Fox News' Van Susteren ignored Graham's economic recovery falsehoods
Please upgrade your flash player. The video for this item requires a newer version of Flash Player. If you are unable to install flash you can download a QuickTime version of the video.
SUMMARY: Fox News' Greta Van Susteren allowed Sen. Lindsey Graham to advance the myth that the economic recovery legislation would "reward ACORN." In fact, neither the House version nor the proposed Senate version mentions ACORN. The false claim is based on a misrepresentation of a provision that would appropriate $4.19 billion for neighborhood stabilization activities, but which would be distributed through competitive processes; ACORN has denied that it is eligible, or plans to apply, for those funds.
During the February 5 edition of Fox News' On the Record, host Greta Van Susteren allowed Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to advance the myth that the economic recovery legislation would "reward ACORN." In fact, neither the House version nor the proposed Senate version contains language mentioning the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). The false claim is based on a misrepresentation of a provision that would appropriate $4.19 billion for neighborhood stabilization activities, but which would be distributed through competitive processes. Moreover, Van Susteren failed to challenge Graham's claim that "only 17 percent" of the economic recovery bill "gets spent in the first year." In analyzing the House version of the bill and the proposed Senate version, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that approximately 20 percent and 26 percent, respectively, of their budget effect would occur in the first fiscal year.
Discussing the legislation, Graham claimed, "The goal is to create jobs, not grow the government in the fourth and fifth year of spending. The goal is not to reward ACORN. The goal is to jump-start the economy." Graham's unchallenged suggestion that the economic recovery bill would "reward ACORN" echoed a frequently asserted myth that $4.19 billion of the economic recovery plan would go to ACORN. In fact, the provision, which would appropriate $4.19 billion "for neighborhood stabilization activities related to emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes as authorized under division B, title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008," requires that money be distributed through competitive processes. It states that "not less than $3,440,000,000 shall be allocated by a competition" to "States, units of general local government, and nonprofit entities or consortia of nonprofit entities." It also provides that "up to $750,000,000 shall be awarded by competition to nonprofit entities or consortia of nonprofit entities to provide community stabilization assistance." In a January 28 press release and January 29 piece for The Huffington Post, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis denied that ACORN is eligible for the "neighborhood stabilization funds" and stated that it does not intend to apply for them.
Moreover, Van Susteren failed to challenge Graham's claim that "only 17 percent" of the economic recovery bill -- which Graham characterized as a "a massive spending bill that will not stimulate the economy" -- "gets spent in the first year." But in analyzing the proposed Senate version, CBO stated that it expects approximately 26 percent of the budgetary effect to occur in fiscal year 2009, and that approximately 20 percent of the budgetary effects of the House version would occur in the first fiscal year. Further, while the bills' budget effects would continue beyond fiscal year 2010, in January 27 testimony before the House Budget Committee, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said that fiscal stimulus in 2011 or later would be effective in the current economic situation, in which economic output is projected to remain below its potential even after the beginning of the recovery
From the February 5 edition of Fox News' On the Record with Greta Van Susteren:
GRAHAM: And I'm telling the president and our Democratic colleagues, if you push through the Congress a massive spending bill that will not stimulate the economy -- only 17 percent gets spent in the first year -- you're going to lose the ability to go back to the public and spend money on housing.
GRAHAM: The root cause of this problem economically, Greta, is housing. There's really nothing in this bill to fix the banking problem or the housing problem. It's just a massive spending bill without focus.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, here's -- I mean, when I look at this, it seems so unwieldy to me and it looks like, you know, how can you possibly -- I mean --
GRAHAM: Looks like we made it up?
VAN SUSTEREN: It looks like you made it up. But I'm thinking --
GRAHAM: We are.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, I look at the list of Democratic senators, some who I've known for years, and I think, you know, they're not insane.
GRAHAM: They're not.
VAN SUSTEREN: I mean -- I mean, what's their thinking on this?
GRAHAM: Well, what happened --
VAN SUSTEREN: You're a good lawyer. Tell me what --
GRAHAM: Well, here's what happened. It started in the House. The House produced a product that was -- Nancy Pelosi said, we won, we write the bill. They created a monstrosity of a bill. They couldn't get one Republican, lost 11 Democrats. Now the left is behind this bill, the hard left, so it comes to the Senate, and any Democrat that wants to be reasonable, like support the McCain amendment, is getting killed.
MoveOn.org has a phone tree, an email tree, so they're trying to protect this bill from reason. And what I'm trying to ask of my Democratic colleagues is, let's slow down, get in a room like Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill did, and spend a few days seeing if we can spend less and do more. The goal is to create jobs, not grow the government in the fourth and fifth year of spending. The goal is not to reward ACORN. The goal is to jump-start the economy.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. We only have about 45 seconds left. Is this going to pass? I mean, the president has -- there are a lot of Democrats in the Senate and the House.
GRAHAM: I think --
VAN SUSTEREN: They own the two houses.
And on what channel is Greta Van Susteren's show? That would be FOX News. How can these people get away with this bull day after day after day...? The problem is that ACORN has been so demonized by the Republicans that any campaign by proponents of the stimulus package to set the record straight simply calls more attention to ACORN. So, in the meantime, FOX has free reign to spread the lie. Just freakin' amazing. Republicans aren't interested ion the truth...truth appears nowhere in the Republican play book. They are only interested in winning. Hey, how about some more tax cuts for people who need them the least? Disgusting...
Oh, get over it.
The fact is that Graham was right - it's only a mental recession. Our economy will be fine if you only believe in America. Do you believe? Clap your hands if you believe. Yes, that's right. Come on everybody - clap. That's it! I think it's coming around! Come on, everyone! If you believe in America, clap your hands! Don't let America die! Clap!! Clap!!! Clap you baaastaaaaards....!!!!!
Wait a minute. I thought it was just because the American people are whiners as to why we "thought" we were in a recession. At least, that's what McCain's economic adviser told us in October (I think that it was). If we would all just STOP whining about losing our jobs, houses, income, and everything we've worked for, this will ALL get better.
"How can these people get away with this bull day after day after day...?"
That's easy.... for the same reason the likes of Rush and Savage are able to be on over 300 stations on the radio and yet claim that they are being suppressed by liberals, progressives, those of us living in the real world.....
The use of continual fear, the use of all that patriotic crap they put all over the screen, and that "Fair and Balanced' banner.... the weak minded among us fall for it... and as long as they do... these clowns will keep it up!
Throughout our history, whenever we've faced economic collapse, blame has been placed on those who have very little. The government, and those who control talk radio are using the same game plan that's been used in every financial downturn this country has faced.
Blame the immigrants. Blame the people who bought homes they couldn't afford. Blame those receiving food stamps. Blame that damned ACORN!
But don't even think of placing any blame on the deregulated markets, or the transfer of wealth up the chain. Don't mention tax cuts during war time. The message needs to be wrenched from those who control it.
Even those of us making six figure salaries have more in common with poorly paid illegal immigrants than we do with the Rush Limbaughs and Lindsey Grahams of the world.
America needs to ignore those that divide us and listen to Benjamin Franklin.
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. "
This would be kind of amusing if there weren't so much at stake. The Republicans are lying through their teeth, and using their media holdings to totally misinform the public.
Speaking of big paychecks and hypocrisy, the latest comedy is coming from Senate Republicans on the proposed cap of Bank CEO salaries.
Senator Inhofe said: "as I was listening to him make those statements I thought, is this still America? Do we really tell people how to run [a business], and who to pay and how much to pay?"
Now, I wonder if Inhofe expressed equal outrage when Republicans were demanding that UAW workers take a pay cut?
snoopy,
So are you suggesting anyone who moves jobs overseas be executed?
It is hard to know when you are serious. I'll just assume from now on that you are not.
Nerzog,
The correct analogy would be Obama telling the unions to take the pay cut.
I'm amazed that somebody with your record of failure is suggesting corrections to anybody.
Conservatives just can't do analogies can they. It's a fascinating by-product of black and white thinking, so I understand your frustration.
Let me help you.
1. Obama is telling the CEOs to take a pay cut before they can receive government bailout money.
2. Congressional Republicans demanded that the UAW would have to take a pay cut before the auto companies could receive government bailout money.
Those same Republicans are now raising hell in defense of the downtrodden CEOs, even though they demanded the same sacrifice from auto workers.
It's not that complicated, really.
Exactly, King. And it's not the rich or the almost-rich they have to fool, it's those just above the have-nots who have to have a threat created in the lowest rung.
And I would disagree with MMFA's headline here-- Van Susteren didn't ignore Grahams BS, she aided and abetted them by broadcasting them on her TV show.
"only 17 percent gets spent in the first year"
Wasn't it 25% just a few days ago? These lying bastards are just making sh*t up now.
It looks like this is the hill the Republicans have chosen to die on. Even GOP "moderates" like Graham and Alexander are groveling and kissing Rush Limbaugh's ring.
I guess they figure they've got little to lose, and it may pay off for them. Even if the Democrats manage to pick off one Republican and get the bill passed, there is still a good chance that the economy won't be much better by 2010. If that happens, they can blame George (Numbnuts) Bush's mess on the Stimulus Bill, and the "Liberal Media" will help them do it.
That's it, Mary. If they can distract the simpletons with ACORN, Bill Ayers, Obama smoking in some old photos, anything to do with Pelosi or Reid, it's that much easier to keep the real news in the background.
I can't wait until AA gets back here and hyperventilates again about how bad and evil ACORN is (imagine the gall of those people, trying to help the poor and lower income folks around us, jeesh...).
Did you see Barney's latest propaganda site he was using as a source? Some lobbyist who is paid millions by corporations to keep minimum wage as close to third world levels as possible.
Add that to Michelle Malkin, Fox news, and that Nat'l Right to Work union-busting PAC.Oh, and Barney's occasional original thought. Har!
It's fascinating that ACORN seems to be the only real victim of the 2008 election campaign. Ayers is finally out of the media, the birth certificate controversy seems to be over, and Obama WON the election. ACORN, however, even though 99% don't know who they are or what they do, is EVIL and must be stopped. Heck, even McCain, who LOST a decisive election, gets more favorable news coverage. Did you know he opposes the stimulus package? It has PORK, the only word McCain knows in Senate economic discussions.
McCain has been a major disappointment for many people, who thought he was a man of principle. Been a long time since I bought into that one.
Maybe MMFA should correct the notion around here that it is only the Republicans who don't like this bill.
GRAHAM: Well, here's what happened. It started in the House. The House produced a product that was -- Nancy Pelosi said, we won, we write the bill. They created a monstrosity of a bill. They couldn't get one Republican, lost 11 Democrats. Now the left is behind this bill, the hard left, so it comes to the Senate, and any Democrat that wants to be reasonable, like support the McCain amendment, is getting killed.
Here is how some of the billions are to be spent.
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$4 billion for job-training programs, including $1.2 billion for “youths” up to the age of 24
$1 billion for community-development block grants
$4.2 billion for “neighborhood stabilization activities”
$650 million for digital-TV coupons; $90 million to educate “vulnerable populations”
We can argue the merits of any or all of these, but they are not anywhere near a stimulus to create new jobs unless you count job trainers and University construction workers.
People here won't accept that the wording in the bill makes it clear that ACORN or one of it's 75 subsidiaries will be eligible to get their hands on some of that $4.2 billion. Considering their bullying tactics, their shady structure, and their lack of oversight over voter registration, they are a lightening rod for Republicans to demonstrate how our liberal President and the Democratic Party are using this crisis to go on the largest pet liberal program spending spree in our nation's history.
I find it rather amusing that so many here who used to lambast Bush for his deficits and applauded Clinton for the balanced budget, ignore their flip-flop. This so called stimulus plan spends more money than all the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined to date. And Obama and the Democrats are trying to bully this bill through before the American pulic realizes how pork-laden it really is. The Democratic Party leadership, including Obama, have been exposed.
Obama's campaign promise of a new type of government has already been broken and his administration is not yet a month old.
In case anyone is interested, the numbers I posted are from:
50 De-Stimulating Facts
Chapter and verse on a bad bill.
By Stephen Spruiell & Kevin Williamson
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjcyODIyZGM2MGU1ZDdkNDgxZDc3OTNjYjM4ZDY1ODI=
Nobody's interested. You're as dull as ever. But you seem to be more conscientious about your plagiarism, so points on that.
And again, you can just post a link to start with. Saves others the time of slogging past your nonsense, takes up less space in the thread, those who don't click on it don't miss anything, and it pre-empts any "inadvertent" plagiarizing. Give it a try.
"Here is how some of the billions are to be spent."
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program
$300 million for grants to combat violence against women
$15 billion for boosting Pell Grant college scholarships
$2 billion for federal child-care block grants
$6 billion for university building projects
I have no problem with any of the above mentioned.
And BTW, RIP the late-great Claiborne Pell. Thanks to him I went to JC for free, took a logic class (among other classes I enjoyed), and as a result, I can always see through your B.S.
You are entitled to your opinion. You probably should also have taken an economics class while you were at it. I'm glad you enjoyed your free class. I wonder if you passed?
These programs, as highminded as they may be, are not designed to stimulate the economy nor do they create new jobs... except maybe university construction.
Obama and the Democrats are simply deceiving the public by including these types of spending in an emergency 'stimulus' bill. Clearly they are not 'stimulus'. I hope you see the logic.
Me neither. I think it's hysterical that idiots like AA think that listing these "wasteful projects" will cause us to slap our hands to our foreheads and scream "OHMIGOD the Republicans are RIGHT, how RIDICULOUS!!" Actually, all those programs help build infrastructure and CREATE JOBS-- and thus, are STIMULUS PROGRAMS.
First, let's put some of these in perspective. Pretend that you give a relative, who's struggling, $850 to help him get by. Would you take the money back if he spent a nickel on a pack of gum? That's the equivalent of what is proposed for the National Endowment for the Arts. A nickel. Get over it.
Now, as for job creation, several of these could save or create jobs. Maybe the Pell Grants would not create jobs directly, but it would help thousands of families send their kids to college without tapping into their 401Ks. Can the stock market stand much more tapping?
Of course, I'm sure the Rush Limbaugh Party will argue that sending people to college has no stimulative effect... look how far Rush got without a college education.
And think of the damage to the GOP if more people, like Onionhead, were to take logic classes. Any wonder why neocons are constantly bad-mouthing education?
Nerzog,
Thanks for making my point. Those listed above are not job creating programs. Therefore they should not be part of an emergency 'stimulus' bill.
Right now, most colleges are cutting back on personnel. So the extra tuition paid for by the government may save some existing college jobs, but it doesn't create new ones for the student even if it does make the student's skill set more competitive in the job market.
How does $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts create new jobs?
How does $60 million for digital tv coupons create new jobs?
"$380 million in the Senate bill for the Women, Infants and Children program"
OK, we'll put you down for being against economic relief to those who need it most in times of trouble. Good to know.
I didn't say I was against that program. (I am not sure what it all entails.) My argument is that the WIC program does not stimulate the economy nor create jobs. It is most likely an assistance program. These types of programs should be handled separately and not tossed in like earmarks into this emergency stimulus bill.
I know you have to check with the on-air overlords to decide if you want the government to step in to help all those kids who refuse to pull up their boot straps and won't stop whining just because their parents haven't been able to find jobs for a long time. I'll give you a sneak preview, Rush and Hannity say they are all freeloaders who just want checks without having to work for them.
It's not just a stimulus bill, its a stimulus AND relief bill. WIC is completely appropriate and belongs there. You just will believe any old thing the right tells you to.
AA, I know in wing nut land, you're used to guilty UNTIL proved innocent, but we live in the U.S.A!
ACRON has said they won't apply for ANY of the neighborhood funds and UNTIL they do? THEY ARE INNOCENT!
Republican "lighting rods" are endless...........anyone else having sex, any and all kinds of sex, unless approved by God, contraceptives, ACORN, food stamps, tax relief for the middle class, union auto workers and on and on.
WHO cares about Republican lighting rods?
I find NOTHING amusing about over 4,000 DEAD and over 25,000 injured Americans for a war that we DIDN'T need to start, I find NOTHING amusing about FAILING to protect over 3,000 people on 9/11. I find NOTHING amusing about endless spending by the Republican controlled government for 6 YEARS while giving tax cuts to the 1% wealthiest Americans who DIDN"T NEED IT. I find NOTHING amusing about the loss of over 2 million JOBS. NOTHING amusing about the humongous drop in home values and hughmongous number of home foreclosures, on and on!
I'm really pi**ed off that we NOW have to spend all this damn money to fix the fu*k up that was 8 years of Republican governing!
Amusing? H*LL NO!
WHO do YOU think you're fooling? You NEVER planned to give the Obama government a chance in the first damn place!
Hey Pearlene!
Long time no read. Nice to see you. Great post as usual. I share your anger and can't understand how some (AA) are still standing behind the president, the ex-president that is. And our Dark Overload Mr. Cheney.
Since you mentioned contraception, are you aware that most forms of contraception don't prevent either disease of pregnancy?
I never knew that until our friend AA pointed it out to the class last week. Dropped it out of thin air too. No one was discussing it. But he always has to teach all of us dullards.
I can't believe that everything I've ever learned or done has been wrong. If not for people like AA, I'd still be in the dark and clueless to all of my sinful ways.
I appreciate the fact theat you have you powers of mind reading to have preconceived ideas about what I plan and plan not to do regarding the Obama government. Oh. By the way. You are wrong again.
However, my plans aside, bringing up what you find unamusing is off topic. I disagree with you that it is all the Republicans fault, although they do share the blame.
This isn't a court of law. So trying to prove someone or group is innocent is superfluous. ACORN is a shadowy and corrupt organization that hides behind at least 75 different entities and is owned primarily by Wade Rathke and family. They say they fight for families and unions, but not when it comes to themselves.
ACORN was found guilty by the National Labor Relations Board of illegally busting a unionization drive of its employees.
In an earlier case, a former employee reported that after employees provided Rathke with a petition demanding union recognition:
http://seiuexposed.com/bustingunions.cfm
Rathke's brother embezzled about a million dollars but the family covered it up from it's own board. The following is from the NYT 7-9-2008.
The brother, Dale Rathke, embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000, Acorn officials said, but a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group’s board members and not to alert law enforcement.
...Dale Rathke remained on Acorn’s payroll Wade Rathke said the organization had signed a restitution agreement with his brother in which his family agreed to repay the amount embezzled in exchange for confidentiality.
Wade Rathke stepped down as Acorn’s chief organizer on June 2, the same day his brother left, but he remains chief organizer for Acorn International L.L.C.
Sor forgive me Perlene, when I see that Obama's organization paid almost a million to Rathke's organization during the primaries and then claimed the lack of reporting as a "clerical" mistake.
Now we see a "stimulus" bill that in reality is a pork-laden spending bill with wording that billions of dollars are availabl to "community stability organizations". Knowing that ACORN has already availed itself to millions of federal block grant money, it doesn't take a gigantic leap to conclude that Rathke and Co. will go after this easy money too.
Obama has all the chances in the world to show me he is for change we can believe in. Unfortunately he has proven time and again that his rhetoric does not match his actions. This stimulus bill is but one of many examples already that Obama is playing the same old tune.
it doesn't take a gigantic leap to conclude that Rathke and Co. will go after this easy money too.
Maybe in your cranial vacuum.
"seiuexposed.com"? Hmmm, and who runs that? The Center For Union Facts you say? And what is it that they do? Oh, they're an astroturf organization that actively fights against unionization and happens to be run by Richard Berman. Berman's lobbyist group is also behind several other front groups: The Center for Consumer Freedom which uses libretarian sounding "consumer choice" propoganda to fight against food and beverage production and serving regulations; The American Beverage Institute, which lobbys against alcohol consumption laws; and the Employment Policies Institute, which tries to argue that higher minimum wage laws are actually harmful to those who would work for those wages.
Your sources are always so lovely AA, one could fertilize a Victory Garden for years with them.
People here won't accept that the wording in the bill makes it clear that ACORN or one of it's 75 subsidiaries will be eligible to get their hands on some of that $4.2 billion. Considering their bullying tactics, their shady structure, and their lack of oversight over voter registration, they are a lightening rod for Republicans to demonstrate how our liberal President and the Democratic Party are using this crisis to go on the largest pet liberal program spending spree in our nation's history.
OK Bucktooth, why does every post you make get dumber? At this point you are houseplant stupid. No, my houseplants at least seem to have enough cellular intelligence to manage their transpiratory cycle. You, on the other hand, seem barely able to control your bowels--that is the only place the garbage you come up with on every thread could come from. This nonsense (the Democrats' bill makes groups like ACORN eligible for a $4.19 billion pot of money for 'neighborhood stabilization activities') originated with John Boehner to which they sent an unambiguous response:
Now if Boehner has any evidence that ACORN has other plans he shuld produce it. He can't so he won't. I won't ask you Bucktooth for any evidence to back up your assertions of 'bullying', 'shady structure' because you don't seem to know the meaning of the word evidence. As for their "lack of oversight" over voter registration you need to read their publication: ACORN's Voter Registration Drive: Myths and Realities. Page 2 gives a detailed account of how their voting registration efforts were conducted. Note especially:
This happens in any large registration effort. From ACORN:
This whole effort to discredit ACORN's registration effort was nothing more than a cog in a transparent co-ordinated effort to suppress the vote. No proof has ever been provided that ACORN acted improperly in any way. But you never cared for the truth anyway. You're a worthless troll. The only reason you are tolerated
here is because of your side-splitting stupidity.
Your insults are juvenile.
Citing Acorn as your source in their defense is laughable as citing MMFA's mission statement when so many threads are simply far left agenda driven and have nothing to do with conservative misinformation.
What ACORN (and MMFA) say and what they do are two different things. Yes, ACORN has turned in a few who have obviously broken the law in voter registration, but the pattern of corruption is so widespread by so many in the organization that these few instances of self whistle-blowing do not convince me.
Add to it the bullying (Alinsky) tactics it used to help people who couldn't afford home loans be loaned to anyway, and on top of that add to it's shadowy structure run basically by one family, it's endorsements of the Democratic Pary and I find that ACORN and this provision of the stimulus bill do not pass the smell test.
but the pattern of corruption is so widespread
Lie #1
Add to it the bullying (Alinsky) tactics it used to help people who couldn't afford home loans be loaned to anyway
Lie #2
I'll give you credit for one thing - you are the most consistent liar on this site.
Let's begin by reviewing what this thread is actually about Bucktooth: whether or not ACORN is in any way eligible for a portion of the $4.19 billion for neighborhood stabilization activities. So why don't you cough up evidence that anything about your baseless assertions are true? All you have provided are weasel words about "patterns of corruption" and "shadowy structure" yet no specific evidence that your paranoid delusions are grounded in reality. So on one hand we have ACORN's frank and factual response to baseless allegations and on the other people like you who keep citing the same nonsensical talking points over and over, as if repeating an idiocy often enough will make it credible. How are ACORN's factual assertions about how their voting drive was conducted invalid? Because ACORN is making the assertion? That is just plain idiotic. It is a genetic fallacy (which is a type of as hominem argument). Furthermore no one has provided any evidence showing that facts cited in ACORNs letter are false in any way--but clearly you didn't bother to read it. In fact you clearly didn't read the post generating this thread. The point is that Graham was making unsubstantiated assertions about ACORN that they had denied and Van Susteren failed to challenge Graham's assertions. My insults are juvenile? No they are well deserved epithets conveying our extreme displeasure at having to tolerate your nonsense on thread after thread. Alinsky? Off topic. But your weasel assertions are made without corroborating evidence--as always. Yah got nothin...class dismissed.