothesis looks solid. ‘08’s Conventional Wisdom Comes Up Lame Going back to the pre-Tea Party days, in late 2008 before the presidential election, one of common media themes was that an ailing economy boded well for then-presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. That was because of the notion Democrats, the theory held, would do better fixing the situation. Part of that stemmed from the idea Obama would take on the excesses of Wall Street, which would make things better as former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Brokaw explained Oct. 13, 2008 . “I mean you’re seeing that right now in the polls. Look, one of the reasons it helps him win is that this is Main Street versus Wall Street,” said NBC’s Tom Brokaw at the time. “ Main Street ’s furious because they think they’ve been hosed by Wall Street and that they’re paying for the excesses of Wall Street.” It’s automatically a mark in the “win” column for Democrats, according to Brokaw, when there’s an anti-Wall Street sentiment. “And when that happens, that of course, I think, generally accrues to the asset side for a Democratic candidate,” Brokaw continued. “Now whether it can be sustained or not, I don’t know.” Others speculated that the public just trusted Democrats more on all things economy, which CNBC’s John Harwood claimed on Sept. 15, 2008 to “Squawk Box” co-host Becky Quick. “We don’t know who’s going to come out ahead in the end, but I’ll speculate this guess Becky – it probably helps the Democratic ticket for this reason: Polls show that voters right now trust Democrats more than Republicans on the economy and John McCain has prospered in the last couple of weeks as the ground has shifted onto culture issues away from economic issues,” Harwood said. “[T]his puts the debate right back on the economy that Barack Obama is uh, has wanted it – not lipstick on a pig or the whole range of culture issues that has lifted John McCain.” However, if you chart some of the economic metrics of the time and compare them to now, that reasoning has proved faulty. Unemployment numbers and U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) have both steadily deteriorated, despite Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress and control of the White House. In November 2008, unemployment was at 6.9 percent, after having spent nearly half the Bush administration under 5 percent. Nearly two years later, unemployment is at 9.6 percent and it has been above 9 percent for the last 15 months. Charting GDP over roughly that same time period since September 2008 , it has actually decreased overall as a percentage, even though it has been on an inconsistent roller coaster-like trajectory, with significant gains and significant losses in that same time period. And although these metrics show Obama’s liberal policies to be ineffective, they haven’t come cheap for the taxpayers. According to CNSNews.com , in the first 19 months of the Obama administration, the federal debt held by the public increased by $2.526 trillion, which is more than the cumulative total of the national debt held by the public that was amassed by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Ronald Reagan. Bottom line: Appears the media got it wrong. Democrats haven’t fared well turning a weakened economy around over the course of two years. Birth of the Tea Party and a Renewed Optimism Although you can’t credit any one variable for the increase of the stock market, a forward-looking indicator – the rise of the Tea Party movement – appears to be running parallel to the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( DJIA ). CNBC’s CME Group floor reporter Rick Santelli’s “rant heard around the world” on Feb. 19, 2009 , was the spark that ignited the Tea Party movement. That day, Santelli railed against what was thought to be a forthcoming proposal and the inevitable move to bailout struggling homeowner unable to pay their mortgages. The Dow was trading around 7,300 points and would eventually fall to 6,626 on March 6, 2009. But since then, as the Tea Party has grown and shown it has electoral muscle, the market has rebounded. After victories a Massachusetts , New Jersey and Virginia in late 2009 and early 2010, the Dow has rallied back, even trading above 11,000 for a brief few weeks starting last April. As the Tea Party movement has shown power throughout the 2010 primaries, the markets have been on a steady climb going back to July. Thus, the momentum behind the prospects of limited government, fiscal discipline and free-market appears to be working – if using the stock market as a barometer. There are also indications this momentum will continue. As this Tea Party movement has made strides with candidates in Delaware , Alaska , New York , etc. in just the past few weeks, investor optimism has increased as Alan Abelson noted this in the Sept. 18 issue of Barron’s . “In like vein, but even more emphatically, as Doug Kass of Seabreeze Partners points out, has been the turnaround by members of the American Association of Individual Investors ( the so-called little guys, although their ranks include many folks over six feet tall when unshod),” Abelson wrote. “Three weeks ago, these worthies were as a group 20.7% bullish and 49.5% bearish. Last week, in striking contrast, the bulls among them were 50.9% of the total, the bears a meager 24.3%.” Media Emphasize Politics, Ignore Tea Party Principles This bullish trend in the financial markets has been largely ignored by the media. Instead the focus has been on the Tea Parties’ negatives, as a recent Culture & Media Institute story pointed out. All three broadcast networks have described the Tea Parties as “overwhelmingly white,” CMI found. So have CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the Agence France Presse, The Washington Post, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, National Journal and US News & World Report. Many of those organizations are the very ones the news industry discusses as having failed to make diversity goals for staff. Other recent reporting in the media has focused on the rise of the Tea Party as 1964 Goldwater phenomenon, which suggests this isn’t democracy at work, but instead something that is strategically debilitating for the Republican as a whole – a theory Peter Beinart, senior political writer for The Daily Beast, subscribes to. “The Tea Party is now the Republican Party,” Beinart said on ABC’s Sept. 19 “This Week.” “I mean I think what we’re seeing in the Republican Party is something akin to what happened to the Democratic Party between 1968 and 1972 in which the forces of George McGovern took over the Democratic Party, overthrew the Democratic Party establishment and moved it substantially to the left.” But whatever it means for the GOP, this ideological change suggests that a shift in control of Congress, whether it is one or both chambers, would likely mean gridlock in Washington . That, as far as business and the markets are concerned, is good news. Stephen Slivinski, author of “ Buck Wild: How Republicans Broke the Bank and Became the Party of Big Government ,” was bullish in an article for the Washington Examiner on Sept. 15 . “So, can gridlock put a cap on spending in the future? I’m optimistic,” Slivinski wrote. “Stimulus programs and corporate welfare spending are proving increasingly unpopular (and ineffective). And the one thing that Republicans seem to have proven over the years is that they are more likely to be opposed to big government when they can turn a Democratic president into the poster child for excessive spending. The GOP pulled their punches during the Bush presidency because to take a swing at the federal behemoth at that point meant taking a shot at their own teammate.” And as Kudlow maintains, the gridlock created by the Tea Party movement would put the brakes on the growth of government, which is a win for the American economy . “They are talking free markets – lower spending, lower taxing, lower regulations, even constitutional limits to government, and you heard me talk about this last week in my free market 12-step plan for prosperity ,” Kudlow said. “The rise of the Tea Party people – they are going to win the vast majority of those Senate races and we are going to see a sea change in American policies, back to freedom and entrepreneurship, and that is bullish.”

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With Tax Hikes Coming, Cable News Uses ‘Tax Cut’ Phrasing 13 Times as Much

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The largest tax hikes in history get closer every day, and the focus of the news cycle is finally on taxes . Tax cuts , that is. After portraying Obama as a tax cutter when he took office, journalists have recently been talking about the Bush tax cuts, whose expiration will amount to a huge tax increase on Americans. But most stories have failed to explain that the pending expiration will raise taxes on many people, including investors, small business owners and families, during an economic slowdown. While cable primetime shows criticized conservatives for wanting to “cut taxes” for the wealthy, a morning appearance by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of the few that put the debate in perspective of tax hikes. McConnell appeared on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” Sept. 14 and said, “This [Bush tax cuts] has been tax policy for 10 years now. This is not about tax cuts, this is about raising taxes in the middle of a recession.” According to Americans for Tax Reform, many tax increases are on the way. On Jan. 1, 2011, personal income taxes will rise, the “marriage penalty” will return, the child tax credit will be chopped in half, the “death tax” will return and capital gains and dividend tax rates will jump. But that is the opposite of the way the mainstream media have been telling the story. Primetime cable shows on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News Channel have focused on the fight over “tax cuts” more than 13 times as often as they discussed it in terms of tax hikes. On weekday evenings between Sept. 6 and Sept. 13, 27 of those primetime cable shows framed the debate around tax cuts, compared to just two that spoke solely in terms of tax increases. An additional 12 shows presented both tax cut and tax increase phrasing. FNC was the most balanced with nine of its primetime programs using both terms to cover the story. But MSNBC coverage was full of liberal talking points and spin. Keith Olbermann distorted the facts entirely on “Countdown” Sept. 13, claiming that “the gripping detail is this: Democrats want to cut everyone’s taxes, Republicans want to cut taxes on every dollar earned above a quarter-million.” That misrepresented the position of Republicans including McConnell, who told MSNBC the next day that “We should not be raising taxes on anyone during a recession.” McConnell said he is unwilling to raise taxes on anyone, even the wealthy. Obama’s so-called compromise solution has met resistance even from some Democrats , who agree with Republicans that that raising taxes on anyone in a bad economy is a bad idea. Former White House budget director Peter Orszag wrote a column calling for his own kind of compromise: extend the cuts for two years, then scrap them all. But the president insists he does not want to extend the tax cuts for top income earners. Obama campaigned on repealing the Bush Tax cuts for the “rich” setting the bar for wealth at $250,000 for families, $200,000 for individuals. The White House has mentioned extending those tax cuts for people making less, but also wants to spend more money on ” clean energy ” and infrastructure.   According to Jeffrey Miron of Cato Institute, the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire worked because they made the market more efficient . Writing specifically of dividend and capital gains taxes, Miron noted, “These taxes appear to hit wealthy capitalists, but in reality they fall partly on consumers via higher prices, and on workers, via lower demands for their services when corporations shut down or move overseas. So low taxation of dividends and capital gains helps both low and high income taxpayers.” White House Given Face Time on Broadcast Morning Shows, Boehner Gets None MSNBC and CNN weren’t the only ones spinning the tax cut/hike debate from the left. Rep. John Boehner created a political controversy after he said on “Face the Nation,” “If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I’ll vote for it.” Boehner had said he would “fight” against raising taxes on anyone, but his apparent compromise was fodder for journalists (and cheap shots from MSNBC about his “trademark tan”). All three broadcast network morning shows highlighted Boehner’s remarks Sept. 13 as they discussed Obama’s “compromise” bill, and they all made sure to give the Obama administration time to plead their case, while failing to interview Boehner. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was interviewed live on “The Early Show,” “Today” and “Good Morning America” following segments about the political fight over taxes. The shows aired a snippet of Boehner’s “Face the Nation” interview, but didn’t bring him on to elaborate or defend himself against left-wing attacks. In contrast, Gibbs was given 10 minutes and 55 seconds that morning to present Obama’s views and attack Boehner. Gibbs told CBS the U.S. shouldn’t “borrow” $700 billion to extend tax cuts “for folks quite frankly, that weren’t asking for them and don’t particularly need them.” On Sept. 8, Obama had accused Republicans and Boehner specifically of holding tax cuts “hostage .” In the same speech he called for Republicans to stop blocking the Senate’s small business bill, which he supports. One reason for conservative opposition of the small business bill is disagreement over a $30 billion Treasury-run ” lending facility ” for small businesses. The Hill reported on Aug. 31, that Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council President Karen Kerrigan has said the bill will not address the problems such businesses are facing . “The concerns and needs of most business owners go much deeper, and this legislation does not address broader issues related to taxes, regulations and excessive spending which threaten to aggravate currently poor economic conditions,” Kerrigan said. “At the end of the day, proposed tax hikes along with legislation and regulatory initiatives in the pipeline will drive business costs higher and drain more private capital from our economy.” Kerrigan specifically cited the expiring Bush-era tax cuts which will increase taxes on small businesses as one of the reasons for “stalled” small business expansion. Cannot ‘Afford’ Top 2-3 Percent Cuts? Obama’s primary argument has been that the U.S. cannot “afford” to extend the tax cuts to the rich. Many in the news media have echoed that claim, and perpetuated the liberal argument that tax cuts are a “cost.” That argument is one of five common ways the media spin tax stories in a liberal direction. Calling tax cuts a “cost” assumes that all money belongs to the government, rather than to the taxpayers who have worked hard for it. Olbermann pushed that liberal theme Sept. 13 when he blasted Boehner saying: “[He] wants to increase that deficit by $700 billion over ten years by extending those Bush tax cuts on income over a quarter-million.” MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie also promoted that viewpoint in her interview with McConnell Sept. 13. Guthrie pressed McConnell to admit that tax cuts would increase the deficit. “You don’t dispute that it would require more debt for these tax cuts? You don’t dispute that?” Guthrie asked the senator. CNN’s Ali Velshi claimed tax cuts aren’t “free” and that extending the Bush tax cuts to the top 3 percent of earners would cost ” between 650 and 700 billion dollars. Extending it for the rest of us is going to cost a lot more, possibly $3 trillion.” The media have long attacked the tax cuts claiming that they were responsible for the deficit, instead of criticizing government spending. Conservatives argue that government spending is the real problem in Washington. According to Stephen Moore’s book “The End of Prosperity,” the 2003 tax cuts generated a huge increase in federal tax receipts. A $785 billion increase between 2004 and 2007, Ryan Dwyer told The Washington Times. That was after Bush had slashed dividend and capital gains rates to 15 percent in 2003. The economy also bounced back, according to Dwyer: “In three years, $15 trillion of new wealth was created. The U.S. economy added 8 million new jobs from mid-2003 to early 2007, and the median household increased its wealth by $20,000 in real terms.” Similarly, under President Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts federal revenues grew rapidly ( 33 percent cumulative growth ) according to a Congressional Economic Update from 1995. Instead of arguing that the U.S. can’t afford to cut taxes, Cato Institute Director of Tax Policy Chris Edwards argued that the U.S. can’t afford not to. He wrote that the average top tax rate for the top 30 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations has fallen by 5 percentage points since 2000. So if the top rate tax cuts are not extended the U.S. will have the tenth highest rate among the 30 countries jeopardizing the nation’s competitiveness. Like this article? Then sign up for our newsletter, The Balance Sheet .

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CBS’s Smith Questions ‘Radical Islam’ Being America’s Enemy

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In an interview with controversial Florida Pastor Terry Jones on Wednesday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith doubted whether or not Muslim extremism was really a threat: “Would you regard radical Islam, then, as the enemy?” While Jones’ plan to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 has been rightfully condemned as offensive and an unnecessary provocation, Smith’s response of questioning the danger of  Islamic radicalism all together denies the ideological motivation of America’s enemies. After Jones described receiving threats over his planned event, Smith responded by quoting scripture: “…you’re a student of the New testament, I’m sure. Did not Jesus say you’re to love your enemy?” After Jones continued to defend the burning of the Muslim religious text, Smith again cited the Bible: “But there are at least two different times in Matthew and Luke where Jesus is quite, quite clear about loving – about loving your enemy.” Concluding the interview, Smith commented: “Well, I know you say you’ve been praying about it. And I hope that you find the wisdom in order to do the right thing, as the next couple of days unfold.” In the past, Smith has not been so quick to tout Christian theology. On the September 6, 2005 Early Show , Smith fretted over Christian charities forcing religion on victims of Hurricane Katrina in an interview with Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren: “…if I’m a family, am, do I need to be concerned that I’m going to go live with a church family, are they going to proselytize me, are they going to say, ‘you better come to church with me or else, I’m, you know, you’re not going to get your breakfast this morning’?” On Tuesday, Smith lumped opposition of the Ground Zero mosque in with Jones: “…you’ve heard about…the controversy near Ground Zero…the proposed building of an Islamic cultural center there. And there have been all kinds of people protesting this and one of them is a preacher from down in Florida, who has really been on the march on this. And he has promised to burn a Koran on the anniversary – on the 9/11 anniversary.” During the Wednesday interview, footage rolled of people protesting the mosque in New York City while Jones discussed burning the Koran.    Here is a full transcript of Smith’s September 8 interview with Jones: 7:00AM ET TEASE: HARRY SMITH: Koran controversy. A Florida minister’s plans to burn the holy book condemned by the U.S. government and others. But Pastor Terry Jones insists he will set fire to the Koran on September 11th. We’ll talk to the man at the center of the controversy.      7:07AM ET SEGMENT: HARRY SMITH: This morning a Florida minister refuses to back down in the face of worldwide outrage. The Reverend Terry Jones insists he will burn a Koran this Saturday, the ninth anniversary of 9/11. We’re going to talk to him in a moment. But first, CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella has the latest. KELLY COBIELLA: From his small office in Gainesville, Florida, Pastor Terry Jones hears the worldwide protests building against him. Muslims in Kabul, Afghanistan, are burning him in effigy. Fellow evangelical Christians are denouncing him. RICHARD CIZIK [REVEREND, NEW EVANGELICAL PARTNERSHIP FOR THE COMMON GOOD]: You bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Koran Controversy; Pastor’s Burning Plan Comes Under Attack] COBIELLA: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton singled out Jones and his plan to burn 100 copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 at a Washington dinner to observe Ramadan. HILLARY CLINTON: I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act. COBIELLA: Yet despite mounting pressure, this small town pastor will not budge. Jones, who keeps a gun at his side because of death threats, insists he is answering a religious calling. TERRY JONES [PASTOR, DOVE WORLD OUTREACH CENTER]: We are speaking to radical Islam, saying we don’t want them, their influence, and their Sharia law. COBIELLA: Jones says the only thing that will change his plans is a message from God. Kelly Cobiella, CBS News, Gainesville, Florida. SMITH: And joining us now from his church in Gainesville, Florida, is Pastor Terry Jones. Pastor Jones, good morning. JONES: Yeah, good morning. SMITH: So, we’ve got the White House, you have the Secretary of State, you have General Petraeus, you’ve got the VFW, among many others, saying, ‘please don’t do this.’ Are you still determined to do it? JONES: As of right now, we feel that this message is that important. We are still determined to do it, yes. SMITH: Yeah. And the message being what, exactly? JONES: Well, the message to Islam is actually the message geared towards radical Islam. We see its influence around the world. We are sending a message to them that we don’t want them to do as they appear to be doing in Europe. They appear to begin as they grow in numbers, to push their agenda, to push Sharia law. What we are saying to them is that if they’re in America they need to respect, honor, and obey our Constitution and not slowly try to push their agenda upon us. [FOOTAGE OF GROUND ZERO MOSQUE PROTEST] SMITH: Right. Would you regard, then, as radical Islam as – as your enemy? JONES: I didn’t quite understand you. Sorry. SMITH: Would you regard radical Islam, then, as the enemy?                          JONES: Oh, I think definitely. Definitely radical Islam is an enemy. I think there’s also the question of how – I think sometimes we don’t realize that this radical element of Islam goes deeper into the Muslim community than what we actually want to admit. To give you a small example, we had yesterday a Muslim lady came onto our property. I mean, we’re here in America. We’re in Gainesville, Florida. We’re in a little subdivision. And a Muslim lady comes on to our property and threatens us. She says, ‘if you do not stop this, there is a wrath, there is a judgment, there is a judgment coming upon you that you cannot handle.’ SMITH: Let me ask you- JONES: That is in Gainesville, Florida. SMITH: I understand. JONES: And we asked the lady, is this a threat? And she says yes. SMITH: Let me ask you this – you’re a student of the New testament, I’m sure. Did not Jesus say you’re to love your enemy? JONES: Yes, definitely. SMITH: Right. JONES: And I believe that this approach is not the normal approach, but I believe this approach is at this particular time in history very necessary. We also see times in the Bible where Jesus also got very upset. SMITH: We understand. JONES: Jesus went into the temple and threw all the money changers out. We feel this is definitely an exception. SMITH: But there are at least two different times in Matthew and Luke where Jesus is quite, quite clear about loving – about loving your enemy. JONES: Right. And that’s exactly what we do. With this action here, this action here itself is not – is not supposed to be an act of love. We agree that generally that’s what we do. We would reach out to Muslims in other ways. SMITH: Right. JONES: This particular act is actually an act of warning radical Islam. It’s a different type of a thing. SMITH: Well, I know you say you’ve been praying about it. And I hope that you find the wisdom in order to do the right thing, as the next couple of days unfold. Pastor Terry Jones, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. JONES: Uh-huh. Thank you.

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Prostitution Ads Still a Problem on Craigslist Despite Recent Crackdowns

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Craigslist.com has finally nixed its controversial Adult Services section , but it looks like the popular website may still be giving the green light to hundreds of prostitution ads – with dozens more popping up on the site each day. The go-to portal for online classified ads and local discussion boards, Craigslist has been criticized for years for selling ad space to sex-peddlers and prostitution rings. Law enforcement officials and watchdog groups say that the site is frequently used by human sex traffickers and pimps to find clients for women and children who have been coerced into the sex industry. On Sept. 4, Craigslist removed its Adult Services section in response to a letter from attorneys general in 17 states urging the website to crack down on prostitution ads. But it doesn’t look like the sex traffickers had to move far. Other sections of the Craigslist site are still overrun with ads for “sensual massage parlors” – many of which have been identified as brothels by law enforcement officials or sex industry websites. In the Therapeutic Services section of the Washington, D.C. site, hundreds of ads boasting titles like “Sweet Beautiful Asian masseuses” and featuring photos of attractive, scantily-attired women have been posted since Sept. 4. Some of these businesses are being monitored by law enforcement officials for engaging in prostitution, such as the Rt. 1 Therapy massage parlor in Woodbridge, Va. The massage business was raided by police on Aug. 13 in regards to an ongoing prostitution investigation and the owners were charged with “keeping a bawdy place.” Less than a month later, and just two days after Craigslist removed the Adult Services section, Rt. 1 Therapy was still posting ads in the site’s Therapeutic Services section, touting its “Talented and Delightful Asian Staff.” Jade Tree Therapy, another Woodbridge, Va.-based massage parlor that has been investigated for prostitution , posted a Craigslist ad on Sept. 7 offering a military discount for service members. And Jasmine Therapy, located in Washington, D.C., has also been pinpointed by police as a brothel and continues to post ads in the Therapeutic Services section. Dozens of other massage parlors advertising on Craigslist, like Papaya Therapy in Falls Church, Va., Pine Tree Spa in Fairfax, Va., and Peach Therapy in Annandale, Va., have placed other ads on or been reviewed on sex escort websites like “LocalEscortPages.com” and “USASexGuide.com.” According to the Polaris Project , an organization that aids victims of forced prostitution, U.S. massage parlors are common fronts for the foreign sex trafficking industry. “Sex trafficking cases of foreign national women and children brought into the U.S. are known to occur in a wide variety of locations in the commercial sex industry, such as massage parlors,” the Polaris Project reported. And the organization noted that Craigslist ads have long been linked to sex trafficking. “Polaris Project has directly witnessed a rampant misuse of [C]raigslist by pimps and traffickers,” said the group. “Many of the victims that we have served can point to the [C]raigslist posting that a trafficker once used to market their bodies against their will.” In an open letter to Craigslist owner Craig Newmark that was printed as an advertisement in the Washington Post in August, two anonymous women who said they were coerced into the prostitution industry at a young age, pleaded with the website to crack down on the sex ads. “All day, me and other girls sat with our laptops, pasting pictures and answering ads on Craigslist, he made $1,500 a night selling my body, dragging me to Los Angeles, Houston, Little Rock – and on one trip to Las Vegas in the trunk of a car,” wrote a woman named MC, who said she was forced into prostitution at 11 years old. The second woman, identified as AK, wrote that her pimp “put my picture on Craigslist, and I was sold for sex by the hour at truck stops and cheap motels, 10 hours with 10 different men every night. This became my life…Men answered the Craigslist advertisements and paid to rape me. The $30,000 he pocketed each month was facilitated by Craigslist 300 times.” Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has shrugged off criticism of the sex industry ads on his site for years, saying they were protected under “freedom of speech.” The Adult Services section was reportedly a major money-maker for the website, bringing in tens of millions of dollars a year. However, the pressure on Craigslist to remove the prostitution ads reached a fever-pitch in mid-August, after a medical student accused of murdering a woman he met on the erotic services section of Craigslist committed suicide in prison . The open letter from the former forced-prostitutes in the Washington Post also prompted a public outcry against the website. Craigslist finally responded by taking down the Adult Services section and putting a “Censored” bar in its place. Some have said the word “Censored” was used by Craigslist to make a political statement about the alleged infringement on its free speech rights. And while politicians have praised Craigslist for removing the problematic section, some acknowledge that there is still more work to be done before the site is prostitution-free. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said on Aug. 7 that the termination of the Adult Services section is an “important step” in combating online sex trafficking, but it is “not the end game.” Craigslist isn’t the only mainstream website that has been used to advertise prostitution. YouTube has also been criticized for allowing video ads for escort services on its site, according to ” BlueTube ,” a 2009 Special Report by the Culture and Media Institute.

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CNBC’s Kernen Declares Obama’s Populist Tactics Proof He Advocates ‘Redistribution of Wealth’

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

To many, it’s hardly a revelation to most, but when someone keeps taking the same action over and over again, even to his detriment, it can reveal a lot about that individual’s belief system. This was an observation CNBC “Squawk Box” host Joe Kernen made about the Obama administration’s willingness to embrace a populist “soak the rich” tactic against the wealthy in the United States, even though it isn’t winning him favor with the American people, according to opinion polling. A new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows more people now think President Barack Obama’s policies have hurt the economy than have helped. And Kernen called the unwillingness to change course evidence of the president’s ideology – proof he does believe in the redistribution of wealth. “When push comes to shove, the left wins out with this guy,” Kernen said on the Sept. 8 broadcast of “Squawk Box.” “Axelrod calls the shots when push comes to shove. And this will make the case for a populist argument that these rich people – soak the rich – they do not need this and we’re going to cut for the middle class and we’re going to pay for it by soaking the rich. And it’s right down – but it also – he said it all along, but to his critics, those critics, it’s more evidence of a redistribution that when it all comes down to it, the overriding mandate of this administration – it’s a redistribution of wealth. ”  And even Kernen’s “Squawk Box” co-host Carl Quintanilla said it was obvious this wasn’t working. “If that strategy had worked since he came into office – talking down Wall Street, scolding businesses, fat cats – his poll numbers would be higher,” Quintanilla added. “So the question is, why isn’t he adjusting?” But Kernen says it’s deeper than just a soak-the-rich philosophy for the sake of short-term political expediency, but that this is a belief Obama has held for decades. “Because I think he really believes that wealth needs to be redistributed after the income disparity over the past 30 years ,” Kernen said. “I really think he believes and he’ll forego some near-term job gains and every thing else.” In his first column for The New York Times on Sept. 7 , Peter Orszag, Obama’s former director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, suggested that Obama should reconsider his administration’s stance on allowing the Bush tax cuts expire. Moody’s economist Mark Zandi, an expert the Obama administration had relied on heavily in 2009 to get the stimulus passed, also has questioned the administration’s wisdom . And even a Times Sept. 8 story , which are traditionally sympathetic to Obama’s causes, was also doubtful he could prevail, as Kernen pointed out. “It’s so obvious – even Orszag can figure that out,” Kernen continued. “Even Zandi – just about everyone can figure out that you don’t try to stimulate at the same time you’re sucking money out of the economy. It makes no sense. But even The New York Times – ‘It’s not clear that Mr. Obama can prevail given his,’ and this is The New York Times, ‘given his own diminishing popularity the tepid economic recovery and the divisions within his own party.’ It says a lot of nervous Democrats wish that he would give them some cover and say, all right, maybe we’ll …”

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Surprise! WaPo Hearts ‘Irrepressible’ Meghan McCain’s Memoir

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

She’s the heir to the House of Maverick – the Republican the liberal media establishment can love, who’s just as embarrassed by those icky conservatives as any network anchor or newspaper columnist. Like her senator and erstwhile presidential candidate dad John, Meghan McCain is a willing weapon for the media to use against her fellow Republicans. But unlike “the Maverick,” there’s little chance she’d ever be a threat to the real good guys – liberal Democrats.  To Washington Post Nonfiction Books Editor Steven Levingston, Meghan McCain is a “free-thinking college grad” (she’s educated, you see; she’s one of us ) joyfully bucking what she calls conservative “groupthink.” In the Sept. 1 Post, Levingston reviewed “Dirty Sexy Politics,” McCain’s memoir of her father’s 2008 presidential campaign. The book, he wrote, “is as much a scathing critique of the Republican Party as it is a passionate tale of life on the campaign trail.” And Levingston proceeded to relate that critique with undisguised relish. “McCain takes repeated jabs at the intolerant ethos of today’s Republicans,” Levingston wrote. “She rails at feeling left out: The party, she says, has been hijacked by the right wing and has rejected – to its detriment – the moderate politics that she and millions of other young conservatives espouse.” Because she dresses trashy, swears like a sailor and “has gay friends,” McCain has run afoul of the “intolerant ethos of today’s Republicans.” Even better for Levingston, besides her dad, McCain doesn’t seem to like any Republicans – certainly not two top-tier (and hence dangerous) politicians singled out in the book. Mitt Romney and his family, it seems, were just too wholesome for McCain. An Associated Press article quoted from the book: “[the Romneys] were all so handsome, in a tooth-whitener commercial kind of way, and so seriously wholesome.” She and her roommates wondered if the Romneys “could handle the constant drinking and swearing that went on in our campaign,” or “all the tawdry stories about crazy-sex you never read about.” Meghan feared her father would choose Romney as his running mate, and she would have to “stop laughing at him.” But no, it was worse than that. “When McCain met Sarah Palin, she ‘felt shaken and troubled,’ worrying like many others that the Alaska governor was not prepared for the national stage,” Levingston related. “Once the Palin clan climbed aboard, the Pirate Ship [as McCain called his campaign] started to sink,” Levingston wrote. But the facts don’t bear that out. McCain began climbing in the polls with the announcement of Palin as a running mate, and by Sept. 7, right before McCain’s disastrous handling of the financial crisis, the Real Clear Politics average of polls had it at a one-point race. Whatever Palin’s real impact on the McCain effort, she aroused jealousy on Meghan’s part. Levingston: From the minute Sarah arrived,’ McCain writes, ‘the campaign began splitting apart. And rather than joining us, and our campaign, she seemed only to begin her own.’ Palin’s arrival – this ‘sudden, freakishly huge, full-fledged phenomenon’ – was jarring for the potential first daughter, who found herself shoved into the background. Meghan didn’t take kindly to that and behaved so badly she was “effectively banished from the campaign,” according to Levingston. She admitted, “Here I’d been ruminating about how the Palins weren’t ‘ready for prime time’ when, in fact, it was me all along.” Readers shouldn’t be put off by the selfish, immature and ultimately unattractive young woman that emerges from Levingston’s review of “Dirty Sexy Politics.”  That would be to miss the important message Levingston imparted. Meghan “ended the campaign feeling alienated from her party and worried about its domination by the Christian right. Calling herself a passionate Christian, McCain fears the party will shrink and possibly become irrelevant if it narrows its agenda to ‘accommodate only one moral code.'” The Republican party might want to take a break from giving the Democrats what looks to be a historic and emphatic mid-term thrashing, and spend some time pondering its shrinkage and irrelevance.

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Bartiromo: GOP-Controlled House ‘Most Important Near-Term Catalyst’ for Economy

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

As the not-so “recovery summer” draws to an end, many are scratching heads, wondering what it will take for the economy to pull out of this recession. According to Maria Bartiromo, host of CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” it will be political change in Washington, D.C. In an appearance on NBC’s Sept. 7 “Today,” she said the best stimulus would be a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. “This is probably the single most important catalyst for the stock market right now,” Bartiromo said. “I think that the perception of confidence, the perception that perhaps we won’t see tremendous change in terms of higher expenses in 2011 if we were to see the Republicans gain control of the House, it will probably be a positive for the stock market. Bartiromo’s appearance on “Today” was to promote her new book, “The Weekend That Changed Wall Street: An Eyewitness Account.” In her estimation, A GOP takeover would create confidence and induce people spend more money. “That could create a rally and believe it or not, rallies like that make people feel richer,” she continued. “They get a better perception out there and they get people to spend more money. So that’s probably the most important near term catalyst.” It’s estimated that corporations are sitting on at least $1 trillion that if freed up and put back into the economy, it could rescue the country from this recession.

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WaPo’s Frank Ahrens Suggests Krugman, Kudlow as Potential Romer Replacements

Posted on August 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Paul Krugman and Larry Kudlow – not exactly two guys you would associate with one another. However, they are two media figures Washington Post columnist Frank Ahrens thinks should be candidates for the same job. In his Aug. 15 column , Ahrens wrote about some of the people that should replace outgoing chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer. He named several candidates including Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi, James Sinegal, co-founder and chief executive of Costco, and Ford chief executive Alan Mulally. But he also named New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and CNBC’s “Kudlow Report” host Larry Kudlow . In his case for Krugman, Ahrens wondered that since Krugman can talk the talk, can he walk the walk as well. “Outside the academic world, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman is best known for his New York Times columns arguing that the $787 billion, debt-busting stimulus bill was not enough, so even moderate Democrats — not to mention conservatives — might lose their minds with this pick. But maybe it’s time for Krugman to put his money where his mouth is,” Ahrens wrote. “You think government needs to spend more to get us out of this funk? Okay, Paul. Here’s the key to the car.”  In the case of Larry Kudlow, Ahrens wrote the CNBC host would be a wise choice because he can communicate economic policies clearly. “You might laugh at this one, but CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan administration before going to Wall Street to make his millions and subsequently flame out like a booze-and-drug-fueled Icarus, a low period he has discussed openly,” Ahrens wrote. “But Americans believe in second chances, and Kudlow’s been one-day-at-a-timing it for more than a decade. There is no more articulate spokesman for supply-side economics and tax-cut job creation. Yet, not even his legendary selection of suits and ties will likely win him admirers in the Obama White House.” Ahrens also appeared on CNBC’s “Street Signs” with Erin Burnett on Aug. 16 to argue for his suggestions, including making the case for Kudlow. Albeit unlikely, Ahrens says idea isn’t as crazy as one might think. “Larry Kudlow, great American,” Ahrens said. “I know you’re going to laugh or some of the viewers may laugh. But, look, the guy has been in this position before in previous administrations. He’s been on Wall Street. He knows about how to talk to folks in government. He knows about how the private markets work. And there’s no really more eloquent spokesman for supply-side job creation through tax cuts. Listen, you can know all you want about policy, but if you can’t explain yourself to the President, then that’s a real key thing, a real key element of this job. To get the President’s ear, you have to be able to explain yourself. It’s sort of fun, but it’s not as crazy as you might think.”

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The Strange Case of Charles ‘Paulson Put a Gun to All Their Heads’ Gasparino

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Earlier today, NB’s Lachlan Markey covered Bill O’Reilly’s interview with the Fox Business Channel’s Charles Gasparino. In that interview, Gasparino confirmed what the New York Post reported in April of last year, namely that  “GE Execs Encouraged CNBC Staff to Go Easy on Obama.” The suits at GE, including Chairman Jeff Inmelt, had a clear motivation for encouraging their reporters to lighten up, namely that “General Electric at the time was hoping to profit handsomely from policies that would benefit a few companies, including GE, at the expense of the majority of the economy”– specifically cap and trade. But speaking of motivation: What about former CNBCer Gasparino’s? The easy answer would be that sometime in the past two years he has seen the light and realizes his past reporting at CNBC was lacking in fairness and balance. Despite his move to Fox, there’s reason to doubt that. In October 2008, Gasparino and CNBC’s Dylan Ratigan smirked their way through their report on what has turned out in retrospect to have been the event that marked the official beginning of Washington’s financial tyranny (“arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority”) over the banking system. That tyranny has largely been codified into law in the recently passed and laughably misnamed “Financial Services Reform” legislation. On October 14, 2008, less than two weeks after Congress passed legislation creating the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) with the supposed intent of using the money to buy up specific “toxic assets,” mostly subprime mortgages, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson radically shifted course, forcing the nation’s largest banks to take TARP money directly (i.e., to accept government “investment”) regardless of whether they wanted it or believe they needed it. What follows is a transcript containing most of the early portion of what Ratigan and Gasparino reported before going to other talking heads for their comments (video is still here at CNBC, and must be seen to fully appreciate the conversation’s smarmy arrogance, especially with Gasparino; bolds are mine): Ratigan: Well we all know that obscene amounts of risk (were) taken inside of the banking system, leaving some banks crippled, some banks frozen, and other banks with huge opportunities. Uh, many of the banks didn’t want to be tainted with the government bailout funds because they didn’t want to be mistaken for a fool when they actually felt that they were the smart one that didn’t do it. Well Hank Paulson said “The heck with that.” He stuck all of them with some of the bailout money. And he said “Listen, we’re going to reset the clock here and move forward.” Charlie, how are the banks that felt they basically didn’t commit the crime, as it were, of excess or reckless risk, uh, respond to the fact that even they will be stuck with this capital? Charlie Gasparino: Well y’know they were all kind of stupid to some extent ….. ….. the Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson put all these egos in the room, and basically put guns to their heads, forcing them to take the money to bolster the banking system. Some of the firms say they didn’t want the cash, but it’s pretty clear that all of them did need to take the cash, given the continued upheaval in the banking system that crushed shares last week of Morgan as well as Goldman Sachs and just about everybody else. So this is essentially, uh, Dylan, a case where, y’know, you can deny you have any problems. Even the best-capitalized banks have problems. They own this stuff. And Paulson at one point said, “Listen, if you don’t want it, it doesn’t matter, gun to your head, you gotta take it.” Ratigan: Yeah, whether you think you’re sick or not, you’re taking the medicine. Gasparino: Because you’re sick anyway. Ratigan: Exactly. Part of my reax at the time: It was very unsettling to see the two CNBC reporters basically smile and smirk their way through the opening segment of the clip, with what I saw as an air of insufferable “we know it all” arrogance. … This “bailout” was originally advertised as being targeted towards troubled loan situations, principally mortgages. Instead, Paulson, Bernanke, and Bush have turned it into a de facto, no good deed goes unpunished (i.e., responsible lending) tool for partial nationalization. How many Congresspersons, or presidential candidates, thought this was what they were voting for, or that this is what the people wanted? Commenter dscott’s reax at the time : Something is up because this is not how a government official acts in a Democracy. “Something” was up all right. We should never forget that the congressmen and senators from both parties, including each party’s presidential candidate, voted TARP into existence despite the intense opposition of the vast majority of Americans, thereby allowing a loophole-laden law to open the door to what has since transpired. Then, less than two weeks later, virtually everyone just stood around while tyranny took its first sweeping steps. Charles Gasparino thought it was sort of funny at the time, as if the financial system’s private players were getting a richly deserved comeuppance. That attitude is consistent with the theme of his most recent book, and of the one that will be released shortly. In November of last year, Gasparino’s ” The Sellout ” was subtitled “How Three Decades of Wall Street Greed and Government Mismanagement Destroyed the Global Financial System.” Given what we have learned about the frauds by design known as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the two years since they went into government conservatorship, it’s more than a little odd that he would mention Wall Street first. Gasparino is releasing a book in October whose title is, “Bought and Paid For: The Unholy Alliance Between Barack Obama and Wall Street.” The book’s tagline: “A top reporter exposes the deep ties between the Obama administration and the big banks that are bankrupting our country.” I’m sure there’s no shortage of material. But fundamentally, Charles, how could it be that Wall Street perpetrated this mess with just a bit of cooperation from and co-opting of Uncle Sam, when it’s Fan and Fred who led the way in compromising prudent lending standards, and it’s Fan and Fred who lied about the underlying quality of their securitized mortgages for about 15 years to the tune of hundreds of billions and perhaps trillions of dollars, doing damage that Wall Street couldn’t hope to do even at its most malicious? Someone –maybe Bill O’Reilly — should ask Gasparino if he still thinks Wall Street is the primary culprit. He clearly did at crunch time in October 2008. Cross-posted in longer form at BizzyBlog.com .  

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