CBS's Pelley Chafes: 'Only Budget Cuts and No Relief for Those Suffering in This Economy'

Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Wednesday August 03, 2011 @ 10:04 AM ET

1. CBS's Pelley Chafes: 'Only Budget Cuts and No Relief for Those Suffering in This Economy'
Framing a shortcoming in the debt deal as a liberal would and does, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley on Tuesday night regretted the how "the last time the President and the Congress compromised on a major spending bill, Republicans got tax cuts and Mr. Obama won an extension of unemployment benefits," but this time "there are only budget cuts and no relief for those suffering in this economy." The missing action by Congress: Extending unemployment benefits beyond the 99 weeks authorized last December. The victim CBS showcased, however, is guaranteed payments through this December - another five months/20-plus weeks - so is hardly in any immediate danger and thus made an odd choice for CBS to highlight.

2. Top Newspapers Warn Debt Deal's Spending Cuts Will 'Weaken' and 'Undermine' Economy
Remarkable uniformity amongst some major national newspapers on Tuesday as they simultaneously worried about how the supposed spending “cuts” in the debt-ceiling deal will harm the economy. As USA Today put it the top of the “cover story” for the “Money” section: “Spending cuts could further weaken economy.” Echoing that theme, from the Washington Post’s front page: “Deal risks undermining fragile growth” On page 2 of the August 2 Wall Street Journal: “Deal Seen as Mild Drag on Economy”

3. George Stephanopoulos Worries Tiny 2012 Budget Cuts Will 'Hurt' the Recovery and 'Cost Jobs'
Apparently, cutting a $3.7 trillion budget by $21 billion hurts the economy. Talking to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner on Tuesday, Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos worried about the just-agreed to debt deal: "But, don't you think that any deficit reduction now will hurt the attempts of the economy to recover?" The former Clinton White House official turned journalist highlighted "economists who say cuts like this will make our weak economy weaker and cost Americans jobs." In total, Stephanopoulos raised the question three times, wondering, "So, this won't cost us jobs?"

4. Chris Matthews: 'Thug' Republicans Are 'Muggers' Who 'Assault' Obama
Chris Matthews doesn't seem to be running out of violent imagery to use in his smears against the Republican Party. On Tuesday, the Hardball host bombarded the GOP, comparing them to "muggers" who assaulted Barack Obama during the debt limit standoff. Explaining his current metaphor, Matthews slammed, "What we saw, what I saw at least, was one guy with a knife and the other trying to avoid being cut. It was a thug attacking a victim. It was a mugging." He acidly added, "Now, the good news...is that the victim did get through it."

5. Matthews Links Giffords' Shooting with 'Violent Level of the Right-Wing'
During a live 7pm ET edition of MSNBC's Hardball to cover the House vote on the debt ceiling increase, host Chris Matthews interrupted his panel's supportive reaction to the appearance of injured Representative Gabrielle Giffords by linking her shooting by an insane man last January with the Tea Party. "She was shot by a violent act, of course, a person using a gun, breaking up a political meeting with a gun, bringing one to a political event which we saw a lot of during the Tea Party demonstrations, people carrying firearms to political events," Matthews growled. "The violent level of the right-wing in this country, not particularly this case, but generally, where people feel the need to show firearms at political events, I think that’s a bad development in our history, to bring guns to political events."

6. CBS and ABC Ignore Biden 'Terrorist' Dust Up; NBC Only Promotes His Denials
On Monday, Politico reported that "several sources" in a private meeting of House Democrats confirmed that Vice President Joe Biden accused Tea Party Republicans of having "acted like terrorists." CBS and ABC completely punted the story on their evening and morning newscasts. NBC made mention of the controversy, but only to further Biden's denial of having made the comment. CBS's omission was particularly stunning given that Evening News anchor Scott Pelley interviewed the Vice President on Monday. Politico noted that Pelley actually did ask about the 'terrorist' remark: "'I did not use the terrorism word,' Biden told CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley."

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