Regulation
MSNBC's Matthews, Guests Blast Koch Bros., GOP: 'Hurting the Planet's
June 2nd, 2014 9:22 PM
President Obama's newly-announced EPA regulations on coal-fired electric plants are engendering opposition from red-state Democrats hoping to win crucial Senate elections this November. For her part, Senate Energy Committee Chairman Mary Landrieu (D-La.), who says she favors "reduc[ing] carbon in the atmosphere," criticized the president's end-run around the legislature. "Congress should set…
Column: The Rich List and the West's Culture of Envy
May 28th, 2014 5:34 PM
BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- In the 1970s, while working as a low-paid cub reporter in Houston, Texas, I always looked forward to the annual Christmas catalogs from Neiman-Marcus and Sakowitz, a local luxury department store. Both contained outrageously expensive things that only the super-rich could afford -- his and hers Thunderbirds stick in my memory. My wife and I couldn't wait to thumb…
Networks Cheer 'Gladiator' Michelle Obama Combating GOP 'Playing Polit
May 28th, 2014 12:14 PM
NBC, ABC, and CBS all hailed First Lady Michelle Obama attacking Republicans for trying to make her draconian school lunch mandate more flexible. At the top of Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed: "Food fight. Michelle Obama as we've rarely heard her before, returning to her campaign by accusing Republicans in Congress of playing politics with children's health." […
CNN's Costello Wonders Whether Gun Control Would Have Prevented Califo
May 27th, 2014 5:40 PM
Carol Costello surprisingly raised pro-gun rights points during an interview of Senator Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday's CNN Newsroom. Costello noted the "renewed calls for stricter gun control laws" after Friday's murder spree in California, and pointed out that the Golden State "has some of the strictest gun laws in the country. The shooter in this case abided by a background check....How…
WashPost's Vozzella: McAullife Seeks to 'Free' Va. Abortion Clinics of
May 13th, 2014 1:15 PM
To the Washington Post's Laura Vozzella, NARAL Pro-Choice America-endorsed liberal Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is a politician making good on a promise to "free Virginia's abortion clinics from strict hospital-style building codes," set to take effect this June. It's a move which heartens the abortion industry fearful that regulations authorized by a bipartisan vote in the state legislature…
New York Times Complains FAA Regs on Drones Abridge Freedom of Press
May 7th, 2014 4:35 PM
So the New York Times has found an onerous, creativity-stifling regulation it abhors. Naturally, they want a carve-out so it still impacts everyone else but, well, journalists and the corporations which hire them.
Jack Nicas of the Wall Street Journal reported today that the New York Times Company is joining other journalistic enterprises like the Associated Press and Tribune Co. in "a joint…
Politico Notices TV Meteorologists 'More Skeptical' of Climate Change
May 7th, 2014 4:20 PM
Politico's Darren Goode surprisingly highlighted the skepticism of many on-air meteorologists in a Monday item about President Obama's interviews with "some of television's most popular celebrities — weather forecasters — to ratchet up the volume on the administration's latest scientific assessment of climate change." Goode pointed out that "not all broadcast meteorologists have been conducive…
CNN's King, Panelists Hit Obama From Left on Climate Change: 'Why Did
May 6th, 2014 3:12 PM
CNN's John King, along with the AP's Julie Pace and National Journal's Ron Fournier, targeted President Obama from the left on Tuesday's New Day over the issue of climate change. King highlighted Obama's interviews with meteorologists in order to "push his agenda for climate change," and wondered, "If the President has this power...through executive authority, and this issue is so important to…
Not News: Health Care Division at Jeffrey Immelt's GE Hurt by Obamacar
April 30th, 2014 4:03 PM
General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt has made nice with President Barack Obama on several occasions. Among other things, he chaired the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which met a grand total of four times in 2011 and 2012 before it was unceremoniously allowed to expire a year later. He fully expected that his company would benefit from its involvement in green energy and its…
Toyota Leaving High-Tax California for Texas; Big Three Networks Ignor
April 29th, 2014 4:15 PM
Yesterday the Toyota Motor Corporation announced it would move its U.S. headquarters from Torrance, California, to Plano, Texas. Closing his report on the development, Tim Reid of Reuters noted the reaction of a Torrance business owner who doubtless counts many Toyota employees as loyal customers. "The taxes are lower in Texas. There are fewer regulations. It's cheaper for a company there. Why…
AP Report on Toyota's HQ Move From Calif. to Texas Downplays Taxes, Re
April 28th, 2014 11:51 PM
The Associated Press's lengthy Monday evening treatment of Toyota's decision to move its U.S. headquarters and consolidate many of its North American operations in Metro Dallas is reasonably good in spots. But Gillian Flaccus and Michael R. Blood were unduly selective in reporting Torrance, California Mayor Frank Scotto's reaction to the news that his town would be losing several thousand jobs…
CBS Covers Oregon 'Pulling the Plug' on Health Exchange, But Omits 'Ob
April 25th, 2014 10:17 PM
Friday's CBS Evening News was the lone Big Three evening newscast to spotlight how the State of Oregon decision to scrap its multimillion dollar health exchange website, and join the federal government's HealthCare.gov. ABC's World News was too busy covering violence over spots at mall parking lots to notice, while NBC Nightly News zeroed in on baby Prince George's first trip to Australia.…
CBS Hits Rick Perry From the Left on BLM Controversy; Immigration
April 24th, 2014 5:00 PM
Norah O'Donnell pursued Texas Governor Rick Perry on Thursday's CBS This Morning over the controversial land dispute between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government. O'Donnell asked Perry, "What do you make of this standoff? What do you think of Clive Bundy? Do you think what he's done was a good thing?"
When the Republican politician replied that Bundy is a "side story," and…
NBC's Martha White: 39 Paragraphs on All-Time Record Number of Temps
April 21st, 2014 11:25 PM
If there's a prize for most words spent in Obamacare avoidance, NBC News's Martha C. White is definitely in the running.
White managed to burn through almost 40 paragraphs and nearly 1,600 words in a report carried at CNBC on the all-time record number of workers employed by temporary help services. But she somehow managed to completely avoid mentioning Obamacare, which used to be known as…