This blog is mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, politics, anything else that grabs my attention. Take a look around this blog, hope you enjoy it.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday October 21 -- Got news or an update?
If you have news or an update, leave it in comments. . . .
31 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Save The Newspapers? Why? (westernfrontamerica.com)
Having worked in, on, and around newspapers for over two decades, I can say with some authority that the vast majority of reporters, editors, and publishers are about as sharp as a pound of wet leather.
The general consensus amongst their fraternity is, quite simply, that readers are too addle-brained to know what is good for them.
The conventional wisdom within the hallowed swamps of journalism is that your garden variety reader doesn’t know what is important, that they are a wrong-thinking lot who put on their shoes and socks in that order.
Journalists, as a rule, feel that the unwashed masses should be force-fed “the truth,” that they require some sort of Kubrickian, Clockwork Orange procedure in order to get their minds right.
Of course, readers immediately recognize such hubris as a load of malarkey. Their response is to simply quit reading the newspaper.
snip
Other industries, confronting the same challenges, would strive to discover and solve the problem.
They would make an attempt to discern what their customers wanted, re-tool, re-group, and seek to do a better job.
But, that’s just not how life works within the uber-arrogant mindset of journalism.
You see, to them, plummeting profits are the fault of those pesky, idiot readers. Those members of the trailer-trash club simply won’t listen.
They simply don’t care about the single-sided coverage they are provided. Those politically incorrect freaks and geek actually want objectivity, or at the very least, neutrality.
Such being the case, newspaper owners have but one recourse. They seek a government bailout.
“The biggest bunch of crybabies” vs. FOX News (Flopping Aces)
If FOX News had aired a White House infomercial on healthcare, would the White House have declared war on FOX News?
If Chris Wallace had decided FOX too would run a factcheck on a comedy skit, would FOX be in the White House cross-hairs?
If FOX had joined the rest of the MSM club in ignoring the Van Jones story and not aired the undercover videos of ACORN, Perhaps if Sean Hannity got a thrill up his leg over Obamamania, then The One would not have snubbed FOX from inclusion in his 5 interview-weekend blitzkrieg.
But no...instead, FOX does a good deal of what the other star-struck networks have failed to do:
Provide a critical look at the Obama Presidency and act in the role of a watchdog press.
62% say that criticism of political leaders is worthwhile because it keeps those leaders from doing things that should not be done, while 22% say such criticism keeps leaders from doing their jobs.
What if the MSM gave proper coverage vetting of candidate Obama in '08?
Zenith: More Losses for Newspapers, Mags in 2010-2011 (Media Daily News)
In case the latest ZenithOptimedia ad-spending forecast wasn't depressing enough, the outlook for newspapers and magazines is especially bad -- even relative to the grim state of advertising in general.
Among the gloomy predictions: while overall ad spending is expected to rebound somewhat in 2011, newspapers and magazines will continue to decline due to secular factors, including Internet competition.
ZenithOptimedia expects total ad spending in developed markets to drop 9.9% in 2009, followed by a further 2.9% decline in 2010, thanks to continuing structural economic problems.
Journalism Should Own Its Liberalism (Columbia Journalism Review)
The floodtide of e-mails and letters to New York Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt after his September 27 column on the paper’s failure to promptly investigate the conservative-initiated stories about Van Jones and ACORN testifies to the failure of the mainstream press to deal with the issue of liberal bias.
“Many readers were not buying [the] contention that liberal bias had nothing to do with the slow response to ACORN and, before that, to the resignation of Van Jones, a White House aide,” Hoyt wrote this past Sunday.
Hoyt quoted correspondence from angry Times readers: “‘So, beside Jill Abramson, Bill Keller and Barack Obama, were you able to find anyone, not resident in a cemetery, who was so tuned out?’ asked Charles Harkins of Spartanburg, S.C. Jerry Komar of Collingswood, N.J., charged that Times editors ‘hoped the story would blow over.
Bad News: Magazine Ad Pages Down 19% in November (Mediapost)
The hope for a last-quarter recovery for monthly magazines is growing fainter with the release of November ad page figures from Media Industry Newsletter showing an overall 19.2% drop compared to November 2008.
This decline is consistent with previous months -- for the year-to-date, monthlies' ad pages are down 21.6%, according to MIN.
But even more worrisome is the suggestion that monthly magazines will be slow to feel the effects of an economic recovery, whenever that should occur.
Out of 171 titles that provided MIN with numbers for their November issues, 144 or 84% saw ad pages decline in November 2009 compared to the same month in 2008
WaPo/ABC poll uses skewed sample to show public-option support (Hotair )
My first clue that the new WaPo/ABC poll had big problems in its sampling came from question 38 of the raw data released by ABC last night, the generic Congressional ballot.
Most polls have that within the margin of error; both Rasmussen and Pew have it at a dead heat. The WaPo/ABC survey has Democrats winning that matchup by twelve points, 51%/39%.
That tends to discredit much of what the Post reports this morning:
CNN, Rasmussen, Harris polls: Public disagrees with Obama on pretty much everything (hotair.com)
CNN: 51% disagree with the messiah, 48% do:
RASMUSSEN: The messiah loses on 10 out of 10 issues. GOP increased its lead in 9 out of 10 categories since last month.
But particularly note the Health Care, Social Security, Economy, and Taxes numbers. Does the Democratic Party feel like demonizing their opponents on health care rationing some more?
HARRIS INTERACTIVE POLL: Majorities of Americans give the messiah Negative Ratings on his Handling of 12 Major issues.
Among the lowest are unemployment, the federal deficit and the war in Afghanistan.
ACORN’s Party Likely Stole NY Election– Fraud Investigation Turns Up Bogus Ballots (GatewayPundit)
Members of the Working Families Party are accused of stealing a New York election with bogus absentee ballots.
FOX News reported that thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out, according to records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y. Enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the November election to the Democrats.
Founding Bloggers is all over the news today:
Brian Suozzo voted with an absentee ballot in the Working Families Party primary on Sept. 15 because, as his application stated, he was “at home recovering from medical procedure.”
Jessica Boomhower’s application said she would be attending a “work conference in Boston.”
Michael Ward couldn’t vote in person because he was “taking care of elderly parent.”
Kimberlee Truell was on a “Bus trip to casino,” as was Miguel Vazques.
The only problem with these absentee ballot records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y., is that they’re phony, voters and investigators say — and they’ve prompted what’s being called an unprecedented investigation of suspected voter fraud.
White House: Media shouldn't follow Fox (politico.com)
A White House attempt to delegitimize Fox News – which in past times would have drawn howls of censorship from the press corps – has instead been greeted by a collective shrug.
Columbia Suspends Environmental Journalism Program (Sweetness-Light)
For the first time since it was created fourteen years ago, Columbia University’s highly regarded dual-degree graduate program in environmental journalism will not be accepting applications for next academic year.
In a letter to faculty at the Graduate School of Journalism, the Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the program directors cited falling employment in the field, the rising costs of education, and a lack of financial aid for students as the reasons for their decision:
How is this possible? Aren’t environmental journalist jobs the greenest of green shoot jobs?
Of course it is news like this that goes a long way to understanding Columbia’s demand for a journalism bailout
POLITICO's Mike Allen and Josh Gerstein wrote today on the White House strategy of trying to delegitimize Fox News.
Now MoveOn.org is getting involved. The liberal activist organization has started a petition aimed at Democratic members of Congress, urging them not to appear on the network as long as Obama stays away.
Why am I not surprised MoveOn is co-authoring the 21st Century equivalent of book burning.
Democrats skip out on Countrywide vote (Washinton Examiner)
Faced with a promised vote to subpoena documents on Countrywide Financial's "Friends of Angelo" program, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee fled a scheduled 2 p.m. markup today.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the Ranking Republican on the Oversight Committee, had promised to call for a vote at today's markup on whether to subpoena documents involved in the program that gave sweetheart mortgages to at least four Democratic government officials, including two senators.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the program might have also benefitted the chairman of House Oversight, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y.
Even if it had been ruled out of Order, Issa's motion would have received a vote.
The committee's Democrats simply failed to appear. Republican staffers say they caught them on tape leaving by a back door at 2:35
Pelosi “very excited” that House ObamaCare bills will cost slightly less than $900 billion (Hot Air)
Aim high, Nancy. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday new estimates showed a healthcare overhaul drafted by Democrats would reduce the U.S. budget deficit over 10 years and cost less than $900 billion.
The preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office moved Democratic leaders closer to finishing a merger of three separate healthcare reform bills into one for debate on the House floor...
“We’re very excited by the CBO scores,” she said, predicting House Democratic leaders would finish their work on the merger soon...
“We’re in an excellent place with the cost, given the information that we have,” she said.
CAPITAL CULTURE: Obamas big on White House gigs (while Rome burns) AP
Michelle and Barack Obama sat one table over from J. Lo and Marc Anthony, and all four of them were rocking in their seats as Sheila E. shook the house — well, really the tent.
The latest installment of the White House music series was too big for the East Room, so a high-wattage assortment of Latin musicians sent pulsating, can't-help-but-bob-along rhythms tumbling out of a giant tent on the mansion's South Lawn.
As it happens, music of all sorts —rock, jazz, country, classical — has been busting out of the White House all year long.
The State of Joblessness: The tragedy of Jennifer Granholm's Michigan (Democrat controlled for 50 years) WSJ
State lawmakers will soon face large budget deficits again, perhaps as much as $100 billion across the U.S. Here's some free budget-balancing advice: Steer clear of the Michigan model.
The Wolverine state is once again set to run out of money, and it is once again poised to raise taxes even as jobs and businesses disappear.
In 2007 Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the biggest tax increase in Michigan history, with most of the $1.4 billion coming from business.
The personal income tax—which hits nonincorporated small businesses—was raised to 4.2% from 3.95%, and the Michigan business tax levied a surcharge of 22%.
Victory against Big Labor: Home health providers reject SEIU, AFSCME power grab (Michelle Malkin)
Over the past two weeks, I’ve reported on the grass-roots revolt by home health providers against the SEIU and rival AFSCME in Illinois.
SEIU-endorsed Gov. Pat Quinn signed an executive order in June approving collective bargaining by “individual providers of home-based support services” — effectively busting open the doors of private homes for the Purple Shirts of the SEIU and other union competitors hungry for new dues-paying members.
SEIU and its minions leaned hard on providers to join — even sending out-of-state workers to intrude on families with the promise of juicy benefits and health care coverage.
Democrat officials tried to intimidate parents like Pam Harris into silence over their efforts to inform providers that they could vote for no representation.
The thuggery backfired. Bigtime. The votes were counted today and despite Big Labor’s massive coffers, manpower, and out-of-state propaganda campaign, the unionization effort was an epic fail.
Daley: Non-Union City Managers To Take Nearly Five Weeks Off (CBS 2)
Faced with a $550 million budget deficit, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley today said that all NON-UNION city workers will take nearly five working weeks of unpaid leave next year to save the city money.
Daley announced plans Monday to save $114 million by requiring several thousand city mangers to take 24 unpaid days off, eliminating vacant jobs, and cutting expenses like travel and supplies by $20 million.
Democrats lock Republicans out of committee room (The Hill)
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present.
Towns’ action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns’s failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage’s reported sweetheart deals to VIPs.
For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled.
Only Republicans showed up while Democrats chairs remained empty.
Justice Department Says Blacks in N.C. Town Can’t Get Elected Without Democratic Party Label
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Department of Justice is refusing to allow the town of Kinston, N.C., to hold nonpartisan local elections on the grounds that African Americans cannot win election without being listed as Democrats on the ballot.
In a letter sent Saturday by to Kinston City Attorney James P. Cauley III, the Justice Department stated: “Removing the partisan cue in municipal elections will, in all likelihood, eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to be elected to office.”
The department Tuesday also refused to answer questions from CNSNews.com about the letter.
Krauthammer Lashes Out at Obama’s “Gutter-Style Chicago Politics” (GatewayPundit)
First it was insurance companies, then doctors, then FOX News and now the Obama Administration is attacking the US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions.
The purpose of the Chamber of Commerce is to fight for free enterprise. That is why they opposed cap-&-tax and the democrats’s nationalized health care plans.
No wonder the Obama Administration hates them.
Tonight Charles Krauthammer responded to Obama’s “gutter-style Chicago politics”:
Grassley Warns HHS Web Site May Be ‘Propaganda’ (Roll Call)
Senate Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is raising concerns that a Department of Health and Human Services Web site that urges visitors to send an e-mail to President Barack Obama praising his health care reform plan may violate rules against government-funded propaganda.
The Web page is accessed through a “state your support” button featured prominently on the HHS Web site and carries a disclaimer that the Web site is maintained by HHS.
In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday, Grassley warned that “any possible misuse of appropriated funds by the executive branch to engage in publicity or propaganda in support of an Administration priority is a matter that must be investigated and taken seriously,” noting that in 2005 Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argued that “the use of official funds for similar activities were 'underhanded tactics' and that these tactics 'are not worthy of our great democracy.'”
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Obama at -13, 47%
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13.
That’s just a point above the lowest level ever recorded for this President.
It’s also the sixth straight day in negative double digits, matching the longest such streak
I’ve been hearing rumors of layoffs at the L.A. Times for the past week or so. Yesterday I officially learned that they have happened.
I learned this through Facebook. Tina Daunt — a columnist and former reporter whom I defended back in 2007 in a minor flap over a story about Fred Thompson — is one of the latest to be laid off, as she reports on her blog (which I saw on Facebook):
I had a really bad day today, and tomorrow is going to be even worse. You see, I’ve been a newspaper reporter for a major metropolitan paper for a lot of years now.
I used to believe that newspapers could weather any storm. Now I’m not so sure. There’s yet another round of layoffs, and I think my number is up this time.
After seeing this yesterday, I headed over to L.A. Observed, which was reporting on Daunt’s message, which she has since confirmed — as well as the impending departure of another writer, Diane Haithman.
I’m hearing rumors of 30-34 people all in all, but this is the only official news I’ve seen.
Delicious News about the LA Times. I am plagiarizing but I do love this quote.
“I wonder what these soon to be unemployed folks with those valuable journalism and English degrees are going to do to radicalize the fast food industry.”
I wonder what the Bee’s Mz. Sill would say about the LA Times?
Sac Bee's news boss Melanie Sill admits blatant bias in editorial today:
"There's no dispute that The Bee has a liberal editorial page on most issues, though not all matters, and has mostly endorsed Democrats. We won't change our editorial philosophy to placate critics."
Colorado newspaper hiring marijuana critic (The Star online)
...The medical marijuana review business is booming as states like Colorado and California have seen an explosion in the number of pot shops.
...A Denver alternative newspaper recently posted an ad for what some consider the sweetest job in journalism - a reviewer of the state's marijuana dispensaries and their products.
...The Denver paper, Westword, has already has gotten more than 120 applicants, many of them offering to do the reviews for free.
When the newspaper settles on a permanent critic for its new "Mile Highs and Lows" column, industry watchers say, it will be the first professional newspaper critic of medical marijuana in the United States.
There's one condition: The critic has to have a medical ailment that allows them to legally enter a dispensary, and buy and use marijuana.
31 comments:
Save The Newspapers? Why? (westernfrontamerica.com)
Having worked in, on, and around newspapers for over two decades, I can say with some authority that the vast majority of reporters, editors, and publishers are about as sharp as a pound of wet leather.
The general consensus amongst their fraternity is, quite simply, that readers are too addle-brained to know what is good for them.
The conventional wisdom within the hallowed swamps of journalism is that your garden variety reader doesn’t know what is important, that they are a wrong-thinking lot who put on their shoes and socks in that order.
Journalists, as a rule, feel that the unwashed masses should be force-fed “the truth,” that they require some sort of Kubrickian, Clockwork Orange procedure in order to get their minds right.
Of course, readers immediately recognize such hubris as a load of malarkey. Their response is to simply quit reading the newspaper.
snip
Other industries, confronting the same challenges, would strive to discover and solve the problem.
They would make an attempt to discern what their customers wanted, re-tool, re-group, and seek to do a better job.
But, that’s just not how life works within the uber-arrogant mindset of journalism.
You see, to them, plummeting profits are the fault of those pesky, idiot readers. Those members of the trailer-trash club simply won’t listen.
They simply don’t care about the single-sided coverage they are provided. Those politically incorrect freaks and geek actually want objectivity, or at the very least, neutrality.
Such being the case, newspaper owners have but one recourse. They seek a government bailout.
“The biggest bunch of crybabies” vs. FOX News (Flopping Aces)
If FOX News had aired a White House infomercial on healthcare, would the White House have declared war on FOX News?
If Chris Wallace had decided FOX too would run a factcheck on a comedy skit, would FOX be in the White House cross-hairs?
If FOX had joined the rest of the MSM club in ignoring the Van Jones story and not aired the undercover videos of ACORN, Perhaps if Sean Hannity got a thrill up his leg over Obamamania, then The One would not have snubbed FOX from inclusion in his 5 interview-weekend blitzkrieg.
But no...instead, FOX does a good deal of what the other star-struck networks have failed to do:
Provide a critical look at the Obama Presidency and act in the role of a watchdog press.
62% say that criticism of political leaders is worthwhile because it keeps those leaders from doing things that should not be done, while 22% say such criticism keeps leaders from doing their jobs.
What if the MSM gave proper coverage vetting of candidate Obama in '08?
State-Run Media Now Openly Using Vile “Teabagger” Term to Describe Conservatives (GatewayPundit)
“This Week’s” George Stephanopoulos and his guest openly discussed the “Teabagging Movement” this past Sunday.
They didn’t even bat an eye when as they used the offensive sexual term to describe fiscal conservatives.
Glenn Beck’s White House Hotline Guy Now Sporting Mao Outfit
Considering all of the Mao Tse-Tung fanatics in the White House this makes sense.
Glenn Beck’s guy manning the White House hotline is now wearing a Mao commie outfit on the show.
No wonder the Alinskyites in the White House can’t stand Beck and FOX News...
They keep outing all the commie-lovers in the administration and then openly mock them on their shows.
Zenith: More Losses for Newspapers, Mags in 2010-2011 (Media Daily News)
In case the latest ZenithOptimedia ad-spending forecast wasn't depressing enough, the outlook for newspapers and magazines is especially bad -- even relative to the grim state of advertising in general.
Among the gloomy predictions: while overall ad spending is expected to rebound somewhat in 2011, newspapers and magazines will continue to decline due to secular factors, including Internet competition.
ZenithOptimedia expects total ad spending in developed markets to drop 9.9% in 2009, followed by a further 2.9% decline in 2010, thanks to continuing structural economic problems.
Journalism Should Own Its Liberalism (Columbia Journalism Review)
The floodtide of e-mails and letters to New York Times ombudsman Clark Hoyt after his September 27 column on the paper’s failure to promptly investigate the conservative-initiated stories about Van Jones and ACORN testifies to the failure of the mainstream press to deal with the issue of liberal bias.
“Many readers were not buying [the] contention that liberal bias had nothing to do with the slow response to ACORN and, before that, to the resignation of Van Jones, a White House aide,” Hoyt wrote this past Sunday.
Hoyt quoted correspondence from angry Times readers: “‘So, beside Jill Abramson, Bill Keller and Barack Obama, were you able to find anyone, not resident in a cemetery, who was so tuned out?’ asked Charles Harkins of Spartanburg, S.C. Jerry Komar of Collingswood, N.J., charged that Times editors ‘hoped the story would blow over.
They were caught in their own web of bias.’”
Bad News: Magazine Ad Pages Down 19% in November (Mediapost)
The hope for a last-quarter recovery for monthly magazines is growing fainter with the release of November ad page figures from Media Industry Newsletter showing an overall 19.2% drop compared to November 2008.
This decline is consistent with previous months -- for the year-to-date, monthlies' ad pages are down 21.6%, according to MIN.
But even more worrisome is the suggestion that monthly magazines will be slow to feel the effects of an economic recovery, whenever that should occur.
Out of 171 titles that provided MIN with numbers for their November issues, 144 or 84% saw ad pages decline in November 2009 compared to the same month in 2008
WaPo/ABC poll uses skewed sample to show public-option support (Hotair )
My first clue that the new WaPo/ABC poll had big problems in its sampling came from question 38 of the raw data released by ABC last night, the generic Congressional ballot.
Most polls have that within the margin of error; both Rasmussen and Pew have it at a dead heat. The WaPo/ABC survey has Democrats winning that matchup by twelve points, 51%/39%.
That tends to discredit much of what the Post reports this morning:
CNN, Rasmussen, Harris polls: Public disagrees with Obama on pretty much everything (hotair.com)
CNN: 51% disagree with the messiah, 48% do:
RASMUSSEN: The messiah loses on 10 out of 10 issues. GOP increased its lead in 9 out of 10 categories since last month.
But particularly note the Health Care, Social Security, Economy, and Taxes numbers. Does the Democratic Party feel like demonizing their opponents on health care rationing some more?
HARRIS INTERACTIVE POLL: Majorities of Americans give the messiah Negative Ratings on his Handling of 12 Major issues.
Among the lowest are unemployment, the federal deficit and the war in Afghanistan.
ACORN’s Party Likely Stole NY Election– Fraud Investigation Turns Up Bogus Ballots (GatewayPundit)
Members of the Working Families Party are accused of stealing a New York election with bogus absentee ballots.
FOX News reported that thirty-eight forged or fraudulent ballots have been thrown out, according to records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y. Enough votes, an election official admits, to likely have tipped the November election to the Democrats.
Founding Bloggers is all over the news today:
Brian Suozzo voted with an absentee ballot in the Working Families Party primary on Sept. 15 because, as his application stated, he was “at home recovering from medical procedure.”
Jessica Boomhower’s application said she would be attending a “work conference in Boston.”
Michael Ward couldn’t vote in person because he was “taking care of elderly parent.”
Kimberlee Truell was on a “Bus trip to casino,” as was Miguel Vazques.
The only problem with these absentee ballot records at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections in Troy, N.Y., is that they’re phony, voters and investigators say — and they’ve prompted what’s being called an unprecedented investigation of suspected voter fraud.
White House: Media shouldn't follow Fox (politico.com)
A White House attempt to delegitimize Fox News – which in past times would have drawn howls of censorship from the press corps – has instead been greeted by a collective shrug.
Columbia Suspends Environmental Journalism Program (Sweetness-Light)
For the first time since it was created fourteen years ago, Columbia University’s highly regarded dual-degree graduate program in environmental journalism will not be accepting applications for next academic year.
In a letter to faculty at the Graduate School of Journalism, the Department of Environmental Sciences, and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, the program directors cited falling employment in the field, the rising costs of education, and a lack of financial aid for students as the reasons for their decision:
How is this possible? Aren’t environmental journalist jobs the greenest of green shoot jobs?
Of course it is news like this that goes a long way to understanding Columbia’s demand for a journalism bailout
MoveOn to Dems: 'Stay off Fox'
POLITICO's Mike Allen and Josh Gerstein wrote today on the White House strategy of trying to delegitimize Fox News.
Now MoveOn.org is getting involved. The liberal activist organization has started a petition aimed at Democratic members of Congress, urging them not to appear on the network as long as Obama stays away.
Why am I not surprised MoveOn is co-authoring the 21st Century equivalent of book burning.
Democrats skip out on Countrywide vote (Washinton Examiner)
Faced with a promised vote to subpoena documents on Countrywide Financial's "Friends of Angelo" program, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee fled a scheduled 2 p.m. markup today.
Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the Ranking Republican on the Oversight Committee, had promised to call for a vote at today's markup on whether to subpoena documents involved in the program that gave sweetheart mortgages to at least four Democratic government officials, including two senators.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the program might have also benefitted the chairman of House Oversight, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y.
Even if it had been ruled out of Order, Issa's motion would have received a vote.
The committee's Democrats simply failed to appear. Republican staffers say they caught them on tape leaving by a back door at 2:35
Pelosi “very excited” that House ObamaCare bills will cost slightly less than $900 billion (Hot Air)
Aim high, Nancy. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday new estimates showed a healthcare overhaul drafted by Democrats would reduce the U.S. budget deficit over 10 years and cost less than $900 billion.
The preliminary estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office moved Democratic leaders closer to finishing a merger of three separate healthcare reform bills into one for debate on the House floor...
“We’re very excited by the CBO scores,” she said, predicting House Democratic leaders would finish their work on the merger soon...
“We’re in an excellent place with the cost, given the information that we have,” she said.
CAPITAL CULTURE: Obamas big on White House gigs (while Rome burns)
AP
Michelle and Barack Obama sat one table over from J. Lo and Marc Anthony, and all four of them were rocking in their seats as Sheila E. shook the house — well, really the tent.
The latest installment of the White House music series was too big for the East Room, so a high-wattage assortment of Latin musicians sent pulsating, can't-help-but-bob-along rhythms tumbling out of a giant tent on the mansion's South Lawn.
As it happens, music of all sorts —rock, jazz, country, classical — has been busting out of the White House all year long.
The State of Joblessness: The tragedy of Jennifer Granholm's Michigan (Democrat controlled for 50 years) WSJ
State lawmakers will soon face large budget deficits again, perhaps as much as $100 billion across the U.S. Here's some free budget-balancing advice: Steer clear of the Michigan model.
The Wolverine state is once again set to run out of money, and it is once again poised to raise taxes even as jobs and businesses disappear.
In 2007 Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the biggest tax increase in Michigan history, with most of the $1.4 billion coming from business.
The personal income tax—which hits nonincorporated small businesses—was raised to 4.2% from 3.95%, and the Michigan business tax levied a surcharge of 22%.
Victory against Big Labor: Home health providers reject SEIU, AFSCME power grab (Michelle Malkin)
Over the past two weeks, I’ve reported on the grass-roots revolt by home health providers against the SEIU and rival AFSCME in Illinois.
SEIU-endorsed Gov. Pat Quinn signed an executive order in June approving collective bargaining by “individual providers of home-based support services” — effectively busting open the doors of private homes for the Purple Shirts of the SEIU and other union competitors hungry for new dues-paying members.
SEIU and its minions leaned hard on providers to join — even sending out-of-state workers to intrude on families with the promise of juicy benefits and health care coverage.
Democrat officials tried to intimidate parents like Pam Harris into silence over their efforts to inform providers that they could vote for no representation.
The thuggery backfired. Bigtime.
The votes were counted today and despite Big Labor’s massive coffers, manpower, and out-of-state propaganda campaign, the unionization effort was an epic fail.
Here’s an exclusive look at the breakdown:
SEIU – 293 votes
AFSCME – 220 votes
NO UNION – 1018 votes
Daley: Non-Union City Managers To Take Nearly Five Weeks Off (CBS 2)
Faced with a $550 million budget deficit, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley today said that all NON-UNION city workers will take nearly five working weeks of unpaid leave next year to save the city money.
Daley announced plans Monday to save $114 million by requiring several thousand city mangers to take 24 unpaid days off, eliminating vacant jobs, and cutting expenses like travel and supplies by $20 million.
Democrats lock Republicans out of committee room (The Hill)
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren’t present.
Towns’ action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), over Towns’s failure to launch an investigation into Countrywide Mortgage’s reported sweetheart deals to VIPs.
For months Towns has refused Republican requests to subpoena records in the case. Last Thursday Committee Republicans, led by Issa, were poised to force an open vote on the subpoenas at a Committee mark-up meeting. The mark-up was abruptly canceled.
Only Republicans showed up while Democrats chairs remained empty.
Justice Department Says Blacks in N.C. Town Can’t Get Elected Without Democratic Party Label
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Department of Justice is refusing to allow the town of Kinston, N.C., to hold nonpartisan local elections on the grounds that African Americans cannot win election without being listed as Democrats on the ballot.
In a letter sent Saturday by to Kinston City Attorney James P. Cauley III, the Justice Department stated: “Removing the partisan cue in municipal elections will, in all likelihood, eliminate the single factor that allows black candidates to be elected to office.”
The department Tuesday also refused to answer questions from CNSNews.com about the letter.
Krauthammer Lashes Out at Obama’s “Gutter-Style Chicago Politics” (GatewayPundit)
First it was insurance companies, then doctors, then FOX News and now the Obama Administration is attacking the US Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions.
The purpose of the Chamber of Commerce is to fight for free enterprise. That is why they opposed cap-&-tax and the democrats’s nationalized health care plans.
No wonder the Obama Administration hates them.
Tonight Charles Krauthammer responded to Obama’s “gutter-style Chicago politics”:
Grassley Warns HHS Web Site May Be ‘Propaganda’ (Roll Call)
Senate Finance ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is raising concerns that a Department of Health and Human Services Web site that urges visitors to send an e-mail to President Barack Obama praising his health care reform plan may violate rules against government-funded propaganda.
The Web page is accessed through a “state your support” button featured prominently on the HHS Web site and carries a disclaimer that the Web site is maintained by HHS.
In a letter sent to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday, Grassley warned that “any possible misuse of appropriated funds by the executive branch to engage in publicity or propaganda in support of an Administration priority is a matter that must be investigated and taken seriously,” noting that in 2005 Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) argued that “the use of official funds for similar activities were 'underhanded tactics' and that these tactics 'are not worthy of our great democracy.'”
A reader already mentioned the Department of Health and Human Services Web site that urges visitors to send an e-mail to President Barack Obama praising his health care reform plan. Good Lord.
Daily Presidential Tracking Poll: Obama at -13, 47%
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Wednesday shows that 27% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
Forty percent (40%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -13.
That’s just a point above the lowest level ever recorded for this President.
It’s also the sixth straight day in negative double digits, matching the longest such streak
Layoffs at L.A. Times PATTERICO
I’ve been hearing rumors of layoffs at the L.A. Times for the past week or so. Yesterday I officially learned that they have happened.
I learned this through Facebook. Tina Daunt — a columnist and former reporter whom I defended back in 2007 in a minor flap over a story about Fred Thompson — is one of the latest to be laid off, as she reports on her blog (which I saw on Facebook):
I had a really bad day today, and tomorrow is going to be even worse. You see, I’ve been a newspaper reporter for a major metropolitan paper for a lot of years now.
I used to believe that newspapers could weather any storm. Now I’m not so sure. There’s yet another round of layoffs, and I think my number is up this time.
After seeing this yesterday, I headed over to L.A. Observed, which was reporting on Daunt’s message, which she has since confirmed — as well as the impending departure of another writer, Diane Haithman.
I’m hearing rumors of 30-34 people all in all, but this is the only official news I’ve seen.
Delicious News about the LA Times. I am plagiarizing but I do love this quote.
“I wonder what these soon to be unemployed folks with those valuable journalism and English degrees are going to do to radicalize the fast food industry.”
I got a sales call from the Asbury Park Press last week.
I politely explained to the young lady that called that I would not accept the paper if they delivered it to me for free. She asked me why.
I told her, "Because the value of the paper is less than the effort to carry it to the recycle bin."
She hung up.
More info on layoffs at the LA Time here.
I wonder what the Bee’s Mz. Sill would say about the LA Times?
Sac Bee's news boss Melanie Sill admits blatant bias in editorial today:
"There's no dispute that The Bee has a liberal editorial page on most issues, though not all matters, and has mostly endorsed Democrats. We won't change our editorial philosophy to placate critics."
Colorado newspaper hiring marijuana critic (The Star online)
...The medical marijuana review business is booming as states like Colorado and California have seen an explosion in the number of pot shops.
...A Denver alternative newspaper recently posted an ad for what some consider the sweetest job in journalism - a reviewer of the state's marijuana dispensaries and their products.
...The Denver paper, Westword, has already has gotten more than 120 applicants, many of them offering to do the reviews for free.
When the newspaper settles on a permanent critic for its new "Mile Highs and Lows" column, industry watchers say, it will be the first professional newspaper critic of medical marijuana in the United States.
There's one condition: The critic has to have a medical ailment that allows them to legally enter a dispensary, and buy and use marijuana.
Post a Comment