Today’s Qs for O’s WH – 5/5/2009

Too bad we don’t have representative government.

Jake, could you ask Mr. Gibbs why Mr. Obama referred to “illegal” tax deductions for overseas expenses? It the practices he doesn’t like are illegal, why does he have to change the law? Why not simply enforce existing law?
So far as I am aware, no one in the administration has identified any illegal practices related to overseas operations.

Ron Kirk doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the area of tax issues.

GIBBS: Let me check with USTR ….In other words; wet finger, hold it up and see which way the “wind” is blowing.

Spector needed/needs to join the Independent party with Ron Paul , he is NOT anything resembling a Democrat ,never will be ,and he will hurt the overall party agenda in the long run ,as he is already proving.
He should have been rejected from the Democratic party immediately, he is just another disingenuous disenfranchised lying Republican hitchhiker looking for a free ride at the Democrats expense.
What a loser …

This is from the Business Insider. Bear in mind, the people they’re talking about are simply private lenders who lent capital to a distressed corporation, and they are seeking to enforce their rights under the law. Not a one of them has done anything wrong. Ask yourelf how likely it is that private capital will come to the aid of a distressed corporation in the future.
“Creditors to Chrysler describe negotiations with the company and the Obama administration as ‘a farce,’ saying the administration was bent on forcing their hands using hardball tactics and threats.
“Conversations with administration officials left them expecting that they would be politically targeted, two participants in the negotiations said.
“Although the focus has so been on allegations that the White House threatened Perella Weinberg, sources familiar with the matter say that other firms felt they were threatened as well. None of the sources would agree to speak except on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of political repercussions.
“The sources, who represent creditors to Chrysler, say they were taken aback by the hardball tactics that the Obama administration employed to cajole them into acquiescing to plans to restructure Chrysler. One person described the administration as the most shocking ‘end justifies the means’ group they have ever encountered. Another characterized Obama was ‘the most dangerous smooth talker on the planet- and I knew Kissinger.’ Both were voters for Obama in the last election.”

If you don’t like this present administration , lump it …or better yet MOVE !!
Uh, do we get the option of voting them out of office in the next election? Or have our voting rights been rescinded?

For some reason, I don’t think Israel is going to wait on a ME peace agreement before they deal with Iran.
Rahm is dreaming….and the clock is ticking.

“Democrats should knock him out of the race in the Democratic primary next year and send a strong message to Obama, NO THANKS!! We will choose our own Senator from PA!!!”
That would depend on what staunch Hillary Clinton ally Ed Rendell does.

RyanC,
Who are you kidding?
The media spiked the story on Edwards because a tabloid could be used as cover to do it.
That is a FACT.
If you don’t think an ‘Edwards baby daddy’ story would have had any effect people’s opinions before the Dem. primary or general election, you are dreaming.

“The media spiked the story on Edwards because a tabloid could be used as cover to do it.
That is a FACT.”
Should news use the tabloids as a guide then?
Should there have been non stop coverage of the National Enquirer’s claims about Palin?

Hey Jake
You’re a star!
This is from Stink Progress:
“By reporting the story, Tapper chose to accept the validity of Lauria’s claim that the White House could get ‘the full force of the White House press corps’ to threaten a private company. Despite the fact that the parties with direct knowledge — the White House and Perella Weinberg — denied to ABC that any threats were made, Tapper still reported Lauria’s false accusation on his ‘Political Punch’ blog. Drudge and other right-wing outlets are glad he did.”
As noted by Business Insider, the left now swallows whole whatever the White House says.
Just like they did before January, eh?

Posted by: Fascist Hyena | May 5, 2009 3:58:57 PM
The real Obama, eh? :-)
Obama really thinks the entire country is Chicago.

“As noted by Business Insider”
Why not just quote Limbaugh?
It has the same lack of validity.

“Should there have been non stop coverage of the National Enquirer’s claims about Palin?”
Uhhh…pretty sure there were. And still are.
Ever watch Larry King or The View? They can barely make it through a show without trying to put Palin down.
That just makes me, as an Independant, feel more support for Palin…that may not have been there otherwise.

RyanC,
You have unwittingly been duped by the media.I guess you don’t get it.
Every time a story arises the media doesn’t want to touch, they let the tabloids pick it up.
It is cover, pure and simple.
BTW, the NYT ran the story and used the National Enquirer as the source, once they couldn’t avoid it any more (Edwards had gone on TV at that point!)
So, if the news is the truth of the matter, I don’t care who covers it…do you?
I just can’t expect the MSM to report all of the news.This story makes it clear where the bias is.

Hey- Obama uses Andrew Sullivan for his talking points.
Now that’s funny.

dr john:
“By reporting the story, Tapper chose to accept the validity of Lauria’s claim that the White House could get ‘the full force of the White House press corps’ to threaten a private company.
========
Isn’t that odd? Reporting a story and asking questions of the people involved now means a reporter accepts the validity of the story?
The story as it stood even involved the White House press. Does Think Progress think it should have just been ignored?

“I do not feel sympathy for those seeking fame getting just that.”
Then you can stop defending Obama.”
Naaah exposing right wing lies is just far too much fun.

“I do not feel sympathy for those seeking fame getting just that.”
Unless that someone “seeking fame” is Barack Obama? Because you seem to spend the better part of every day defending every move he makes.

“Probably because I don;t see Obama as seeking fame but to serve publicaly.”
You’re terribly naive. He’s a world class glory hound. His narcissism is on a level that surpasses even King George’s.
“Palin seems way more about her than anyone else.”
That’s because you’re also incredibly biased. Put a little “D” after her name and you’d be singing a different tune.

“Palin seems way more about her than anyone else.”
She probably just forgot to use Greek columns as a backdrop.

The entire story was based on the comment of one, single lawyer made on a conservative take radio show
==========
A lawyer working on the negotiations, who has contributed amply to Democrats. Not your average wingnut.

“It has the same lack of validity.”
Now, now. You know we’ve cautioned you about infantile ad hominem attacks. You’ll need to provide us some basis for asserting that the Business Insider lacks validity. Otherwise we’ll accept their story at face value until contrary evidence surfaces.
Mr. Lauria, meanwhile, has sought leave to file an affidavit under seal concerning some of the matters he has discussed.

“When did the CSM become “right wing?”"
ROFLMAO!
When did the Christian Science Monitor become right wing?
Upon establishment.

“The story now has more than one source, and mounting testimony — albeit understandably anonymous testimony, at least at this point — that the White House tried threatening senior creditors instead of doing their job in enforcing the law. Not only do they not realize that their responsibilities do not include building business plans for private enterprises, but also don’t include assuming the role of Michael Corleone and acting like organized-crime thugs. Actually, the way the White House made Obama sound, maybe Sonny Corleone is a better analogy … or perhaps Fredo.”
Has anyone denied these multiple accounts other than the faceless John
Burton, who was not a participant? Has Mr. Burton offered to give sworn evidence?

“ROFLMAO!”
Adults generally do not credit this acronym as a substitute for evidence and argument. We await the evidence…

“Adults generally do not credit this acronym as a substitute for evidence and argument. We await the evidence.”
Awwwe fascist doesn’t like his laugh out load claims being laughed at.
Sorry some claims are laughable on their face.
Please tell me again how the Christian Science Monitor is not right wing…or better yet please claim FoxNews is fair and balanced because I really need a good laugh.

“or better yet please claim FoxNews is fair and balanced because I really need a good laugh.’
What makes you think Fox News is not fair and balanced?

“What makes you think Fox News is not fair and balanced?”
Or that Stephen Colbert is really a secret conservative?
The stupid…it burns.

“The story now has more than one source, and mounting testimony — albeit understandably anonymous testimony, at least at this point —”
ROFLMAO!
Even Ed Morrisey is reluctant to jump in with both feet!

“Mr. Lauria, meanwhile, has sought leave to file an affidavit under seal concerning some of the matters he has discussed.”
ROFLMAO!
Is this a claim that he has gone into hiding? ”
Yes. He’s in the ocean hiding under the seals with his friends the right wing tiger sharks. But don’t you worry cause you can still go swimming because Nanny Pelosi has banned all the mean right wing fish from the California coastline and they can’t hurt you any more.

Fat drug addict on the value of listening to voters.
LIMBAUGH What if I decided I needed to go on a listening — you know what, folks, instead of the Rush to Excellence tour, we’re gonna go on a Rush listen tour.
I’m gonna show up in your town, I’m gonna set up a microphone that you use. And I’m gonna sit there and say nothing. And I’m gonna listen to you. And I’m gonna come back and I’m gonna put together a great radio prog –
What do you think would happen? Not very many people would show up, and if I actually did listen, it would be a disaster because you can’t take the advice of 20 million people, or 5,000, regardless of whatever the number is. And if you’re a politician, you can’t take the advice of 58 million people. This whole notion of listening, it’s just — it’s a scam. Maybe, maybe we’ve gotten to the point where you have to scam the American people in order to get their votes. I hope not. See I’m enough of an idealist, probably a little naïve, and hopefully a bit of realist, to understand that it really works out best if you respect your audience, respect their intelligence, approach them that way.

“Fat drug addict on the value of listening to voters. ”
So, do you agree with what Limbaugh said or disagree?

“Fat drug addict on the value of listening to voters. ”
That would be Michael Moore, right? (Can’t be our coke-snorting president; no one can say he’s fat, although his man-boobs are a bit of a turnoff.)

The Governor of Oregon wants to tell you how to live:
“Ted Kulongoski, the governor of Oregon, thinks that Americans will need to scale back their consumerism because it is harming the environment.
“’There’s a lifestyle issue involved in this, about our penchant for consumerism and consumption,’ he said, while discussing his support for a state emissions cap-and-trade scheme during a recent interview in Portland.
“’Other than taxes,’ he added, ‘the hardest thing I find to talk with my constituents and my citizens about is about changing lifestyles.’ He singled out the car companies for their production of sport-utility vehicles.”
Bonus Question: Name that party!

Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion in bailout money it received earlier this year and as part of its bankruptcy filing.
======================
Of course not. It’s not as if $7,000,000,000+ is real money.

“President Obama’s economic recovery package will actually hurt the economy more in the long run than if he were to do nothing, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said [in February].
“CBO, the official scorekeepers for legislation, said the House and Senate bills will help in the short term but result in so much government debt that within a few years they would crowd out private investment, actually leading to a lower Gross Domestic Product over the next 10 years than if the government had done nothing.”

Follow-up to my last point… I was once in the group of those who laughed at Fox, until I finally watched it when my parents visited. I actually realized they were fair. Imagine that! Of course, they have their slants, but which channel doesn’t? At least I didn’t have to listen to what seemed like a teenage crush during the elections.

“At least I didn’t have to listen to what seemed like a teenage crush during the elections.”
You missed Hannity having to be be restrained from attacking Palin and Greta being pryed off of 1st Dude’s leg?
Pity….as a right winger you would have loved it.

“FoxNews lies….”
==========================
Perhaps they aren’t lying, just presenting “historical inaccuracies.”

Critics of the Fox News Channel intimate all the time that they take their marching orders and construct their dizzy little metanarratives from concise memoranda from straight out of the Republican messaging machine. But if you were to accuse the network of doing so, they’d typically respond, “Zounds! You wound mine honor, good fellow, verily!” Or, they’d have chief flack-and-Sith Lady Irina Briganti cut you, with dirty knives. But Media Matters has caught the foxy newsies in flagrante delicto passing off a press release from the Senate Republican Communications Center as their own enterprise reporting.
The instance came on this afternoon’s edition of Fox News’ Happening Now, in a segment on the stimulus package that was preceded by the following introduction by host Jon Scott: “We thought we’d take a look back at the bill, how it was born, and how it grew, and grew, and grew.” Note, please, the introduction of this segment with the active verb “we thought,” as if what followed came out of some organic newsgathering process, founded by a genuine curiosity for how the stimulus package “grew and grew.” As opposed to: “A press release from the Senate Republican Communications Center today highlights the escalating top line cost of the stimulus package,” which would have been a less disingenuous way to introduce the segment.

Chuck Todd has some interesting points, about the Lauria claim of WH threats in the Chrysler bankruptcy, which can be heard live at Hot Air.

The continuing bashing of Fox, but the failure to see any other media as pro-Obama is funny and sad. Oh well, we’ll agree to disagree on this one.

This one literally had me dancing a jig ’round the room, my chest swollen with gloating joy:
“Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution approved on the floor late Tuesday.
“Under the modified organizing resolution, Specter will not keep his committee seniority on any of the five committees that he serves on and will be the junior Democrat on all but one — the chamber’s Special Committee on Aging. On that committee, he will be next to last in seniority.”
(From the right-wingers at Roll Call.)

FH,
That’s hilarious. Poor ol’Specter will be irrelevent before his next birthday.
Dems lying? Say it ain’t so!
I think inserting ‘ROFLMAO’ works very well here, no?

Specter made the mistake of trusting the word of Harry Reid. He got what he richly deserved.

“Meantime, Fox News crushes the combined ratings of CNN and MSNBC. The market works…”
Hmm…gee…how could that be? I wonder. Could it be because it’s the sole pulpit and channel to God for an entire political party? Hmm?

“Left-winger. Can’t be trusted.”
One of these days I’m going to do an expose on where all these right-wing disinformation campaigns start. Fox News is the most manipulative beacon of information in the history of this country. They prey on people missing a certain gene. I’m not saying everything they say is bogus, just that the way they manipulate their audience is remarkable. They know their audience and they know how to use them.

We’ll be waiting for that interesting documentary Silky. Meanwhile, you keep dreaming of pink unicorns when you see the TOTUS come in to enchant the press corp. Talk about missing a certain gene!
ROFLMAO!

“Fox News and MSNBC have different slants in their commentary shows, but both should be impartial in their newscasts. I have found Fox to be better in that regard than MSNBC, but I know full well you won’t agree with me on that, Ryan and Silky.”
And for the record neither will I, but at least we have some consensus that these are opinions. It seems at least somewhat disingenuous to get on here and demand definitive proof that Fox News has a right-wing slant for example. The resulting response would be ungainly.

Ryan C: I usually avoid cable news unless its a major event but I have to say that the stories Fox chooses to cover tend to dovetail with their commentators.
======================================
During a major event it would seem normal for the story and commentary to be dominated by the afore referenced event.