-Caveat Lector- FYI........ > > 1) Uniform disdain from the left on the weekend talk shows > from reporters sitting in the liberal chairs for George W. Bush's > tax cut plan. Bush may have tried to dissuade such class warfare > attacks by giving those in the 15 percent tax bracket a one-third > cut, much larger than for those at higher incomes, but the members > of the media still took up the left-wing mantra about fairness. > > -- Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas on Inside > Washington: "I'm against a tax cut. Just on policy matters it's > stupid and we shouldn't have one. But it's Republican pandering > and it was kind of a mild Republican pander." > > NPR's Nina Totenberg added that "It's still a tax cut that > doesn't really do very much for the moderate and low income > people." > > An astonished Jack White of Time later chimed in: "What he was > criticized for was he doesn't want to abolish the Internal Revenue > Service right now. I mean that was the criticism." > That prompted Thomas to denigrate conservatives: "Because he's > in the company of wing nuts, so anything he says looks moderate by > comparison." . . . <snip> > Media Research Center wrote: > ***Media Research Center CyberAlert*** > Monday December 6, 1999 (Vol. Four; No. 184) > > "Stupid" Tax Cut; "Alleluia" to Spending; Christmas "Saved" by Regulator > > #### Distributed to more than 5,500 recipients by the Media > Research Center, bringing political balance to the media. Visit > the MRC on the Web: http://www.mediaresearch.org. Past CyberAlerts > are available at: http://www.mediaresearch.org/news/cyberalert/ > Subscribe/unsubscribe information at end of this message. #### > > 1) Washington media on the Bush tax cut. Evan Thomas: "It's > stupid" policy driven by "wing nuts." Al Hunt: "This is a Trojan > Horse which disproportionately gives huge tax cuts to the very > wealthy." Eleanor Clift: "It is a huge income shifter." > 2) Sam Donaldson heralded "alleluia" to the "enrichment of the > welfare state" over a tax cut. > 3) Not one word about the debates on ABC, CBS or NBC the next > night. Ted Koppel focused on how Bush had to "fall back three > times on that, sort of, tired old" mantra about Texas as 11th > largest economy. On Today NBC's David Bloom said "Bush calmly and > skillfully fended off" attacks from rivals but Tim Russert found > him "a little too programmed," not "a stellar performance." > 4) "Another Christmas saved" oozed NBC's Bob Faw of a federal > bureaucrat. "Luckily there's someone in Washington whose job is to > make sure" toys are safe, assured anchor Brian Williams. > 5) FNC gave time to John Cochran's side of the Al Gore dinner > controversy, but USA Today, which started it all, did not. > 6) Is NBC's "Gadget Guru" a Gear-Head or a Coke-Head? Andy Pargh > was arrested Saturday for buying 250 ounces of cocaine. > 7) Letterman's "Top Ten Other Achievements Claimed By Al Gore." > > > > > 1) Uniform disdain from the left on the weekend talk shows > from reporters sitting in the liberal chairs for George W. Bush's > tax cut plan. Bush may have tried to dissuade such class warfare > attacks by giving those in the 15 percent tax bracket a one-third > cut, much larger than for those at higher incomes, but the members > of the media still took up the left-wing mantra about fairness. > > -- Newsweek Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas on Inside > Washington: "I'm against a tax cut. Just on policy matters it's > stupid and we shouldn't have one. But it's Republican pandering > and it was kind of a mild Republican pander." > > NPR's Nina Totenberg added that "It's still a tax cut that > doesn't really do very much for the moderate and low income > people." > > An astonished Jack White of Time later chimed in: "What he was > criticized for was he doesn't want to abolish the Internal Revenue > Service right now. I mean that was the criticism." > That prompted Thomas to denigrate conservatives: "Because he's > in the company of wing nuts, so anything he says looks moderate by > comparison." > > -- Wall Street Journal Executive Washington Editor Al Hunt and > Time columnist and sometime reporter Margaret Carlson on CNN's > Capital Gang: > Hunt asserted: "I give them credit. I think they, the Bush > campaign, they rose to Clintonian levels with their ability to > spin this beforehand. It really was a masterful job. They said > this is focused on the middle class and the working poor. Now they > did a great job of spin. The problem is it's not true. It's > absolutely totally untrue. This is a Trojan Horse which > disproportionately gives huge tax cuts to the very wealthy, to Bob > [Novak] and his friends." > > Hunt proceeded to make the usual complaint about how those who > don't pay income taxes won't get an income tax cut: > "You know, both Bush and his my old friend Michael Boskin, his > chief economic aide, one of his chief economic guys, said take the > waitress who makes $22,000 a year with has three kids. Do you know > what she gets out of that Bush plan? Zero, because I tell you, > there are a whole bunch of working poor people like that who don't > pay income taxes, but they pay 15.3 percent of their low salary to > payroll taxes. They get absolutely nothing in this plan." > > Later, reacting to a McCain operative's claim that he has > offered a more responsible, "adult" tax plan, Mark Shields asked: > "Margaret, looking for an adult?" Carlson replied: > "Yes, and George Bush may not be it. He's putting the ice > cream out in his tax plan, very much a profile in courage. And you > know, how much stimulation can one economy take? I mean the market > hit new highs yesterday, and in and all the economic reports, you > know, Greenspan keeps saying, you know, tamp it down. This is > skewed toward -- not toward the working class, and it seems that > the compassionate conservative should want to move the working > class into the middle class. Sixty-three percent of the benefits > go to the top five percent of taxpayers, and this is not what the > economy needs." > > -- Newsweek's Eleanor Clift on the McLaughlin Group: "This was > a tax plan designed to pacify the right. It is a huge income > shifter and his plan to get rid of the estate tax would cost $40 > billion a year -- 98 to 99 percent of people in this country are > exempt from the estate tax. He's mortgaging the entire surplus. > Totally irresponsible." > > Rich Lowry of National Review soon pointed out: "He takes six > million off the roles, lower and middle class taxpayers, Eleanor. > They are not the rich." > > > 2) Sunday morning Sam Donaldson assessed the Bush tax plan > by comparing it to "Reaganomics," which he did not mean as a > compliment. Donaldson also proclaimed that if the choice is > between voting for a tax cut or further "enrichment of the welfare > state," he'd pick more spending. Here's the relevant exchange from > Sunday's This Week on ABC: > > Sam Donaldson: "The Republicans tried to get through a huge > tax plan this last year and found the country said ‘wait, we can't > pay for this. We get it. This would create more deficits.' And > George Bush comes along now and says we'll grow our way out. It's > Reaganomics." > George Stephanopoulos: "I think you're right about the > internals of the tax plan does help some single working mothers. > But when you add up his tax plan and his defense increases, there > will be nothing left for Medicare and Democrats won't stop talking > about it." > George Will: "But everyone who has added up the cumulative > Bradley and Gore promises said they too have spent the surplus. > This is why we have framed a serious presidential campaign for > next year, because you have on the one hand a trillion dollar tax > cut, on the other you have an enrichment of the welfare state. > Let's vote." > Donaldson: "An enrichment of the welfare state to help people > who are medically in need. Yes, let's vote. And to help people who > need education. Right. Let's vote. I mean if that's what you call > the enrichment of the welfare state, alleluia." > > > > 3) So, how much network coverage did George W. Bush's first > debate appearance generate Friday night, the night after the New > Hampshire confab? Not one syllable, incredibly, on ABC's World > News Tonight, CBS Evening News or NBC Nightly News. The night of > the 8pm ET debate, Thursday, ABC and CBS, but not NBC, ran preview > stories. West coast viewers may have seen something about the 5pm > PT debate Thursday night, but broadcast network viewers in the ET > and CT zones never learned anything about it. > > While all led Friday night with the Mars lander situation, > instead of telling viewers anything about the debate ABC ran a > full story on the woman who rowed across the Atlantic and > controversy over the UN letting companies pay for programs through > its "Adopt-a-Minefield" fundraising scheme. CBS also ran a full > piece on the rower and a piece on problems at Boeing, which Dan > Rather dubbed: "Tough going at Boeing." NBC spent several minutes > "In Depth" on ideas about sending man to Mars, plus how a > regulator has "saved" Christmas for kids. See item #4 below. > > -- The night of the debate Nightline brought aboard two former > Clinton-Gore administrations aides to assess the Republicans: > David Gergen and George Stephanopoulos. Ted Koppel, as noted by > MRC analyst Jessica Anderson, seemed displeased by one of George > W. Bush's answers, raising the issue twice. Early in the show > Koppel complained: > "If anyone was counting on Governor Bush to trip on his own > shoelaces, he did not. Although three times when he seemed a > little uncomfortable with questions, he fell back on exactly the > same answer, although it had little or nothing to do with any of > the questions." > Bush: "I've been the Governor of the second biggest state in > the United States. If it were a nation, it'd be the eleventh > largest economy in the world. I was overwhelmingly reelected > because the people in my state realized I know how to lead and > I've shown good judgment....There's only one person on this stage, > only one person, who has been in a chief executive office or > position, in terms of government. That's me, governor of the > second biggest state....A test of a leader is when given > responsibility, can you perform? And I've got a record of leading. > It's the second biggest state in the Union. If it were a nation, > it'd be the eleventh largest economy in the world." > > Later, Koppel asked Stephanopoulos: "And what does it mean, I > mean, if you're standing on the side of the stage and he's your > man, and he has to fall back three times on that, sort of, tired > old 'well, I'm governor of the second largest state in the country > and if it were a country, it would be the eleventh largest > economy,' sort of suggests that he's not able to answer a couple > of those questions." > Stephanopoulos: "But he doesn't, but there's not a lot more > there. In fact, throughout the whole debate, Bush never really > used up his entire time and we only had minute-long answers and > 45-second long answers when you had a lot of the other candidates > using the time to go back to other issues, to talk about different > issues, both foreign policy and domestic policy. I think that Bush > will get better over time as he has more practice in these > debates, but it wasn't, he didn't walk off the stage saying, 'I am > the only President on this stage tonight.'" > > -- On Friday's Today David Bloom and Tim Russert offered > contrasting assessments of how Bush performed, MRC analyst Mark > Drake noticed. > > At 7:04am Bloom reported: "Having finally been pressured into > debating his Republican rivals, Governor Bush calmly and > skillfully fended off their attacks last night on everything from > his tax cut plan to Social Security. At a post debate rally, Bush, > giddy and breathing a sigh of relief, predicts victory here in New > Hampshire, which is now his for the taking. Bush appears to have > emerged unscathed from last night's debate despite sharp attacks > from his Republican rivals, most especially from an increasingly > desperate Steve Forbes, who called Bush's proposed $1 trillion tax > cut, measly and criticized Bush for even considering raising the > minimum age for older Americans to receive Social Security > benefits...." > > Four minutes later Katie Couric asked Russert how Bush > performed and Russert replied: "I think a little too programmed, > Katie. It wasn't a stellar performance but it was adequate and > steady enough for him to maintain his front runner status." > > Russert went on to say that he thought "John McCain and Steve > Forbes probably helped themselves a little bit. John McCain really > did try play to the independent voter of New Hampshire. They > represent a third of the electorate and emerge as the maverick > reformer. I think he did quite well in that regard and also tried > to deal with this image of temperament and he did it with humor in > a rather clever way. Steve Forbes is trying to become the > conservative alternative: attack on taxes, attack on Social > Security, and I think he solidified his conservative base. In > fact, Katie, after the debate, in this morning's Manchester Union > Leader, he received that paper's endorsement, which is very, very > important for true right wing believing Republican conservatives > in New Hampshire." > > > 4) Thank God for federal regulators. Or just one. He's the > only thing standing between you and toys that would kill your > kids. Friday night NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams noted > that many ask if the toys they buy are safe. "Luckily," he > assuringly noted, "there's someone in Washington whose job is to > make sure they are." After profiling the bureaucrat, NBC's Bob Faw > concluded that he had once again "saved" Christmas. > > Introducing the last story on the December 3 NBC Nightly News, > Brian Williams declared: "If you're like most Americans your > weekend plans will include some form of holiday shopping and if > kids are involved that means toys and that of course always leads > to the question: Are they safe. Luckily there's someone in > Washington whose job is to make sure they are." > > Bob Faw began the laudatory story: "Tucked away in a sprawling > federal laboratory, outfitted with the tools of his trade, is the > Consumer Product Safety Commission's counterpart to, well, to > James Bond's Q." > The man identified himself as the "toy policeman" before Faw > warned that he found 38 toys so dangerous they needed to be > recalled. After allowing David Miller of the Toy Manufacturers > Association to insist toys are the safest ever, Faw countered by > relaying the view of a left-wing group he failed to label: > "Despite all the pleasure, last year toys caused 153,000 > injuries and one private watchdog group thinks the federal > government should be much tougher." > Rachel Weintraub, U.S. Public Interest Research Group: "Last > year 14 children died as they were playing with toys and eight of > those deaths were due to choking." > Faw concluded: "Which is why, back at the lab, the pinching > and poking -- the protection of children -- goes on. Another > Christmas saved. Q, eat your heart out." > > > 5) Given John Cochran's adamance that he did nothing wrong > in inviting Al and Tipper Gore to his house Thursday night, > surprisingly the reporter who started it all did not update his > story Monday morning. Peter Johnson's "Inside TV" column in the > December 6 USA Today made no mention of his December 2 item with > which ABC News took exception. See the December 3 CyberAlert for > details. > > As noted in CyberAlert, the December 2 Special report with > Brit Hume ran a story December 2 on the aborted controversy. The > next night, Friday night, substitute host Tony Snow updated > viewers: "I want to begin by referring to a story that ran on this > program yesterday. It concerned ABC correspondent John Cochran.... > invited the Vice President and Tipper Gore over to the house for > dinner, which took place Thursday evening in Washington. John > Cochran called today and wanted to clarify things. He said, > ‘people I cover, it is by nature an adversarial relationship. In > the past, I've had Republican office-holders to my house for > dinner, including Senator Richard Shelby, Senate Majority Leader > Trent Lott, and Senator John McCain. They were, as with the dinner > with Gore, working dinners.'" > > Snow added that Cochran reported that Gore answered questions > for 45 minutes, quoting Cochran: "They were tough questions, and I > think that's part of my job. I found it very informative, and I > would do the same thing if I were covering George W. Bush or Steve > Forbes." > > Let's see if and when anyone at ABC invites over Bush or > Forbes. > > > 6) Today show's "gadget guru" a gear-head or a coke-head? > The "gadget guru of NBC's Today, who most often appears on the > Saturday edition to show off the latest appliances and tools, was > arrested Saturday for buying cocaine. Here's a short December 5 > Reuters item on his arrest: > > MIAMI (Reuters) -- Andy Pargh, the NBC Today show correspondent > known as the "Gadget Guru," was arrested on a cocaine trafficking > charge in Miami, jail records showed Sunday. > > Pargh, 45, was booked in the Miami-Dade County jail Saturday on > the charge and was released after posting $50,000 bond, a jail > official said. > > Television station WTVJ, an NBC affiliate in Miami, said Pargh was > arrested near his home in the Sunny Isles neighborhood after > allegedly buying 250 grams of cocaine from an undercover > policeman. Police who made the arrest could not be reached for > comment. > > Pargh reports on new products on the Today show and also writes a > technology column that appears in USA Today. > > END Reprint > > > 7) From the December 3 Late Show with David Letterman, the > Top List inspired by Al Gore's series of outlandish claims, > including the latest that he had first "found" Love Canal, though > he called for hearings after people had already been evacuated. > Here are the "Top Ten Other Achievements Claimed By Al Gore." > Copyright 1999 by Worldwide Pants, Inc. > > 10. Was first human to grow an opposable thumb > 9. Only man in world to sleep with someone named "Tipper" > 8. Current Vice President -- Moesha fan club > 7. He invented the dog > 6. While riding bicycle one day, accidentally invented the orgasm > 5. Pulled U.S. out of early 90's recession by personally buying > 6,000 T-shirts > 4. Starred in CBS situation comedy with Juan Valdez, "Juan for Al, > Al for Juan" > 3. Was inspiration for Ozzy Osboune song "Crazy Train" > 2. Came up with popular catchphrase "Don't go there, girlfriend" > 1. Gave mankind fire > > And from the Late Show Web site, some of "the extra jokes > that didn't quite make it into the Top Ten." > > -- 1991: Invented the Internet, Post-It Notes and Cheese-In-Crust > pizza > -- Learned dolphin language, convinced them to call off all-out > attack on mankind > -- Said to Ashford and Simpson -- "You two kids should get > together" > -- Told young Michael Jordan to give that basketball game a whirl > > Reminder: Another Republican debate with Bush tonight, Monday, > at 6pm MT in Arizona. CNN will carry it live at 8pm ET. -- Brent > Baker > > >>> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] Put "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" > in the BODY of the message, NOT in the subject line. Problems and > comments can be addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <<< -- A.C. 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