Tag Archives: president

In Coverage of Latest Court Ruling, AP Continues Press Tradition of Stem Cell Obfuscation

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on In Coverage of Latest Court Ruling, AP Continues Press Tradition of Stem Cell Obfuscation

It is truly remarkable to observe how press outlets continue to misreport and misinform the public in the area of stem cell research. One of the latest examples came yesterday at the Associated Press. In a report covering a court ruling on government funding of embryonic stem cell research (ESCR), the AP’s Nedra Pickler completely failed to acknowledge that there are any other kinds of stem cells. Every single use by Pickler of the terms “stem cell” or “stem cells” has no modifying adjective, except the very first, whose modifier is “embryonic.” It’s as if there are no other avenues besides ESCR for “scientific progress toward potentially lifesaving medical treatment.” In fact, Pickler’s less-informed readers would have no reason to believe that there is any form of stem cell research besides ESCR. The reality, which will be shown later for the umpteenth time, is that non-embryonic stem cells, often referred to as adult stem cells, have already shown that they can do virtually everything embryonic cells can with far less potential for side effects and, of course, no loss of human life. The word “adult” does not appear in the AP report. Here are several paragraphs from Pickler’s pathetic piece , which also includes a deeply deceptive quote (is there any other kind?) from Obama White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs (bold is mine): Court OKs US-funded stem cell research for now An appeals court ruled Tuesday that government funding of embryonic stem cell research can continue for now. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington granted the Obama administration’s request to allow the funding from the National Institutes of Health while it appeals a judge’s order blocking the research. The administration had argued that stopping the research while the case proceeds would irreparably harm scientific progress toward potentially lifesaving medical treatment. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth had blocked President Barack Obama’s research funding guidelines because he said it’s likely they violate the law against federal funding of embryo destruction. A three-judge panel of the appeals court issued an unusually quick decision, a day after hearing arguments over whether the funding could continue while it considers the case. The court also said it would expedite the case. Researchers hope one day to use stem cells in ways that cure spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease and other ailments. Opponents say the research is a form of abortion because human embryos must be destroyed to obtain the stem cells. … “President Obama made expansion of stem cell research and the pursuit of groundbreaking treatments and cures a top priority when he took office,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement after the ruling. “We’re heartened that the court will allow NIH and their grantees to continue moving forward while the appeal is resolved.” The bolded sentence above is false. Let’s take it one item at a time. Adult stem cells have already been used to treat spinal cord injuries. Here’s one example that was recounted in testimony this month before the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations: The first example Dr. Peduzzi Nelson gave was that of Silvio, who was quadriplegic after a spinal cord injury at the base of his neck, “AIS Grade A”. Grade A is considered the worst, indicating a “complete” spinal cord injury where no motor or sensory function is preserved in the lower body. Silvio was left with no movement of his legs and minimal movement of his fingers. At 2 years after injury, and after intensive rehabilitation failed to lead to an improvement, he received his own nasal adult stem cells and partial scar removal. Today Silvio can maintain a standing position and wave without help. With a walker and short braces, he can walk over 30 feet without anyone helping him. He can now move his fingers, which he could not do before. Silvio’s improvement is astounding. Usually only 5% of AIS Grade A patients improve in grade if a treatment is given at 1 year or greater after spinal cord injury. But using adult stem cells for treatment, Silvio is not an isolated case. Adult stem cells have successfully treated Parkinson’s disease ( Life News ; February 16, 2009): Scientists have published a paper in a medical journal describing the results of the world’s first clinical trial using autologous neural stem cells for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. A leading bioethics watchdog says the results show more money should be put behind adult stem cells. UCLA researchers published their results in February issue of the Bentham Open Stem Cell Journal which outlines the long term results of the trial. “We have documented the first successful adult neural stem cell transplantation to reverse the effects of Parkinson’s disease and demonstrated the long term safety and therapeutic effects of this approach,” says lead author Dr. Michel Levesque. The paper describes how Levesque’s team was able to isolate patient-derived neural stem cells, multiply them in vitro and ultimately differentiate them to produce mature neurons before they are reintroduced into the brain. The team was able to inject the adult stem cells without the need for immunosuppressants. Unlike embryonic stem cells, adult stem cell injections don’t cause a patient’s immune system to reject the cells. The adult stem cells were highly beneficial for the patient involved in the study. Are the AP and Nedra Pickler going to quibble over whether the two instances cited represent “cures,” when the ESCR cupboard is utterly bare of success stories such as these? As to other ailments, several years ago, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life wrote that “ASCR has produced treatments for more than 73 medical conditions, including brain cancer, breast cancer, type I diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, osteoporosis, and stroke damage.” The number is probably higher now. Advocate Don Margolis’s web site lists well over 50 categories of diseases and conditions that have been improved and/or cured with adult stem cells. At some point, the oh-so-cute obfuscation of the press stops being funny. That’s the point where people who could be gaining knowledge they could use to help themselves or their loved ones get desired treatment for chronic diseases and conditions are kept unaware because of consistently irresponsible journalism. I would suggest that we’re really close to being there, i.e., we’re not far from the point where people will be needlessly suffering and perhaps even dying because they are being kept in the dark by an establishment press that is all about ESCR uber alles while continuing to ignore and/or downplay available adult stem cell progress and treatments. Graphic found at LifeNews.com . Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

The rest is here:
In Coverage of Latest Court Ruling, AP Continues Press Tradition of Stem Cell Obfuscation

Comments Off on In Coverage of Latest Court Ruling, AP Continues Press Tradition of Stem Cell Obfuscation

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

CNBC’s Kernen Challenges Pa. Governor on Tea Party ‘Fruit Loops’ Label and Pass Given to MSNBC’s Schultz

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CNBC’s Kernen Challenges Pa. Governor on Tea Party ‘Fruit Loops’ Label and Pass Given to MSNBC’s Schultz

As we near the midterm elections, left-wingers will be reading from the same tired playbook – the attempted marginalization of the Tea Party movement, but just more of it. But more and more, they are discovering the tactics are tougher to defend, as their side has their own fringe, loose-cannon elements. On CNBC’s Sept. 29 “Squawk Box,” hosts Joe Kernen and Michelle Caruso-Cabrera went after Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell for what seems to be hypocrisy – a willingness to attack one side for extremism, while ignoring extreme elements on the left. Rendell was asked by Kernen to elaborate on remarks he made earlier this month, that some Republicans are “fruit loops,” “whackos,” and “flat-out crazy.” KERNEN: I want to talk to you about something, later about — you’re calling Tea Party people wing nuts and fruit loops? RENDELL: Not all of them. KERNEN: Not all of them? You saw the president, the president basically said that most of them, most of the Tea Party “are directed and financed by powerful and special interests lobbies,” this is in the Journal today. That’s most of them and the rest of them are bigots. So you’re either directed by special interests … RENDELL: I don’t believe it. KERNEN: Seventy-one percent of Republicans, according to this poll today in the Journal identify – so, you’ve just trashed the entire half of the country. CARUSO-CABRERA: He says slowly but surely, the GOP is taken over by whackos. RENDELL: There’s no question about that. But Kernen pressed Rendell on this and asked why some on his side, including Ed Schultz, of CNBC’s sister network MSNBC’s “The ED Show” was held to a different standard. KERNEN: But, Ed Schultz calls Gov. [Chris] Christie a cold-hearted fat slob and he’s not a fruit loop? He’s fat himself. He’s not a fruit loop? RENDELL: We didn’t nominate Ed Schultz to be a United States Senator or Governor. There’s a big difference. KERNEN: Blowhard. RENDELL: No, no look – I think there’s too much name-calling and I think Gov. Christie, by and large is doing the right thing. Caruso-Cabrera, author of the forthcoming book “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government,” insisted that Rendell explain why, if he thinks there is “too much name-calling,” he name-called. CARUSO-CABRERA: But, why did you name-call? KERNEN: Yeah RENDELL: Because there are some people who are and you can’t deny it. CARUSO-CABRERA: You’ll stand by that – that they’re still being taken over by whackos? RENDELL: Yeah and let me give you an example. KERNEN: Wing nuts and fruit loops are in the eye of the beholder and I guarantee you – you have half the country looking at the other side saying there’s fruit loops and wing nuts. They use different words. Almost laughably, Rendell insisted that the fringe elements on the left-wing progressive side weren’t as extreme. Rendell made this assertion, despite the backlash Obama has received from the so-called “professional left,” despite Obama admittedly being the most “progressive” president in the history of the United States . RENDELL: Maybe. I don’t think they’re quite as extreme. KERNEN: Oh my – are you kidding me?!? RENDELL: One of our candidates – KERNEN: Can you imagine President Obama is being pilloried by people who think he hasn’t been liberal enough? Can you believe there are people that exist like that? He just said he is the most progressive, he just he passed the most progressive agenda in this history of the country. He concedes to that and yet it’s not progressive enough for most of these people? What does this alleged wizard-of-smart do on a business network to backtrack out his tough spot? He went straw-man and invoked some of the candidates’ stances on social issues. RENDELL: Well look, I tell you absolutely. There are people on both sides of the political spectrum that are saying stuff that doesn’t make sense. But we haven’t nominated him nor senator or governor. You have people out there saying you must have the child of someone who rapes you, you must have the child. That is insane. CARUSO-CABRERA: You’re focusing on the wrong issues. RENDELL: No, no. CARUSO-CABRERA: This is about fiscal issues and you want to try to take it somewhere else. RENDELL: I think that’s important. Look, I think that is so important. Kernen pointed out Rendell was probably glad to have Delaware ’s GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, Christine O’Donnell with all her stances on social issues as a distraction. And Rendell showed his willingness to go to that well by referring to other left-wing favorite targets – conservative women including Sharon Angel and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. KERNEN: We have to go. You are so lucky for the O’Donnell with the monkey brain, witchcraft. She is your dream candidate. RENDELL: It’s not just O’Donnell. It’s Sharon Angel, it is Michele Bachmann. KERNEN: She is your dream candidate. RENDELL: I want to ask you something about Michele Bachmann. Rendell didn’t get to ask about Bachmann, but Caruso-Cabrera did urge viewers to reply to Rendell’s seeming double standard by e-mail at squawk@cnbc.com .

View original post here:
CNBC’s Kernen Challenges Pa. Governor on Tea Party ‘Fruit Loops’ Label and Pass Given to MSNBC’s Schultz

Comments Off on CNBC’s Kernen Challenges Pa. Governor on Tea Party ‘Fruit Loops’ Label and Pass Given to MSNBC’s Schultz

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Obama: US on Target to Reduce Emissions by 17%

Posted on September 29, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Obama: US on Target to Reduce Emissions by 17%

Well there’s an interesting statement. In Rolling Stone’s recently published and widely circulated interview with Barack Obama , the president explains his thoughts on climate change and current US energy policy. Discussions of his frustration with the failure to pass national climate policy, how a new strategy to implement clean tech is needed, and so forth seem more than reasonable–and then he says this: The progress that we’re making on renewable energy, the progress that we’re making on retrofitting buildings and making sure t… Read the full story on TreeHugger

Read the rest here:
Obama: US on Target to Reduce Emissions by 17%

Comments Off on Obama: US on Target to Reduce Emissions by 17%

Posted in Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , ,

NY Times Op-Ed Writer’s Muddled Logic: Money Not Paid in Taxes a Gift from Government

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on NY Times Op-Ed Writer’s Muddled Logic: Money Not Paid in Taxes a Gift from Government

It’s a really skewed view of the relationship between citizens and the government – that anything you earn and get to keep by not paying to the government in the form of taxes is a show of benevolence from the government. But that’s apparently the view of Richard H. Thaler, professor at the University of Chicago . In the Sept. 26 New York Times , Thaler, declares that tax cuts are a gift in his op-ed “What the Rich Don’t Need.” “WANT to give affluent households a present worth $700 billion over the next decade?” Thaler wrote. “In a period of high unemployment and fiscal austerity, this idea may seem laughable. Amazingly, though, it is getting traction in Washington . I am referring, of course, to the current debate about whether to extend all, or just some, of the tax cuts of President George W. Bush – cuts that are due to expire at year-end. They’re expiring because the only way they could be enacted initially was by pretending that they were temporary.” Video Below Fold This caught the eye of CNBC’s Joe Kernen, the co-host of “Squawk Box.” On the Sept. 27 broadcast of his show, Kernen pointed out the flaw in that logic. “Over the weekend, I was reading in The New York Times – it was one of their professors that writes. I forget the guy’s name. I always disagree with him,” Kernen said. “[H]e talks about it as a $700-billion gift to the rich. And I just have a problem when they look at – OK, so they’re using the Clinton tax levels as the standard of where we are. And anything diverges from that is a gift, even though it’s money you earned. It’s a gift back to you.” Kernen questioned why the talking point used by tax cut opponents is always based on what tax levels were during the Clinton presidency and why it is a view that a certain percentage of what taxpayers keep is gift to the them. “Let’s go back to pre-, before Reagan began was around, when it was 70 percent. Anything less than 70 percent, is it a gift to the taxpayer?” he continued. “[D]oes it start at ‘you pay 100 percent to us and anything we let you keep after that is a gift’ or does it start at ‘0 percent and anything you charge me prove that you need to spend that.’ Why don’t you do it that way? Prove that you need anything above zero percent. Show me you’re not going to waste it and then prove you can do it.” Fill-in co-host Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, author of the forthcoming book “You Know I’m Right: More Prosperity, Less Government” summed it up succinctly by explaining what the intended relationship of government and the citizens is. “They work for us,” Caruso-Cabrera said. “We don’t work for them.”

More:
NY Times Op-Ed Writer’s Muddled Logic: Money Not Paid in Taxes a Gift from Government

Comments Off on NY Times Op-Ed Writer’s Muddled Logic: Money Not Paid in Taxes a Gift from Government

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CBS: The Rich to Blame For Bad Economy, Need to Pay Higher Taxes

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on CBS: The Rich to Blame For Bad Economy, Need to Pay Higher Taxes

On CBS’s Sunday Morning, correspondent Martha Teichner promoted left-wing class warfare talking points from former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich: “[He] in a new book points out another ominous parallel between the Great Depression and the ‘Great Recession,’ its cause.” Reich proclaimed: “More and more of the income that was generated by the economy went to people at the top.” [Audio available here ] Teichner worked to bolster Reich’s argument: “In the last century, there were only two years, in 1928 just before the great crash, and then again in 2007, during which the richest 1% were taking home nearly a quarter of the entire income of the nation.” Reich continued his assault on upper income earners: “Last year, when most Americans were suffering, the top 25 hedge fund managers each earned $1 billion. A billion dollars would pay the salaries of something like 20,000 teachers.” Again, Teichner made sure to back up Reich’s assertions: “That wage inequality, Reich argues, is at the heart of our economic woes. And to fix things, we need to pay those teachers and the rest of the middle class more , not less, so they can spend enough to kick-start the economy. And yes, that means higher taxes for the rich.” For a brief moment, the segment featured the opposing side, in the form of Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell warning that increasing taxes on the rich could further harm the economy. However, Teichner quickly dismissed such a notion, in favor of liberal economic dogma: “In the partisan battle over the future of the Bush tax cuts, Reich disagrees.” Reich claimed: “We provided a huge tax cut to the rich and nothing trickled down. After 2001, median wages actually dropped.” Teichner tried to suggest that any tax increases would be modest compared with past tax rates: “The top tax rate now is 35%. If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, nearly 40%. For the record, under President Eisenhower, a Republican, the top rate was 91%. Really. Middle class wages were rising and the rich actually got richer.” As NewsBusters’ Brad Wilmouth earlier reported , giving commentary later in the broadcast, Syfy Channel producer Linda McGibney attacked economist and Sunday Morning contributor Ben Stein for opposing a tax increase on the wealthy. In part, she ranted: “I suppose he thinks he’s beyond sharing his good fortune with the rest of Americans who are suffering financially or he just doesn’t care about them. … I have always understood that the have’s are greedy. This is the first time I’ve heard one of them express it out loud so openly.” Here is a transcript of the September 26 exchange between Teichner and Reich: 9:08AM ET ROBERT REICH: Typically in a business cycle, we get back to the same economic path we were on. People get their old jobs back or nearly their old jobs. But this time around, very much like the Great Depression, we are not going to be able to go back on the same road. MARTHA TEICHNER: Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich in a new book points out another ominous parallel between the Great Depression and the ‘Great Recession,’ its cause. REICH: More and more of the income that was generated by the economy went to people at the top. TEICHNER: In the last century, there were only two years, in 1928 just before the great crash, and then again in 2007, during which the richest 1% were taking home nearly a quarter of the entire income of the nation. REICH: The typical CEO is up to 350 times the salary and benefits of the typical worker. Last year, when most Americans were suffering, the top 25 hedge fund managers each earned $1 billion. A billion dollars would pay the salaries of something like 20,000 teachers. TEICHNER: That wage inequality, Reich argues, is at the heart of our economic woes. And to fix things, we need to pay those teachers and the rest of the middle class more, not less, so they can spend enough to kick-start the economy. And yes, that means higher taxes for the rich. REICH: The economy depends – 70% of demand – on consumers and those consumers are essentially the middle class. People who are very rich, they spend a much smaller proportion of their income. MITCH MCCONNELL [SEN. R-KY]: No recovery will take place if we impose new taxes on the people we need to create jobs. TEICHNER: In the partisan battle over the future of the Bush tax cuts, Reich disagrees. REICH: We provided a huge tax cut to the rich and nothing trickled down. After 2001, median wages actually dropped. TEICHNER: The top tax rate now is 35%. If the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire, nearly 40%. For the record, under President Eisenhower, a Republican, the top rate was 91%. Really. Middle class wages were rising and the rich actually got richer. REICH: Henry Ford understood this. He paid his workers $5 a day at the Highland Park Model-T plant. That was a lot of money. That was about twice as much as the typical worker was earning. He said, you know, I’m going to make a lot of money because my workers are going to earn enough that they can turn around and buy the Model-Ts that they are making. You know something, Henry Ford was right.

Read the original here:
CBS: The Rich to Blame For Bad Economy, Need to Pay Higher Taxes

Comments Off on CBS: The Rich to Blame For Bad Economy, Need to Pay Higher Taxes

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , ,

NBC Finds Most Americans Oppose Repeal of ObamaCare, But CBS Reports ‘Just 30%’ Favor ObamaCare

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on NBC Finds Most Americans Oppose Repeal of ObamaCare, But CBS Reports ‘Just 30%’ Favor ObamaCare

Sunday’s Today show on NBC and Sunday Morning on CBS presented seemingly contradictory polling results on how much ObamaCare is supported by the American public, although both seemed to be citing the same AP poll. As Meet the Press host David Gregory appeared on Today, anchor Lester Holt suggested that Republicans are going against the majority of Americans in promising to repeal ObamaCare as he vaguely referred to polling data and contended, “But new polling out suggests that most people not only do they not want to, don’t want it repealed, they want more added to it,” and added, “Do Republicans have to refine this message and take a better look at it?” According to the AP poll as reported at msnbc.com , “four in 10 adults think the new law did not go far enough to change the health care system.” By contrast, on Sunday Morning, CBS anchor Charles Osgood briefly recounted numbers from the AP poll which suggested that ObamaCare is unpopular. Osgood: “A poll commissioned by the Associated Press finds just 30 percent of Americans in favor of the new health care law, 30 percent are neutral, and 40 percent oppose it. Four out of 10 respondents say the new law doesn’t do enough to change the health care system.” Returning to NBC, Gregory did not comment directly on whether he believed the poll’s accuracy, as he argued that the Republican message may indeed be successful, and went on to raise the theory from the left that ObamaCare will become more popular as people benefit from it: If the message is government’s out of control, they passed this huge entitlement, it’s going to cost a lot of money and have you felt the effects of it yet, I think that has the shot to be a winning political message. But the more people start to feel health care reform, so the argument goes, it will become more popular. But that has not exactly been the case across the board yet with health care reform, and that’s why the President has to keep hammering away at it. Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, September 26, Sunday Morning on CBS, followed by the same day’s Today show on NBC: #From the September 26 Sunday Morning on CBS: CHARLES OSGOOD: A poll commissioned by the Associated Press finds just 30 percent of Americans in favor of the new health care law, 30 percent are neutral, and 40 percent oppose it. Four out of 10 respondents say the new law doesn’t do enough to change the health care system. #From the September 26 Today show on NBC: LESTER HOLT: The President in his weekly radio address, he talked about the Pledge for America, it’s the Republican pledge that they have released. One of the things they talked about was going after the health care, repealing the health care bill. But new polling out suggests that most people not only do they not want to, don’t want it repealed they want more added to it. Do Republicans have to refine this message and take a better look at it? DAVID GREGORY: Well, I think that, from a political point of view, if the message is government’s out of control, they passed this huge entitlement, it’s going to cost a lot of money and have you felt the effects of it yet, I think that has the shot to be a winning political message. But the more people start to feel health care reform, so the argument goes, it will become more popular. But that has not exactly been the case across the board yet with health care reform, and that’s why the President has to keep hammering away at it. HOLT: This Pledge for America, of course, many compare it to the contract from 1994. How does it differ? GREGORY: Well, I mean, it is, it’s very similar. It lacks some specifics that the ’94 contract had. But one thing that’s similar is that what’s more important than the Pledge to America, what’s more important than the Contract with America is the political climate in which they’re operating. The truth is it’s the unpopularity of President Obama and his policies right now that’s hurting democrats more than faith in the Republicans which, by the way, is an argument that the Presidents trying to exploit and say, look, the alternative is not the way to go here.

Read more here:
NBC Finds Most Americans Oppose Repeal of ObamaCare, But CBS Reports ‘Just 30%’ Favor ObamaCare

Comments Off on NBC Finds Most Americans Oppose Repeal of ObamaCare, But CBS Reports ‘Just 30%’ Favor ObamaCare

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wildest Larry O’Donnell Tirades: Limbaugh Not Smart Enough to Enjoy Dumb Sarah Palin’s Book

Posted on September 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Wildest Larry O’Donnell Tirades: Limbaugh Not Smart Enough to Enjoy Dumb Sarah Palin’s Book

Lawrence O’Donnell starts his new show The Last Word on Monday night, and over the past few years, O’Donnell put together quite the audition tape to land him a hosting gig for the ever more left-leaning network. On November 13th, 2009 , substitute hosting for Keith Olbermann on his MSNBC show Countdown, O’Donnell engaged in a favorite pastime of that show’s regular host, bashing Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin as he managed to paint both of them as idiots in one single rant. O’DONNELL: Breaking news; in our third story in the Countdown, Levi Johnston has seen Sarah Palin’s Oprah prompted invitation to Thanksgiving dinner, and says, quote, “You can tell by her laugh that she was full of it.” Meantime, Rush Limbaugh calls Palin’s book, quote, “truly one of the most substantive policy books I’ve read,” end quote. Rush, I believe you. I cannot imagine you, in full recline on your Gulfstream, Cuban cigar in hand, struggling to get through a more substantive policy book than Sarah’s index and footnote free, score settling campaign memoir. No mind numbing charts or graphs, no big words, no scholarly Latin phrases, like caveat emptor. And I bet the pictures are, like, amazing. O’Donnell is definitely not a fan of outspoken conservatives. In addition to Palin and Limbaugh, the new MSNBC host went after Dick Cheney on May 21, 2009, following a speech by the former Vice President that was aired live on MSNBC: “He came today to obviously to do nothing much other than defend torture, which he calls ‘tough questioning.’ This was as sleazy a presentation by a vice president as we’ve had since Spiro Agnew. This was an absolute abomination.” Cheney, like most of O’Donnell’s foils, is cast as a passionate liar: He cannot, ever, frame the other side’s position honestly. What you saw with Obama earlier was Obama describes the other side’s position fairly. He then goes on to advance his position. Cheney comes out and lies about the other side, it’s the only way he can talk. He says that Obama will not use the word ‘terrorist,’ when Obama does indeed use that word. He pretends that all we did was tough questioning. He says that 9/11 — he says that 9/11 made everyone take a second look at the threat. That is a lie. Dick Cheney and the President were in possession of memos that said this threat was present, this particular methodology was going to come, that they were going to use airliners. He and the President failed in their first nine months in office to pay any attention to the A.Q. Khan network, who he now wants to take credit for dismantling. What did Cheney do before 9/11? He denies, in this speech, that 9/11 changed him and then describes his very specific activities on 9/11, which were frightening for the Vice President. Then he goes on to say that he thinks about it every day. This guy just has to lie from beginning to end through his setup of his opposition’s position in order to advance any of his ideas at all, none of which have any proof to them at all. O’Donnell is not shy about revealing his liberal economic leanings either as he, on two separate occasions came forward to admit he’s downright socialistic when it comes to fiscal policy . Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on February 12th 2010, he told host Joe Scarborough that “We’re socialists, not Marxists,” and when he guested on Scarborough’s March 16th, 2010 radio show confessed: “We liberal Keynesians do not raise taxes in recessions; we raise taxes when you’re making money. That’s when we raise taxes. And we love to do it.” JOE SCARBOROUGH: Lawrence O’Donnell, you were part of the largest tax increase of all-time– O’DONNELL: –The biggest. SCARBOROUGH: –with Bill Clinton. 250 billion dollars. You say Barack Obama’s health care bill will double that– O’DONNELL: –Almost. SCARBOROUGH: –and will raise almost 500 billion dollars.            O’DONNELL: And do so–and here’s the really important economic principle that’s shocking for anyone who’s take the introductory course: they’re going to do it in a recession. You know… [Laughter] O’DONNELL: We, we, we liberal, we liberal Keynesians do not raise taxes in recessions; we raise taxes when you’re making money. That’s when we raise taxes. And we love to do it.

Link:
Wildest Larry O’Donnell Tirades: Limbaugh Not Smart Enough to Enjoy Dumb Sarah Palin’s Book

Comments Off on Wildest Larry O’Donnell Tirades: Limbaugh Not Smart Enough to Enjoy Dumb Sarah Palin’s Book

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

AP Report on Small Biz Lending Bill Omits Required Govt. ‘Investments’ in Participating Institutions

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on AP Report on Small Biz Lending Bill Omits Required Govt. ‘Investments’ in Participating Institutions

In the earlier paragraphs of a Friday report on the recently passed small business lending bill at the Associated Press, reporter Pallavi Gogoi gave readers the impression that Congress’s allegedly noble intentions might be thwarted because banks and businesses who should apparently be grateful for the “help” don’t want it. Gogoi gives no direct indication that the bill involves government “investment” in (i.e., partial state ownership of) participating financial institutions. The AP reporter didn’t have to look very far to see what’s really involved. The defined purpose of the bill, which weighs in at over 40,000 words (full text here ), is right there at its beginning (bold is mine): An Act — To create the Small Business Lending Fund Program to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make capital investments in eligible institutions in order to increase the availability of credit for small businesses, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives for small business job creation, and for other purposes. This is not very different from what ended up happening with the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) enacted two years ago. In fact, two lawyers writing on the law’s potential impact describe it as a “mini-TARP.” You’d never know that from Gogoi’s report (one cryptic reference to the underlying state control involved is in bold): President Barack Obama’s $30 billion small community business lending program faces one big challenge: many of the community banks and businesses it’s supposed to help don’t want it. The lending program is part of a bill that passed the House of Representatives on Thursday and now awaits the president’s signature. The legislation contains a mix of tax cuts and credits aimed at helping small businesses. The centerpiece of the bill is an effort to make billions of dollars available to community banks for loans to small businesses. It seems like a simple effort to unclog a credit pipeline that has been blocked since the financial meltdown two years ago. But interviews with seven community bankers, as well as small business owners, show a reluctance to participate. Bank executives say their customers don’t want loans, even at low interest rates, because the sluggish economy has chilled expansion plans. Some say the federal money isn’t worth it because they fear it will come with too much regulatory oversight. “We have taken a strategic decision not to have our primary regulator, the government, also be a partner in our bank,” said William Chase Jr., CEO of Triumph Bank in Memphis. Chase said the bank already has enough capital to meet the paltry demand for loans. “Our business customers are mired in uncertainty and are reluctant to invest in their businesses,” Chase said. Ninety-one percent of small business owners surveyed in August by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said all their credit needs were met. Only 4 percent cited a lack of financing as their top business problem. Plans for capital spending were at a 35-year low. As to “regulatory oversight,” let’s look at just one requirement present in the bill: (Part of Section 3005 — “APPROVING STATE CAPITAL ACCESS PROGRAMS”) At the time that a State applies to the Secretary to have the State capital access program approved as eligible for Federal contributions, the State shall deliver to the Secretary a report stating how the State plans to use the Federal contributions to the reserve fund to provide access to capital for small businesses in low- and moderate-income, minority, and other underserved communities, including women- and minority-owned small businesses. The states will have their hands in this enterprise, and will be under pressure to ensure that loan decisions are based on race, gender, or other “underserved” status, not on their economic merits. Imagine that. Then there’s this item, which, briefly translated, is a mandate that participating institutions work with their local “community organizers”: OUTREACH TO MINORITIES, WOMEN, AND VETERANS- The Secretary shall require eligible institutions receiving capital investments under the Program to provide linguistically and culturally appropriate outreach and advertising in the applicant pool describing the availability and application process of receiving loans from the eligible institution that are made possible by the Program through the use of print, radio, television or electronic media outlets which target organizations, trade associations, and individuals that– (A) represent or work within or are members of minority communities; (B) represent or work with or are women; and (C) represent or work with or are veterans. I don’t recall the fact that the government will be taking partial ownership stakes in participating financial institutions as a precondition of their participation getting any kind of establishment media coverage. Gigoi’s failure to note it is just one small example of a much larger epic media fail. P.S. Here’s a more detailed description of what is involved in “capital investment”: (b) Use of Fund- (1) IN GENERAL- Subject to paragraph (2), the Fund shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, for the costs of purchases (including commitments to purchase), and modifications of such purchases, of preferred stock and other financial instruments from eligible institutions on such terms and conditions as are determined by the Secretary in accordance with this subtitle. Original graphic was found here . Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

See the original post here:
AP Report on Small Biz Lending Bill Omits Required Govt. ‘Investments’ in Participating Institutions

Comments Off on AP Report on Small Biz Lending Bill Omits Required Govt. ‘Investments’ in Participating Institutions

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Jonathan Klein’s ‘Pajamas Moment’ Accelerated Alternative Media’s Growth

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on Jonathan Klein’s ‘Pajamas Moment’ Accelerated Alternative Media’s Growth

News consumers of America owe a debt of gratitude to Jonathan Klein. Really. Yesterday, NB’s Noel Sheppard  noted the ignominious end of Klein’s nearly six-year term as head of CNN/US. If there is an example of anyone who has overseen a bigger audience decline and loss of competitive position and survived so long, I don’t know who he or she is. Fox News, which first passed CNN in total viewers in January 2002 (interesting how this basic factoid is not at Fox’s Wiki entry ), now routinely trounces CNN and CNN Headline combined by a factor of 1.5 to 1 or more. On Thursday , Fox’s primetime audience of 574,000 was 75% greater than the CNN pair’s combined total of 329,000. But before he arrived at CNN to do his damage, Klein inadvertently did the nation a service. Klein’s accidental good deed took place during the Rathergate controversy in 2004. The “story” was that President George W. Bush had somehow received favorable treatment as a member of the Texas Air National Guard in the 1970s. A commenter at FreeRepublic questioned the legitimacy of story-related documents he was seeing on a CBS “60 Minutes” segment, and it snowballed from there. Ultimately, Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs reproduced exact replicas of the documents involved in Microsoft Word using technology that could not conceivably have been accessible to the controversy’s players on typewriters existing at the time, proving beyond any reasonable doubt that the crew at “60 Minutes,” including producer Mary Mapes and host Dan Rather, had either been duped or were knowingly promoting falsehoods. In the meantime, a swarm of center-right blogs found a wide range of other evidence poking other holes in the story and questioning the motivations of many who were pushing it. The episode quickly ended the CBS career of Mapes, and eventually led to Rather’s departure from the network. In the midst of all of this, Klein, who worked for CBS from 1982 to 1999 , appeared on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor as a “Former CBS News Executive.” He defended his former employer’s work thusly: It’s an important moment, because you couldn’t have a starker contrast between the multiple layers of checks and balances, and a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas writing what he thinks. Klein was right of course, but not in the way he thought. The guys in pajamas were right, and CBS, despite its “multiple layers of checks and balances,” was wrong. Klein’s appearance brought further visibility to an already-growing blogosphere, helping to spur further interest in alternative media, thus accelerating its growth. To name just one example: In August 2005, the Media Research Center started NewsBusters.org with the help of Matt Sheffield, who had been running RatherBiased.com. Without doubt, something like NewsBusters would have eventually appeared, but it’s pretty clear that the Rathergate episode, Klein’s arrogant and embarrassing statement, and other blogospheric debunkings of establishment media stories during the 2004 presidential campaign hastened NB’s arrival. There’s also little doubt that what happened in the fall of 2004 inspired thousands of others to try their hands at blogging. Many of them, to Jonathan Klein’s sure chagrin, have since become key alternative media contributors. That’s why today, as I blog (in street clothes), I say to Mr. Klein: “Thanks, big guy. We couldn’t have done it as quickly without you.” P.S. It’s also interesting that Mr. Klein’s “Pajamas Moment” is “somehow” not present at his Wiki entry . Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

The rest is here:
Jonathan Klein’s ‘Pajamas Moment’ Accelerated Alternative Media’s Growth

Comments Off on Jonathan Klein’s ‘Pajamas Moment’ Accelerated Alternative Media’s Growth

Posted in Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

National book festival 2010

Posted on September 25, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Comments Off on National book festival 2010

The National Book Festival events begin this evening with an author panel discussion “Hardcover Mysteries” which will include authors David Baldacci, Sandra Brown and Kathy Reichs in conversation about the real-life events which have inspired their own crime-writing. The National Book Festival activities will begin this evening in D.C. with President and Mrs. Obama serving as honorary chairs of the week-long festival. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event and bears the theme “A Deca

More here:
National book festival 2010

Comments Off on National book festival 2010

Posted in Celebrities, Hollywood, Hot Stuff, News

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,