Dobbs attacks "partisan bunch of hacks" Media Matters with falsehood
SUMMARY: On his CNN show, Lou Dobbs falsely claimed that in an item criticizing a report by Ed Henry on President Obama's economic recovery package, Media Matters "tr[ied] to conflate the Office of Management and Budget numbers as somehow superior with the Congressional Budget Office." In fact, Media Matters merely pointed out that according to the OMB director, the CBO conducted only a partial analysis of the bill, which Henry did not report.
On the January 26 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, host Lou Dobbs falsely claimed that in a previous item criticizing White House correspondent Ed Henry's January 23 report on President Obama's economic recovery package, Media Matters for America "tr[ied] to conflate the Office of Management and Budget [OMB] numbers as somehow superior with the Congressional Budget Office [CBO]," which he asserted "is an absurdity." Media Matters did no such thing, merely pointing out that according to OMB director Peter Orszag, the CBO conducted only a partial analysis of the bill.
In the item, Media Matters did not argue that the OMB's analysis was "somehow superior" to the CBO's, but rather noted that Henry reported that the CBO study "was suggesting that a lot of the spending proposals in the original plan would not really take effect for a couple of years" without reporting that according to Orszag, the CBO study did not analyze all the provisions in the recovery bill. Indeed, according to a document posted on the Huffington Post website, which, according to a January 23 Huffington Post article, is the "whole" CBO " 'report,' " the CBO accounted for only approximately $358 billion of what Henry referred in his January 23 report to as "this $825 billion economic recovery plan." As Media Matters noted in the item, Orszag stated in a January 22 letter that the CBO "analysis, however, did not assess the overall package." He added: "Our analysis indicates that at least 75 percent of the overall package (including its tax component and the other spending provisions that were not analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office) will be spent over the next year and a half."
Indeed, responding to Media Matters in his January 26 report, Henry acknowledged that the CBO report "basically found early last week that less than half of the spending projects in here in the stimulus bill would actually stimulate the economy in the first two years of Barack Obama's administration. As we've noted, that's only part of essentially the bill that they analyzed." But as Media Matters noted in the initial item, Henry did not "note[]" that the CBO report "analyzed" only "part of" the recovery bill in his January 23 report. Instead, Henry reported only that the report "was suggesting that a lot of the spending proposals in the original plan would not really take effect for a couple of years, so it wouldn't clearly help create jobs in the first two years of the president's administration" and that White House "spokesman Robert Gibbs trying to say that basically this plan has changed a lot already since the CBO did its study."
During the segment, Dobbs referred to Media Matters as "a partisan bunch of hacks trying to play games," a "left-wing, liberal group" that "want to call themselves a watchdog group, but they are hardly that," and as "so silly it's beyond belief."
From the January 26 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:
DOBBS: Let me turn to one other thing very quickly, Ed, because that left-wing, liberal group -- they want to call themselves a watchdog group, but they are hardly that -- Media Matters taking issue with your reporting here Friday night. Where does all of that stand?
HENRY: Well, they're upset that we used -- mentioned the CBO analysis, the Congressional Budget Office, that basically found early last week that less than half of the spending projects in here in the stimulus bill would actually stimulate the economy in the first two years of Barack Obama's administration. As we've noted, that's only part of essentially the bill that they analyzed. Robert Gibbs did point out late last week that this is still a work in progress, that the CBO took a just snapshot in time and the bill is still changing. He insists that the White House budget office here has looked at it and 75 percent of this will be stimulative. But if you follow Robert Gibbs' own logic, this is still --
DOBBS: How does he know? How does he know?
HENRY: Right. This is still a work in progress, as he himself says. What's most interesting, when you take a step back, is for the last eight years, I've been covering -- at least for part of it -- the Bush White House. The CBO was always held up by Democrats as a gold standard of nonpartisan analysis. Now that the CBO has analyzed an Obama initiative and has not come out completely favorable, it's interesting to see liberals now attacking the CBO and essentially saying that you can't trust them. What's most -- even more interesting is that the former head of the CBO is now the president's White House budget director, Peter Orszag. So obviously, President Obama thought the CBO was good enough that he picked their chief to be his new White House budget director, Lou.
DOBBS: Indeed he did. And with the OMB attacking the CBO in some of the most ridiculous counterclaims on the part of the Media Matters, that left-wing -- I mean, frankly, they are so silly it's beyond belief. But to try to conflate the Office of Management and Budget numbers as somehow superior with the Congressional Budget Office is an absurdity. Peter Orszag having to -- well, his head must be spinning as he tries to change roles here now as a member of the administration.
As usual, your reporting was outstanding. As usual, Media Matters is what it is, a partisan bunch of hacks trying to play games. We thank you very much.
HENRY: Thanks, Lou.
Don't forget our big Leprosy scare.
There you go, hammering on lepers again, as if they didn't have enough problems as it is.
Lepers is one thing, but late last week, Dobbs attacked-- and get this-- the fact that minor-age teenagers were not applying for jobs the way they apparently used to, and that this was a travesty of all proportions.
There was so much wrong with this Dickensian-nightmare of a story that one hardly knows where to begin, except that the guy is clearly nuts, especially when the news story he was responding to noted that teens and their parents were now concentrating on their studies instead, in preparation for a good college!
When Repubs like Dobbs get outraged at teens studying instead of working in non-existent menial jobs-- which their own kids never did-- then you know how sick these people are. This Dobbs report had to be seen to be believed.
" but late last week, Dobbs attacked-- "
I think you people listen to these shows way too much. No wonder they have higher numbers than any liberal show, all the liberals listen to conservative talk radio instead of liberal radio. Good job, people, let's keep the people you hate in business.
BTW; is this a good meaning of conflation?: occurs when the identities of two or more individuals, concepts, or places, sharing some characteristics of one another, become confused until there seems to be only a single identity -- the differences appear to become lost.
What is it mmfa is whining about Dobb's doing?
"all the liberals listen to conservative talk radio instead of liberal radio"
Maybe that has something to do with the fact that most markets don't even have liberal talk radio. And, please, don't tell me that it's due to "market forces". I don't buy it.
I live in a major southern city of about half a million. Though our surrounding counties are all Republican, our county went for Obama. We have plenty of rich Liberals here who send their kids to private, non-religious schools. Presumably, these people would be legitimate targets for advertisers.
We have two 24/7 talk radio networks, and NOT ONE liberal talk show. Please explain those "market forces."
"Please explain those "market forces." "
You're too cheap to buy into one. Maybe you should demand the government to give you a radio station. I hear liberals like it when the government provides everything to them. Would I expect this to be any different? Or, better yet, why don't you demand the radio stations give you free airtime to voice your opposing opinion! I'll bet the government would be more than happy to help you with that one.
Thats ridiculous. I 'm in San Diego. Our Air America Station was really starting to knock the other right wing stations in the ratings. So what happened? Clear Channel Changed Air America to a sports station for "financial reasons" and now its at the bottom of the ratings. A local host from Air America went to another local station, where his afternoon show was one of the higher rated shows. He just got cancelled, even though his ratings were higher than some other hosts. Market forces my a$$
Perhaps the liberal hosts shouldn't depend on being hired by conservative owners. They should buy their own stations, then fire the conservatives when their ratings outdo all the liberals on his station. You act as if there is NO liberal rich enough to buy a radio station. You also act as if there aren't enough stations to find one to buy.
Yeah, it should be a cakewalk to bust open them reichwing monopolies. I'm absolutely sure they will sell a few stations if the price is right.
Oh, wait. The reason they bought them all was to restrict access...
Yeah, what a bummer it must be to have 1,000 radio station choices, in any given city, and clear channel owns them all. KCBS (in my area) must really hate having to pay clear channel for 2 seperate frequency's. Gosh and that 'medical-sell-you-anything' station, it must be clear channel's favorite money raiser. Oh, and all those mexican language stations that keep interfering with my sport stations, how were they able to get some frequencies when even the most powerful liberals could NOT??
It's alright, we don't even have the massive radio infrastructure, yet vast majorities of people agree with our liberal solutions to the Republican recession. We didn't have to try hard to convince people.
And to make it worse for conservatives, lib radio can be heard all over the internet.
You cons are in serious trouble.
"And to make it worse for conservatives, lib radio can be heard all over the internet."
That would be because the internet is not censored like radio is. That wouldn't happen if censorship controlled the internet airwaves like it does the radio airwaves. So, if we are in such "serious trouble", why are liberals so concerned over conservative control of the airwaves?
Huh? As usual, you make no sense. The small market radio stations, like novaM are indeed censored and regulated, they too are are on the public airwaves like Limbaugh. They are then broadcast for free on Itunes.
Also, you make a little slip. You concede that conservatives have control of the airwaves, which tells me there is no free market in radio land. And to your point about the left's concern about the conservative radio monopoly; we don't like lying liars spreading lies for private gain on public air.
"Also, you make a little slip. You concede that conservatives have control of the airwaves"
I concede you have a fear of convervatives controlling the airwaves. Nothing else.
I don't listen to Limbaugh, so don't have any interest in it. As for this being a dying thread...don't know what to say to that one. I'm just having a freindly conversation to anyone interested in replying. You fit the bill...so, I'm not the only one picking meat off the carcass.
Btw, why are such a creepy skulking little weasel? There is a lively thread on Limabaugh going on right this very moment, yet, you're here picking the meat off the carcass of a dying thread.
You're like the coward who watches the battle from the hilltop, only to come down afterward to shoot the injured.
Umm... The government actually gives us all radio stations, since they are the ones who license them to people to operate.
Oh, that's even better news for liberals. Since there is a liberal congress, liberal senate and liberal president, liberals should have NO problem getting more radio stations.
Uh, you heard wrong about liberals liking it when "government provides everything to them." That was the crony capitalism under Bush. Perhaps your conservative talk radio misinformed you?
That's exactly the point. Dobbs,et al, are for entertainment/opinion. MMFA gets a kick everytime those guys open their mouth as evident by these chat forums. If I stick myself in the eye with a sharp object, I tend to do it once and once only cuz it hurts. If shows like Dobb's irritate people, they oughta be smart enough to "stop sticking themselves in the eye". BTW, there is no liberal talk radio because talk radio requires talent. It may be talent liberals don't appreciate, but talent nonetheless.
Right-wing radio has "talent"?
Are you kidding?
No, I'm not. How do you explain their success, and don't give me the usual, it's because repugs are soooooo stoopid, they will flock to anything spewing hatred. Ed Shultz is the only lefty who can hold his own. He has the same type of talent as the righties, hence his success.
Read my post above. Here in San Diego the Liberal talk radio was holding its own and more, and Clear Channel shut them down as the Presidential Campaign was really starting to go. Don't give me this "no Liberal talent" crud. Rachael Maddow, Thom Hartman, Robert Kennedy Jr. & Mike Papintonio are just a few that wipe the floor with limbaugh, hannity,et al in the talent department.
"Read my post above."
Read mine. Quit working for conservatives and buy your own stations. I'll bet there are a couple mexican language stations you could purchase. If they can afford them, liberals certainly could. AND, if they can GET them liberals sure could. Too bad there's a difference between liberals and everyone else. Everyone else will do something to change their situation, not expect others to do it for them.
Ummm, your list of 'talents' aren't anything more than kool-aid drinking parrots. If you call that talent, I would hate to go to your HS musical.
Lepers? Aren't they all members of the horde of illegal immigrants that have invaded the unguarded border to the south and zoom up the NAFTA Superhighway (using free taxpayer paid transportation) spreading crime and disease to collect their welfare checks and vote illegally in our elections. I'm certain they had something to do with hiding the weapons of mass destruction too--and the global warming hoax. I know all of this to be fact. I heard it on Lou Dobbs (or was it Limbaugh?). Or maybe it was O'Reilly. Oh wait it was Michael Savage. Glen Beck too--Glen knows everything. Yeah that's it. Hide a few weapons, get paid in cash (they don't pay taxes you know), sell some heroin, then party with our teenage daughters. And don't get me started about Canada--those dirty Commies. Partisan hacks? Nah--just doin' our jobs. Between the money we make hiding the weapons of mass destruction and the massive cash payments we get regularly from George Soros we'll be livin' the dream too.
Hey blueneck, sarcastic hyperbole is my schtick. How dare you.
Sarcastic hyperbole? Who says? Did I forget to mention the zombies too? Lepers and zombies on the NAFTA Superhighway! Keeping Amerika safe is hard work.
Above: Zombies on Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware (not far from former Senator Joe Biden's Delaware office).
Note how many of them are showing early signs of leprosy. Wait till Lou Dobbs hears about this. Then the gloves will really be coming off.
Yeah! Whatever Lou Dobbs has to say, though, will be the truth. He is about the most honest person on talk radio today. Besides Armstrong & Getty and Jerry Doyle.
You're really startin' to scare us man... Killing zombies is not that difficult. But if you are trying to cure yourself you need to innoculate yourself with a serum made by extracting the secretions of the pineal gland of another zombie every day for twenty eight days. Make sure you mix the serum by placing equal amounts in your test tube--unless you are careful when you do this you may make things worse. Have a friend inject the serum into the carotid artery but make sure you are above the subclavian when you do this or the dose may not be high enough. Good luck with the procedure. And stay away from tetrodotoxin from now on.
Don't mean to interfere but your post does sound like a cry for help.
If you have questions contact Dr. Metabo at:
Hopital de la Communaute Haitienne Rue Audant, Rte de Freres Freres, HAITI
Phone: 509-257-7509 or 257-6808.
Make sure you sing a chorus of Early Sunsets Over Monroeville when he answers.
PS: My lawyer friend told me that I need to add this:
The statements made above have not been evaluated by the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration). I do not intended to diagnose, cure or prevent any disease.
If a condition persists, please contact your physician. The information provided in the above post is not a substitute for a face-to-face consultation with your physician, and should not be construed as individual medical advice.
If I heard right, Dobbs called the stimulus package "a Ponzi scheme." Amazing how upset he gets at the thought of the nonwealthy getting a tax cut. Apparently this accountability thing is going to be very painful to people like Dobbs who have grown accustomed to the sound of their own pontificating.
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, THE TRUTH IS THE GREATEST ENEMY OF THE STATE." -- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945
IIRC, Michael Savage likes to recite snippets of that quote every now and again.
It is amazing how true that quote is, though.
"partisan bunch of hacks"
How can you be "partisan" when you provide full in context quotes. I guess the truth hurts, eh?
Most people can't see themselves in a mirror.
Dobbs never really got over the fact that hating hispanics cost his beloved party at least 4% of the national vote, did he?
It must really p!ss off these professional journalists when a little group like MMFA reveals errors in their reporting. Henry tried to cover himself but essentially confirmed, IMO, that MMFA was correct.
It cracks me up when MMFA has to do these reports on something that was said about them.
It's so deliciously self-referential.
When are the wingnuts gonna learn? The easiest way to avoid being reported on MMFA is to not lie about their own wingnuttery.
No you won't. We all know MMFA is partisan. What MMFA is not, is a bunch of partisan, "hacks."
You may not understand the difference. It's Ok.
I do understand the difference. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"!
I've seen far too many MMFA stories whose theme is not to correct but to impune.
Perhaps that is because often the misinformation is so egregious that it is difficult to believe that it did not constitute a deliberate attempt to lie and mislead for political purposes.
Absolutely right. I totally agree that MMFA is Partisan- it doesn't claim to be non-partisan, it's own mission statement says that it's dedicated to exposing conservative misinformation. I don't understand why people get so upset when the operators of this site carry out their intended mission.
There IS Liberal Misinformation in the media- mostly from Air America Radio and MSNBC- but it's not MMFA's mission to point it out, and it at no time reaches the level of misinformation shoveled out there 24/7 by Fox, CNN, and right-wing radio. In the last year, I swore off AA radio and MSNBC for a while because they simply would not stop spreading manure about Hillary Clinton (I stopped buying the Washington Post for the same reason) and am now only gradually going back to them. I know I'm going to get a pretty far-left slant from Olberman and Maddow (but not Scarborough- I won't watch that show because I don't want to start my days ticked off) but I'm not likely to get blatant lies, like I will if I watch Hannity, O'Reilly, or Beck.
It's not the partisan spin that's hard to swallow- its the outright falsehoods. I'll hear spin on the Left, Lies on the Right. That's the difference.
You're right that MMFA is a partisan website. The problem is that Lou Dobbs is using the "partisan bunch of hacks" line to dismiss the site even when he is the wrong one. Many times, whenever someone or something is labeled partisan, people immediately assume they MUST be wrong; their credibility is lowered and their arguments are usually ignored.
That's one of the things I loathe the most about the MSM. They are automatically deemed credible and unbiased. So when a partisan site corrects their mistakes\misinformation, they constantly take advantage of that priviledge: "Don't listen to those people. They're PARTISANS. We're more objective because we have misrepresented and unfairly attacked BOTH sides."
It's all asinine, really.
We'll get a slew of liberals outraged at the audacity of anyone calling MMFA partisan.
What's the point here? Does partisan mean liar?
I don't think partisan is necessarily what MMFA is. Anti-conservative, yes. But whatever. The point that you are making is correct. MMFA's ideological position is well-established.
However, MMFA, with its commendable adherence to fact and context, is not the same as Limbaugh.
Dobbs is still pi$$ed that Waldman made him look stupid. But who cares what that fake populist, radical 'centrist,' Dobbs has to say about partisan hacks?
Truth is truth, Lou. Y'all got caught using a partial analysis, an incomplete study, to criticize the Obama Recovery plan. Might as well just 60% of Moby Dick and tell us it was about a dolphin and a surfer.
Now, Lou, you are lying through your teeth that MMFA is trying to promote an agenda by saying they are giving more credence to the OMB than CBO. Whatever.
Think he'll let Waldman on his show again anytime soon?
You can say that again missemc2...
It is obvious that when people like Lou or Rush or BillO mention MMfA by name when all MMfA did was post their exact words call MMfA (or any other progressive group) 'partisan hacks' or 'loony left' or 'commies', etc, etc then you can rest assure that MMfA is on to something that is threatening to the rightwing jokers they quote or they would not bother mentioning them at all...
Of course... the opposite is true as to this theory as it pertains to BillO the clown who never mentions Olbermann, whereas Olbermann constantly mentions BillO... in this case it is because BillO is truly a lying sack of garbage and BillO knows it... and Olbermann is a direct threat to BillO's very existance, of course, BillO's arrogance is pretty thick... so it hard to say.
With my second assumption being considered... soon enough BillO will refuse to mention MMfA by name as well... because at some point... MMfA, like Olbermann, will be a threat large enough for BillO to ignore by name, because if there is one thing that a pathetic bully like BillO hates... its an entity that can be seen as an equal or more acceptable voice than his...
May be true of Lou as well... unless his show is cancelled well before then?
Lepers is one thing, but late last week, Dobbs attacked-- and get this-- the fact that minor-age teenagers were not applying for jobs the way they apparently used to, and that this was a travesty of all proportions.
There was so much wrong with this Dickensian-nightmare of a story that one hardly knows where to begin, except that the guy is clearly nuts, especially when the news story he was responding to noted that teens and their parents were now concentrating on their studies instead, in preparation for a good college!
When Repubs like Dobbs get outraged at teens studying instead of working in non-existent menial jobs-- which their own kids never did-- then you know how sick these people are. This Dobbs report had to be seen to be believed.
There is no question there is left wing media bias. Obama spends 170 Million on a coronation but Palin gets attacked for a few dresses.
Obama violates international law by attacking Pakistan without UN Approval and nothing is said.
Oh, please...is that the best you've got? Get back on the porch...
Wow, a comedian.
When did Obama attack Pakistan again?
His Inauguration did not cost anymore (OK, maybe a little more) than Bush's last soiree.
Get over it. It was noty a coronation by any stretch of the imagination ( except yours ). People were happy and celebrated, that simple. And palin, by all means bring her on.
Where have you been for the last 8 years?
Back in the good old days, blowhard Demagogues like Dobbs and O'Reilly would end up launching doomed Presidential bids, sometimes as third party candidates, that would expose their idiocy and shallowness in front of a large audience or at least knock them down several pegs. Now they just stay in their climate-controlled studios and rake in millions of dollars a year getting red-faced bellowing how corrupt everyone is except for them.
I really wish these guys would put their "connection" to "real people" to the test by putting their names on ballots. Because you know, I just don't buy the idea that these fat multimillionaire carpers speak for me.
There's tons of money in what they do...and without the risk of indictment that often accompanies a political career. But most of all, there's no accountability in what they do. Apparently, in the modern media one can say practically anything with impunity regardless how untruthful and partisan it is. If your slow-witted audience is sufficiently entertained to keep coming back you get rich.
"I hear liberals like it when the government provides everything to them."
Can you be anymore shallow? Listen, if you just want to regurgitate what you're told without any more depth or thought then do us all a favor, just moo. We'll understand completely.
I'd like to note that the same people who tell us to stop complaining because there's no liberal talk radio are the same ones you scream that MMFA is unfair because it only attacks Conservative Misinformation. I suppose they would like to see MMFA go away, and then when we complain there's no place to complain about Conservative misinformation, they'll tell us to go out and start our own websites.
If you are a right-winger in this country, you represent a small minority. Yet anywhere you go, you can flip on your radio, randomly spin the dial, and land on a station which bleats out your views. You didn't lift a finger to create that show or that station, it just exists. On the other hand, if you lean to the left, you are closer to being in the majority but good luck finding a radio station which supports YOUR views. And we are supposed to believe this is because of "market forces," and we are told to "buy a station" if we don't like it. What BS. There are an endless stream of right-wing yakkers out there who get CRAPPY ratings but who stay on the air because they pitch what the corporate owners of the station want to hear. It's got nothing to do with "Market Forces." It's got everything to do with monopolizing the airwaves with the intent to brainwash the public.
So liberals in San Diego had to switch to listening to Air America on their Internet. Clear Channel is, as most folks in radio know, pretty much a monopoly. It would take more than a one or two rich liberals or rich ANYbodys to affect their programming. Remember the Dixie Chicks scandal -- pulled off Clear Channel as their record sales went through the roof. As a freelance journalist I had the pleasure of interviewing country western star Toby Keith, pretty conservative dude, who thought Clear Channel had "way too much power" and frequently made decisions about programming not based on business, but on their opinions.
I actually heard this yesterday, and I have to hand it to MMFA for being objective. Listening to the actual broadcast was far more inflammatory, imperious and dismissive than MMFA's analysis of it in this post. I was out sick with a cold and simply left CNN on all morning while I napped on and off -- even were Dobbs' argument valid, he lost all credibility by gnawing on Media Matters and simply not letting it go! It quickly became obvious that he had a personal bias. I remember the flak about the misinformation in his leper story, perhaps he just doesn't graciously admit mistakes?
"...perhaps he doesn't graciously admit mistakes?" Could be also that he doesn't think his "lies" matter to his viewing audience because they share his ideology. Who was it that said, "facts have a liberal bias!"
One of my heros, Steven Colbert.
Actually he said "reality has a liberal bias".
Thanks!
Tee-hee...!!! *giggle* You're funny- wanna date? I love mean spirited, controlling, unhinged ladies who calls it like it is!!
"MMFA's weaseling and whining agenda. What's the matter, media matters? Cant' take your own medicine in even the smallest of doses?"
So which part of the "weaseling and whining agenda" includes using full, verbatim quotes in context to show how much of a liar is Lou Dobbs?
I've got to thank Lou for one thing. After listening to his rant I discovered mediamatters. Thanks Lou I sent cnn an email and told them to sell Lou to fox news!!!