About us Login Get email updates
Research
Print

REPORT: Fox News has hyped phony New Black Panthers scandal at least 95 times

Fox devoted more than 8 hours of airtime to discussion of New Black Panthers

July 16, 2010 5:26 pm ET — 96 Comments

Six Fox News shows have discussed the phony New Black Panthers scandal during a total of 95 segments since Megyn Kelly's June 30 interview hyping the unsubstantiated allegations of right-wing activist J. Christian Adams. In all, these Fox shows have devoted more than eight hours of airtime to discussing the New Black Panthers.

Adams' accusations don't stand up to the facts

  • Adams is a longtime right-wing activist who is known for filing an ethics complaint against Hugh Rodham that was subsequently dismissed. Adams served as a poll watcher for George W. Bush in Florida in 2004, and he reportedly volunteered for a Republican group that trains lawyers to fight "racially tinged battles over voting rights."
  • Adams was hired at the Justice Department in 2005 by Bradley Schlozman, who was found by the Justice Department's inspector general and Office of Professional Responsibility to have improperly considered political affiliation when hiring career attorneys -- the former head of the DOJ voting rights section reportedly said that Adams was "exhibit A of the type of people hired by Schlozman."
  • Adams has admitted that he does not have firsthand knowledge of the events, conversations, and decisions that he is citing to advance his accusations.
  • The Bush administration's Justice Department -- not the Obama administration -- made the decision not to pursue criminal charges against members of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation at a polling center in Philadelphia in 2008.
  • The Obama administration successfully obtained default judgment against King Samir Shabazz, a member of the New Black Panther Party who was carrying a nightstick outside the Philadelphia polling center.
  • The Bush administration DOJ chose not to pursue similar charges against members of the Minutemen, one of whom allegedly carried a weapon while harassing Hispanic voters in Arizona in 2006.
  • No voters have come forward to claim that they were intimidated and did not vote because of the New Black Panthers' presence outside the polling center.
  • The Republican vice chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, which is currently investigating the Justice Department's decision, has said that the case is "very small potatoes" and that it has been surrounded by "overheated rhetoric filled with insinuations and unsubstantiated charges." She has further stated that the investigation has not "served the interests of the Commission" and that the DOJ has given a "plausible argument" for not pursuing additional charges in the case.

Fox News has discussed phony scandal during at least 95 segments

Media Matters reviewed Fox News' coverage of the phony New Black Panther Party scandal on America Live and Fox News' evening shows available in Nexis from June 30 through July 14:

  • America Live has discussed the phony scandal during 45 segments totaling more than 3.5 hours since Kelly's June 30 interview with Adams.
  • The O'Reilly Factor has discussed the phony scandal during 18 segments totaling more than 1 hour since Kelly's interview.
  • Glenn Beck has discussed the phony scandal during 15 segments totaling more than 2 hours since Kelly's interview.
  • Hannity has discussed the phony scandal during 10 segments totaling more than 42 minutes since Kelly's interview.
  • Special Report with Bret Baier has discussed the phony scandal during 6 segments totaling more than 14 minutes since Kelly's interview.
  • On the Record with Greta Van Susteren has discussed the phony scandal during 1 segment totaling more than 7 minutes since Kelly's interview.

segmentshours

Expand All Expand 1st Level Collapse All Add Comment
    • Author by southerngal (July 16, 2010 5:33 pm ET)
      23 5
      Now on this I say MMfA is dead on target. Kelly and her some of her Fox cohorts ought to be ashamed the way they have trumpeted this non-story.

      I guess they feel that inciting this racial tension is good news for them, or their candidates, or their ratings. Their lack of moral responsibility in place of hyped up racial hysteria is sickening.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by LagalLeft (July 19, 2010 10:55 am ET)
        6 3
        Sadly, for her, Ms. Kelly's ''explosive expose, of this ''scandal'' is a FoxNoise non story.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by txthinker (July 16, 2010 5:35 pm ET)
      18 2
      The following graph shows the number of hours Fox spent discussing actual news events that were untinged by pro-Republicna hype:































      :-)
      Report Abuse
      • Author by TheSarge (July 16, 2010 5:56 pm ET)
        18 3
        And the following graph shows the number of days in the last 10 yeasr where Fox News did not lie about something.


















































        :D
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Rodney King (July 16, 2010 5:52 pm ET)
      1 4
      It would be nice to have some context - for example - what the Black Panther guy said about white people - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhYL-gmPdwg



      Report Abuse
    • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 5:55 pm ET)
      13 3
      Can't wait to see what they say about a REAL scandal.... like the GOP leadership trying to scuttle the country's economic system through deregulation and incessant tax cuts to the rich.

      Should I hold my breath?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by fairliberal (July 16, 2010 7:22 pm ET)
        6 19
        I am glad you brought up that deregulation issue, I constantly hear about "the Bush deregulation" and it's effect on the economy. Since you are so aware of the scandal of deregulation, could you please point out some of the deregulation laws that were signed into law by Bush? And one other point, could you please show how examples of the incessant tax cuts to the rich. It would be a terrible policy to give tax cuts to only the wealthy and not to all Americans.

        Thank you, I'll await your enlightened reply. Should I hold my breath?
        Report Abuse
        • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 7:42 pm ET)
          18 7
          Bush was involved with stealth deregulation.... he put industry hacks in charge of regulatory agencies:

          Examples:

          Eugene Scalia, appointed to be Labor Department Solicitor. Scalia’s sympathies were unlikely to be on the side of labor since his previous job was specializing in anti-labor law and representing the management side in labor disputes. He also represented many of the companies that were opposing the new ergonomic rules that were later abandoned by the Department.

          Jeffrey Holmstead, who became the EPA's assistant administrator for Air and Radiation. How protective could he be of the environment when he formerly worked as a lawyer representing numerous corporations seeking to block environmental regulations? He eventually headed the administration’s efforts to relax clean air requirements for coal-fired power plants – a move that Sen. James Jeffords called “the biggest rollback of the Clear Air Act in history.”

          Marianne Horinko, Asst. Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response – in charge of the Superfund program to clean up toxic waste sites. Before this, she worked as an attorney representing the industry side in Superfund suits. The rate at which Superfund sites were being cleaned up fell dramatically under the Bush Administration.

          Michael F. Duffy, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. His primary experience was working as an attorney for the National Mining Association and the American Mining Congress.

          Chuck Lambert, United States Department of Agriculture official in charge of regulating the meat packing industry. His previous job was working for a lobbying group for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. He was just one of a dozen people with ties to the meat industry who were appointed to the USDA, leading one consumer advocate to observe that “the USDA gives the impression of being a wholly owned subsidiary of America’s cattlemen."

          These are just a few of the many agencies taken over by hacks.

          As far as the tax cuts to the rich go.... just look at the deficit and the amount of it attributed to Bush's tax cuts:


          http://www.cbpp.org/archivesite/1-25-05bud-f1.jpg
          Report Abuse
          • Author by fairliberal (July 16, 2010 7:57 pm ET)
            9 20
            Stealth deregulation, what garbage. And you cite individuals who had nothing to do with the financial industry. Why not admit it and just agree that it was the Clinton deregualtion that led to the recession. But of course if you or anyone else can point to any specific laws , I will reexamine my position. Of course maybe I'm wrong and those cattlemen had a big influence on the mortgage markets like Clinton and his pals, Dodd, Frank, Pelosi, Waters, just to name a few.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 8:02 pm ET)
              15 4
              First off... there are regulations in the financial reform bill.... what do you republicans want to do with it?

              REPEAL! REPEAL! REPEAL!

              So whoever you seem to think is responsible for the meltdown doesn't matter to me. The GOP wants to deregulate NOW!

              So lets talk turkey.... sre you or are you not in favor of deregulation?

              Answer or be ignored!
              Report Abuse
              • Author by diamonds (July 19, 2010 3:21 pm ET)
                1 4
                Yeah, because massive regulation, forcing banks to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back, 1% Fed Funds rates for several years, government ownership of most home loans, and massive government spending and capital production structure distortions has nothing to do with the financial crisis.

                You are right, the GOP doesn't have the fixes, deregulation alone won't do anything, and could in fact temporarily make the problem worse. But the financial reform bill doesn't even do anything but exacerbate the problems! How many times does government have to miserably fail before we realize it is literally impossible for the government to stop a recession, in fact, when it is government's hand in inflating the currency that causes the malinvestments (housing) that creates the business cycle in the first place?!

                Who in their right mind lets the authors of the financial reform legislation be the very people who said there was nothing wrong with the markets, riding their housing values all the way down to nothing? What about those who said Hey look at what you are doing to housing and investment markets STOP This will cause an even deeper downturn!? No word.
                Report Abuse
              • Author by diamonds (July 19, 2010 3:21 pm ET)
                5 6
                Yeah, because massive regulation, forcing banks to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back, 1% Fed Funds rates for several years, government ownership of most home loans, and massive government spending and capital production structure distortions has nothing to do with the financial crisis.

                You are right, the GOP doesn't have the fixes, deregulation alone won't do anything, and could in fact temporarily make the problem worse. But the financial reform bill doesn't even do anything but exacerbate the problems! How many times does government have to miserably fail before we realize it is literally impossible for the government to stop a recession, in fact, when it is government's hand in inflating the currency that causes the malinvestments (housing) that creates the business cycle in the first place?!

                Who in their right mind lets the authors of the financial reform legislation be the very people who said there was nothing wrong with the markets, riding their housing values all the way down to nothing? What about those who said Hey look at what you are doing to housing and investment markets STOP This will cause an even deeper downturn!? No word.
                Report Abuse
                • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 3:27 pm ET)
                  4 3
                  No know word for your nonsense.
                  Report Abuse
                  • Author by diamonds (July 19, 2010 3:37 pm ET)
                    3 4
                    Oh thank you for pointing out exactly how this is nonsense, you drove a stake right through the heart of my argument and I would like to announce I am changing my position in light of your insightful arguments, thank you.
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 3:43 pm ET)
                      4 2
                      I gave your comments the respect they deserved . Your welcome!!!
                      Report Abuse
            • Author by pilotx (July 16, 2010 9:27 pm ET)
              10 1
              Somewhat true. Clinton did sign deregulation laws that were championed by Phil Gramm. The Republican controlled senate and congress wrote and pushed it along. Both parties have alot to answer for.
              Report Abuse
              • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 10:04 pm ET)
                9 1
                I agree... but fair"liberal" seems to think that deregulation is still OK.

                I can tell by the fact that he couldn't answer a single question.
                Report Abuse
                • Author by open_mind (July 17, 2010 12:24 am ET)
                  3 1
                  I will agree that GWB did not de-regulate. He didn't have to. There wasn't much left he could have done. I blame Bush for not re-regulating in areas that needed it. Clinton was not in office when the NINA loans were being pushed by the private banks (while they and their hedge fund partners were also heavily betting those same loans would fail).
                  Report Abuse
                  • Author by fairliberal (July 17, 2010 3:29 am ET)
                    8 13
                    Well then you should be blaming the dems for blocking Bush's efforts to reregulate Fannnie and Freddie. We can only guess if that would have warded off the collapse but certainly it would have mitigated it. And if Fannie Mae had not been willing to buy those mortgages no one would have been pushing them.

                    It's far more complicated than just this but it was the starthttp://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/09/10/the-people-responsible-for-fannie-mae-and-freddie-.aspx

                    "In Bush's first year in office, the White House chief economist, N. Gregory Mankiw, warned that the government's "implicit subsidy" of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, combined with loans to unqualified borrowers, was creating a huge risk for the entire financial system"

                    http://www.dcjunkies.com/showthread.php?t=6138
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by open_mind (July 17, 2010 8:13 am ET)
                      11 1
                      Well then you should be blaming the dems for blocking Bush's efforts to reregulate Fannnie and Freddie.
                      The bill you are referring to has been retroactively and conveniently turned into some sort of "magic bullet" that would have averted the entire financial crisis. In reality, it was just an attempt to get Fannie and Freddie out of buying so many (at the time) profitable sub-prime mortgages - which they actually did anyway over the subsequent years. In the end, it only served to move the effects of the sub-prime meltdown from a government backed entity to Wall Street, who promptly took bailout money for the failure (along with Fannie and Freddie) and then profited from betting the loans would fail as well.

                      Both parties have some blame here. I am not arguing the Democrats were perfect either, but I find it deeply disingenuous to pretend that the Bush Administration had any motivation to put forth any meaningful and effective regulation. Heck even the fact that Republicans blame Clinton for something that happened 7 years after Clinton left office (of which Republicans had full control of the Presidency, the House and the Senate for almost 5 years) concedes that the Republicans did not do anything and would not conceivably do anything to actually avert the crisis.

                      Oh and I think it's cute that you quote a blog that quotes WorldNetDaily as their source. Classic.
                      Report Abuse
                  • Author by temphandle sextillion55gloomy (July 17, 2010 6:03 am ET)
                    1  
                    What about the bankruptcy bill?
                    Report Abuse
                • Author by fairliberal (July 17, 2010 1:12 am ET)
                  7 12
                  I never stated that deregulation is either bad or good, but regulation simply for show, is pointless. And having Chris Dodd and Barney Frank involved in the process is like the fox guarding the henhouse. Pilotx is absolutely correct in more than one way. My point was that the "Bush deregulation" that we have heard so many dems attest to is a myth, it never happened. It was Clinton era laws that deregulated the financial markets. Pilotx cited the Commodity Futures Modernization Act sponsored by Sen Gramm. It was indeed signed by Clinton and sponsored by Gramm. It also passed in the Senate by unanimous consent, no democratic opposition what so ever. Why would the dems agree to this bill? Because they were getting their mortgage programs to tinker with by controlling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Pilotx is also absolutely correct in stating that both parties have a lot to answer for. You can blame Bush for not reregulating the markets, but not for the deregulation itself. And Bush did attempt to reregulate Fannie and Freddie but was blocked by the dems. Then he gave up and went along for the ride. 2 presidents and 2 parties, they are all to blame. And Wall St and all the instant real estate experts and house flippers were also a factor.

                  And while you say I couldn't answer a single question, you never answered a single question I posed in the first place. And to bring the cattlemen into the discussion is udder nonsense.
                  Report Abuse
                  • Author by didi (July 17, 2010 7:28 am ET)
                    12 2
                    "And while you say I couldn't answer a single question, you never answered a single question I posed in the first place"

                    Upon review I was talking about deregulation in the CURRENT GOP.... you decided to go on a nostalgic trip back to the financial crisis. I answered your questions. You kept changing the subject.
                    Go fish!

                    Nice touch with the udder nonsense line but levity will not change my reply.
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by fantagor (July 17, 2010 5:56 pm ET)
                      4 1
                      udder nonsense


                      I think that's the name of a dairy farm just outside of Alpine Valley, Wisconsin.

                      Randy
                      Report Abuse
                    • Author by ironrod (July 18, 2010 10:28 am ET)
                      2 1
                      Do you really mean "udder" or did you mean to type "utter".
                      Report Abuse
                  • Author by didi (July 17, 2010 8:02 am ET)
                    8 4
                    By the way..... you STILL never answered MY questions.... I'll repost them so that you can ignore them again:

                    Now my turn.... do you believe in deficit reduction?

                    Are you or are you not in favor of deregulation?

                    Come on.... you can do it... all it takes is a little gray matter.
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by MiniTru (July 18, 2010 1:41 pm ET)
                      2 3
                      <crickets>
                      Report Abuse
                    • Author by fairliberal (July 18, 2010 2:17 pm ET)
                      4 7
                      Deficit reduction, sure I am absolutely in favor of it, I only wish that Obama and the dems were . Deregulation? it can't be answered in the absolute, some regulation is necessary in every industry, regulation simply for show is stupid, that is what Obama and the dems are doing now. They could have sat down and in 15 minutes written a bill that would have reinstated Glass Steagall and repealed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act , 2 Clinton era bills, it would have passed easily. Those 2 Clinton era bills are 2 of the major reasons for the meltdown. Instead they have crafted a 2000 + page bill of needless new regs that will increase the cost of doing business in this country and consequently cost every American.

                      No, Obama won't raise you taxes, he'll just make everything you buy and every service you need cost more. Stealth taxation.
                      Report Abuse
                      • Author by didi (July 18, 2010 2:52 pm ET)
                        5 2
                        Do you really think the republicans are for deficit reduction?

                        With their campaign for the Bush tax cuts our deficit will balloon by trillions in the next 10 years. They also seem to think that the defense budget should not be touched when it is becoming increasingly clear that it's killing our ability to pay for other essential services.

                        So don't think the GOP has all the answers. You can't reduce the deficit by cutting social programs alone. And gutting social security is not an answer.

                        I agree that the REPUBLICANS repealing the Glass-Steagel act and the Commodity Futures Act along with Clinton signing them was a very bad idea but running to repeal the financial reform bill will leave us with the exact circumstances that got us into the problem to begin with.

                        Bottom line is that both parties don't have the guts to do what's right but the GOP is running to keep things the way they were. That DEFINITELY won't work.

                        Report Abuse
                        • Author by fairliberal (July 18, 2010 8:01 pm ET)
                          4 4
                          "I agree that the REPUBLICANS repealing the Glass-Steagel act and the Commodity Futures Act along with Clinton signing them was a very bad idea but running to repeal the financial reform bill will leave us with the exact circumstances that got us into the problem to begin with"

                          You still deny reality, the dereg bills were indeed sponsored by repubs, but were essentially bi-partisan as passed. The repubs got their deregulation of the financial industry and the dems got to deregulate the mortgage industry. Both of these were the primary reasons for the meltdown , to blame one party is just contrary to facts. Here is a guy at the democratic underground that explains it pretty clearly.

                          "OK I’ve looked into this a little more. The Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act of 1999 was introduced in the Senate by Phil Gramm (R-TX) as S. 900 and in the House of Representatives by James Leach (R-IA) as H.R. 10. S. 900 was passed along party lines 54-44 in the Senate by Roll Call Vote 105 on by May 6, 1999. H.R. 10 passed by a 343-86 bipartisan vote in the House 343-86 on July 1, 1999 by Roll Call Vote 276.

                          The bill was returned from conference for final votes in both Houses as S. 900. It passed 90-8 in the Senate on November 4, 1999 by Roll Call Vote 354 and passed 362-57 on the same day in the House by Roll Call Vote 570.

                          The Act had bipartisan support in the House from the beginning, but initially passed in the Senate virtually by a party line vote. What happened between May 6, 1999 and November 4, 1999 to convince Senate Democrats to support the bill? You might suppose that the final vote was just in regard to the changes that the Conference Committee had made and not on the overall substance of the legislation, but that argument doesn’t hold water.

                          The truth is, Senate Democrats supported the bill after Republicans agreed to strengthen provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act and address certain privacy concerns. This is why the bill was veto proof when it went to Clinton. But don’t be too quick to give Clinton a pass on this, since it’s likely that he would have signed the bill anyway. He and Congressional Democrats seemed interested in only these two issues, and were apparently unconcerned about repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

                          Republicans Propose a Deal on Financial Services - New York Times - October 13, 1999

                          The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 notwithstanding, Phil Gramm deserves blame because it is primarily he who introduced and sponsored the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. But nearly all members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, were complicit when the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 met its demise. The same is true of Bill Clinton and his administration"

                          http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4029575


                          And here is some info on the tax cuts and its effect on the deficit.

                          http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704738404575347302831199046.html
                          Report Abuse
                          • Author by didi (July 18, 2010 8:42 pm ET)
                            5 4
                            Using the Wall Street Journal and in particular an opinion piece to minimize the effects of the Bush tax cuts on the deficit seems to be untrustworthy.

                            I'm very aware of the fact that right wing blogs and media are trying to rewrite the effects of the Bush tax cuts to make it appear that the cuts did not fuel the deficit.

                            So here's MY source:

                            http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3036&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cbpp%2FfYJq+%28Center+on+Budget+and+Policy+Priorities%29

                            It includes a critique on the Heritage Foundation's "study" of the Bush tax cuts. OOPS... they forgot to include Interest on the new debt and the growth of the tax cuts in future years. Bad move!





                            Report Abuse
                            • Author by fairliberal (July 18, 2010 10:24 pm ET)
                              3 5
                              Well how about the CBO and the NY Times reporting on the increase in tax revenue after the Bush tax cuts for all Americans were passed. Are they also untrustworthy.

                              And it seems that your source is not so trustworthy after all...

                              According to New York Times reporter Matt Bai, CBPP is funded by the Democracy Alliance. According to Bai's account, representatives of CBPP attended a May 2006 meeting of the Democracy Alliance to "talk about the agendas they were busy crafting that would catapult Democratic politics into the economic future."

                              The same Democracy Alliance that also funds the Center for American Progress.

                              http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Center_on_Budget_and_Policy_Priorities/1

                              The Democracy Alliance is a donors collaborative established by a group of liberal political activists, labor unions and donors. Its members have given away more than $100 million to date to liberal nonprofit groups.[1] The first official meeting of the group took place near Scottsdale, Arizona in April 2005 in an atmosphere described by New York Times reporter Matt Bai as “intense secrecy”
                              Prominent members include George Soros, Peter B. Lewis, Susie Tompkins Buell, trial lawyer Guy Saperstein, trial lawyer Fred Baron, movie director Rob Reiner, Norman Lear, Drummond Pike, Rob McKay, Rutt Bridges, Patricia Stryker, Rob Glaser, Rob Johnson, Anne Bartley, Jonathan Heller, Charles Rodgers, Gail Furman, Davidi Gilo, Rachel Pritzker Hunter and the Service Employees International Union

                              http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/george_soros_group_behind_group_opposing_north_dakotas_measure_2/
                              Report Abuse
                          • Author by didi (July 18, 2010 8:44 pm ET)
                            5  
                            As far as deregulation goes I know that both parties are in on deregulation.... but why is the GOP so willing to kill the bank bill and a bunch of regulations along with it NOW?
                            Report Abuse
                          • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 4:00 pm ET)
                            3 2
                            And here is some info on the tax cuts and its effect on the deficit.

                            http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704738404575347302831199046----Fakeliberals sources

                            Pure Hogwash , WSJ sites a Heritage foundation study that has been debunked:

                            Critics Still Wrong on What’s Driving Deficits in Coming Years
                            Economic Downturn, Financial Rescues, and Bush-Era Policies Drive the Numbers

                            "...Most recently, a Heritage Foundation paper downplayed the role of Bush-era policies (for more on that paper, see p. 4). Nevertheless, the fact remains: Together with the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq explain virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years (see Figure 1).

                            The events and policies that have pushed deficits to these high levels in the near term, however, were largely outside the new Administration’s control. If not for the tax cuts enacted during the presidency of George W. Bush that Congress did not pay for, the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that were initiated during that period, and the effects of the worst economic slump since the Great Depression (including the cost of steps necessary to combat it), we would not be facing these huge deficits in the near term.

                            In December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the nation was in recession and pegged the starting date as December 2007. By the time CBO issued its new projections on January 7, 2009 — two weeks before Inauguration Day — it had already put the 2009 deficit at well over $1 trillion.[2]

                            The recession battered the budget, driving down tax revenues and swelling outlays for unemployment insurance, food stamps, and other safety-net programs.[3] Using CBO’s August 2008 projections as a benchmark, we calculate that the changed economic outlook accounts for over $400 billion of the deficit each year in 2009 through 2011 and slightly smaller amounts in subsequent years. Those effects persist; even in 2018, the deterioration in the economy since the summer of 2008 will account for over $250 billion in added deficits, much of it in the form of additional debt-service costs.

                            Bush Tax Cuts, War Costs Do Lasting Harm to Budget Outlook

                            Some commentators blame recent legislation — the stimulus bill and the financial rescues — for today’s record deficits. Yet those costs pale next to other policies enacted since 2001 that have swollen the deficit. Those other policies may be less conspicuous now, because many were enacted years ago and they have long since been absorbed into CBO’s and other organizations’ budget projections.

                            Just two policies dating from the Bush Administration — tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — accounted for over $500 billion of the deficit in 2009 and will account for almost $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 through 2019, including the associated debt-service costs. [6] (The prescription drug benefit enacted in 2003 accounts for further substantial increases in deficits and debt, which we are unable to quantify due to data limitations.) These impacts easily dwarf the stimulus and financial rescues. Furthermore, unlike those temporary costs, these inherited policies (especially the tax cuts and the drug benefit) do not fade away as the economy recovers (see Figure 1).
                            Without the economic downturn and the fiscal policies of the previous Administration, the budget would be roughly in balance over the next decade. That would have put the nation on a much sounder footing to address the demographic challenges and the cost pressures in health care that darken the long-run fiscal outlook.[7]


                            Heritage Foundation’s Analysis is Misleading
                            A recent Heritage Foundation report claims that tax cuts and other policies initiated during the Bush administration are not a significant factor behind the deficits we face in the coming decade.[10] Heritage places blame for the deficits squarely on rapid growth in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and interest costs, and dismisses the significance of weak revenues in general and the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts in particular. But Heritage’s analysis is both misguided and seriously misleading.

                            Heritage ignores the fact that rapidly-rising interest costs — one of its “culprits” behind rising outlays — result in significant part from the tax cuts and other fiscal policies of the Bush era . The tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan accounted for over $2.6 trillion of our national debt by the end of 2008 and, if continued, will add another $7 trillion in debt by 2019. In that year alone, about $450 billion of our interest bill will stem from those two policies. It is disingenuous to tar interest as a “fast-growing” spending program while ignoring which policies — including tax cuts — account for that fact.

                            Heritage admits that it understates the cost of the tax cuts by omitting their impact on rising net interest costs. “On the other hand,” Heritage asserts, “the original CBO scores of tax cuts have been underestimates because they excluded all supply-side feedback effects and overestimated the GDP between 2008 and 2011, which made all revenue and tax cut projections appear larger.” That convenient justification, however, misses the boat. We know that the tax cuts led to higher borrowing and larger debt-service costs. We do not know that they led to extra economic activity (or that they would have a positive effect on economic activity if made permanent). In fact, analyses of so-called “dynamic scoring” of tax cuts have found that: 1) such estimates generally come close to the standard estimates;[11] 2) stimulative effects may appear strong in the short run but tend to dissipate over longer horizons; and 3) most importantly, as both CBO and the Joint Committee on Taxation have concluded, large tax cuts financed by borrowing can harm the economy over the long term rather than help it. [12] In short, there is no reason to ignore the enormous debt overhang that the Bush tax cuts caused and plenty of reason to be skeptical of their economic benefits. Including the interest costs, the Bush-era tax cuts account for over $700 billion — or nearly 55 percent — of the deficit projected for 2019 under current policies.
                            Heritage ignores the fact that the share of deficits accounted for by the Bush-era tax cuts will grow in future years as the impact of the economic downturn on deficits diminishes . Because the economic downturn and efforts to combat it have such a large effect on the deficit in 2010, the share of the deficit accounted for by the tax cuts seems relatively modest; we estimate that the tax cuts account for about one quarter of the 2010 deficit. But as the effects of the downturn recede, the tax cuts will account for a much larger share. In 2019, the tax cuts, if continued, will account for nearly three-fifths of the deficit. And, despite the growing impact of rising health care costs and the continued aging of the population after 2019, the tax cuts will continue to have a major impact on the deficit. The Center has estimated that not extending the tax cuts — or fully paying for the cost of extending them — would reduce the projected budget shortfall through 2050 by two-fifths. [13]
                            In constructing its baseline, Heritage partly assumes its own conclusion. The baseline projections developed by Heritage generally resemble CBPP’s, with one crucial difference. Heritage assumes that regular discretionary spending (other than war costs and stimulus funds) will grow at the same rate as the GDP over the next 10 years. In contrast, we assume that such appropriations will grow somewhat more slowly in the 10-year budget window because they will grow with inflation; this is the standard, widely accepted baseline assumption. Heritage’s decision to scrap normal baseline practices and assume higher levels of discretionary spending boosts such spending by more than a full percentage point of GDP by the end of the ten-year period and adds to interest costs as well. Heritage then uses this increased spending it assumes to buttress its claim that it is excessive spending growth that causes the deficit. In theory, policymakers might choose to increase discretionary spending to keep pace with GDP, but that is highly unlikely in these straitened times. And that is not how the Budget Enforcement Act, CBO, and the Office of Management and Budget define “current policy” when they make their baseline budget projections for the coming decade. [14]
                            It was not a sudden spurt of growth in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid that turned projected budget surpluses into deficits . CBO and many budget analysts have long pointed out that the “big three” entitlement programs will swell in future decades as a result of an aging population and steady growth in per-capita health-care costs.[15] Indeed, CBO had already projected that this would eventually occur when, in 2001, it projected significant budget surpluses through 2011 and years beyond . [16] Since the growth in these large programs was anticipated (other than the growth due to enactment of the Medicare prescription drug benefit), it is not what turned projected surpluses to deficits.
                            Moreover, although CBO was projecting years of surpluses as the Bush Administration took office in 2001, it nevertheless warned that the nation’s long-term fiscal health was worrisome. The Bush Administration and Congress nevertheless opted to ignore these warnings and to cut taxes deeply, establish a Medicare drug benefit without covering its costs, and fight two wars on borrowed money..."
                            http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3036


                            So much for the Heritage Foundations study you base most of your claims on.








                            Report Abuse
                  • Author by open_mind (July 17, 2010 8:24 am ET)
                    9  
                    It was Clinton era laws that deregulated the financial markets.
                    Why didn't the Bush Administration reinstate them? Can you cite a source where the Bush Administration attempted to re-enact the Clinton Administration's mistaken legislation? 7 years is a long time after Clinton to still be blaming him. Don't you think? It seems to pre-suppose that Bush and his party who were in full control during almost all of that time weren't ever going to recognize the problem and fix it themselves. You can cite a supposed feeble attempt at "regulating" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac all you want, but where was the Republican effort to reinstate Glass-Steagall and the other pre-Clinton Era legislation? I think we all know the answer to that.
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by fairliberal (July 18, 2010 1:20 pm ET)
                      3 9
                      How would you have proposed that Bush re-regulate, Clinton signed the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, in Nov, 2000, it was a bi-partisan bill, passed the Senate with "unanimous consent". Should he have just decreed that bill to be null and void. And you claim that the repubs had "full control". They had thin majorities in the Senate, initially 51 votes if I remember correctly. Annd lets not forget that it was Clinton who signed the repeal of Glass Steagall into law. And the repubs made repeated efforts to re-regulate Fannie and Freddie, it was not a feeble effort. They never had the majorities to do it themselves and were blocked by the dems. The truth is that it was largely Clinton era re-regaulation that led to teh meltdown. The "Bush Deregulation" that liars like Pelosi and other dems , and many posters here, point to is a myth, it never happened.

                      And BTW, can you point to democratic efforts to reinstate Glass Steagall, why do you just blame repubs?
                      Report Abuse
                    • Author by fairliberal (July 18, 2010 2:31 pm ET)
                      2 3
                      And furthermore, if the reinstatement of Glass Steagall and the repeal of CFMA is such an obvious solution, why hasn't Obama dome it? After all while Bush had slim majorities in Congress and was dealing with a Congress that had just passed some of these deregulation bills months before he came to office, Obama has had 18 months and a super majority in Congress, yet he has not done so. Oh I forgot, he gets a pass.
                      Report Abuse
                  • Author by pilobious (July 17, 2010 11:17 am ET)
                    3  
                    Bush pocket vetoed HR 1461/S 190 - the GSE Reform Act of 2005 that would have forced Fannie/Freddie to raise capital and reduce loan exposure.

                    Frank and Dodd had nothing to do with the crisis. They were not even chairmen in the GOP Congress.
                    Report Abuse
        • Author by eweston8542983 (July 16, 2010 7:43 pm ET)
          6  
          Read somePaul K.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 7:43 pm ET)
          7  
          Now my turn.... do you believe in deficit reduction?
          Report Abuse
        • Author by ojnabieoot (July 16, 2010 7:43 pm ET)
          11  
          Here's a start:
          http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/22/AR2008112202213.html

          And the picture of Bush-appointed regulators taking a chainsaw to financial regulation:
          [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/SSj9kLPDgvI/AAAAAAAAD1U/b7uNjYr5p-w/s320/chainsaw.png]
          Report Abuse
        • Author by rjw.walker5519 (July 16, 2010 7:51 pm ET)
          2  
          >>point out some of the deregulation laws that were signed into law by Bush?

          Signing "de-regulation laws" is only a tiny part of Bush's de-regulatory frenzy.

          The agencies which enact regulations are almost all a part of the executive branch: the president runs them. If the president says don't pursue this proposed regulation it doesn't get pursued. If he says "don't enforce that regulation, or go slow in doing so" well, he's the boss.

          Some Bush admin anti-regulatory actions:
          - dropping proposed OSHA anti-tuberculosis regs which had been developed to protect health care workers and others against the rising rates of TB.
          - dropping regulatory restrictions on logging in national forests,
          - dropping patients' rights regs in government health insurance programs
          - dropping regs calling for tests for tainted packaged meats
          - cuts in OSHA staffing
          - The day Bush was sworn in, his chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., issued a memo that, in an unprecedented move, put a two-month freeze on final rules across the government that had not yet gone into effect
          - Two months after he took office, a Republican Congress, making first use of a recent power to review regulations, repealed the biggest worker-safety standard of the Clinton years. The standard was a set of rules that created broad safeguards against ergonomic injuries.

          Etc etc.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by eweston8542983 (July 16, 2010 7:52 pm ET)
          4  
          Paul has one on the tax cuts as well, but here's another's take on them.
          Report Abuse
        • Author by shelby73 (July 17, 2010 8:14 am ET)
          11 5
          Fannie and freddie are a strawman, they had very little to do with the meltdown. But conservatives have always hated them, so they all jumped on the bandwagon, and blamed fannie and freddie for it all. Why don't you look at the 2005 energy bill that Bush signed. You know, the one that benefited so many Texas companies, the one that let companies use hydraulic fracturing for natural gas exempted from The Clean Water Act, The clean Drinking Water Act, etc. Yes, they can and have been drilling gas wells all over the country, tens of thousands of them, fouling peoples wells, destroying water supplies, and poisoning the air. Why? Because they can. Bush signed it. Go ahead, start rambling about Clinton and Obama, EVERYTHING is their fault. Maybe if you read something beside right wing blogs on line, or Faux news, you might actually learn something besides talking points.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 2:53 am ET)
            3 6
            "Fannie and freddie are a strawman, they had very little to do with the meltdown"

            That's garbage, Fannie and Freddie set the standards for mortgages, once F and F relaxed the standards for mortgages they would buy, everybody relaxed the standards. Thank you Bill Clinton , Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters etc, you all did a fine job with your social engineering.

            And BTW, the examples you cite had NOTHING to do with the financial meltdown, but obviously your left wing propagandists tell you otherwise, so you believe it.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 3:40 am ET)
            4 5
            If you understood how the mortgage market works perhaps you wouldn't call Fannie and Freddie strawman.

            Overview
            First, mortgage loans are purchased from banks, mortgage companies, and other originators. Then, these loans are assembled into pools. This is done by government agencies, government-sponsored enterprises, and private entities, which may offer features to mitigate the risk of default associated with these mortgages. These securities are usually sold as bonds, but financial innovation has created a variety of securities that derive their ultimate value from mortgage pools.

            In the United States, most MBS's are issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), U.S. government-sponsored enterprises. Ginnie Mae, backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, guarantees that investors receive timely payments. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also provide certain guarantees and, while not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, have special authority to borrow from the U.S. Treasury. Some private institutions, such as brokerage firms, banks, and homebuilders, also securitize mortgages, known as "private-label" mortgage securities. Today, all three organizations actively repackage and sell mortgages as pass-throughs. Ginnie Mae guarantees timely payment of principal and interest on its pass-throughs. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guarantee payment of principal and interest

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage-backed_security


            Many people make the mistake of saying that Fannie and Freddie didn't originate too many mortgages, that is irrelevant, they buy them in the secondary market. Fannie and Freddie let the mortgage industry know what standards they will accept and thus set the standards for lending. And the Clinton administration mandated that Fannie and Freddie relax lending standards in the hopes it would increase access for lower income people. The sound concept of lending to people who could afford to repay the loans was thrown out the window. And that is the primary reason for the meltdown, along with deregulation and the abuse of credit default swaps by Wall St.
            Report Abuse
            • Author by mari2jj (July 19, 2010 5:35 am ET)
              5 2
              All this palaver about the housing meltdown forgets the loose as a goose regulatory system under G. W, Bush. As an Attorney, my husband did loan closings for customers of a lending agency. I can tell you that often, and yes I mean often, Customers got first, second and a third mortgages all at once. Those people got that many loans moving from a fairly safe first to a questionable second and to a down right disgusting third loan. After the first couple of three loans, we quit loan signings because the whole idea of overextending people's obligations to pay off huge home loans seemed unfair. Bush certainly failed to even attempt to regulate that sort of nonsence. Those are the facts!
              Report Abuse
              • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 12:44 pm ET)
                1 4
                You are dead wrong, as I have pointed out, Fannie and freddie set lending standards, the Clinton admin. dictated that lending standards be loosened. Bush and Co tried , beginning to tighten up Fannie and Freddie, but were blocked by dems. Those are the facts and a few minutes on the computer can confirm everything I saym, try it, you might learn something. Did you purposely ignore all the support I gave in earlier posts?
                Report Abuse
                • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 1:16 pm ET)
                  5 1
                  Until you apologize for the lies you sprouted and supported about a poor peoples organization ACORN you have no creditablity. Your're a bigot as witnessed by your many post here from the ACORN story to the NBPP story to calling Obama a Muslim(as if that some reason to dislike him)to now prresently blaming poor and minorities for the collaspe of the housing bubble and the economic crisis. Ms. Paris Business Review you have lost all creditablility.
                  Report Abuse
                  • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 2:08 pm ET)
                    3 5
                    Pipe down you fool, you have no clue.

                    But hey why not point out where I called Obama a Muslim?And you know what, acorn is still a bunch of crooks and the NBPP are a bunch of racists.

                    Next, show just one instance of me blaming the poor and minorities for the housing bubble. Just one, put up or shut up.
                    Report Abuse
                    • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 3:07 pm ET)
                      3 2
                      Thanks for proving my point.
                      Report Abuse
                      • Author by doughpro1604643 (July 19, 2010 3:23 pm ET)
                        3 4
                        Thanks for proving my point.


                        That comment always helps when you have just had your a$$ handed to you, right? How did he prove your point?
                        Report Abuse
                        • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 3:37 pm ET)
                          3 2
                          Fakeliberal knows she called Obama a Muslim I'am not going to look it up for you or her,those who post here know what I'am talking about. As far as the NBPP no one is arguing whether they are a racist organization just how it is being hyped by Faux news,and the lies she posted defending O'keefe,Breitbart,and Faux News fake story about ACORN is well known by me and other posters on this site,I beleive you too were one of the defenders of this fake story,but oh well. Thanks for chiming in doughpoo obviously sore at the many times I kicked your butt.
                          Report Abuse
                          • Author by doughpro1604643 (July 19, 2010 3:54 pm ET)
                            3 4
                            Thanks for chiming in doughpoo obviously sore at the many times I kicked your butt.


                            Umm...yeah...okay. Yes, you are always good for a good laugh.

                            The ACORN story was false? How did you come to that conclusion?
                            Report Abuse
                            • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 4:33 pm ET)
                              4 2
                              Ummmmm.yeah I see another arese kicking. lol. This is tooooo easy.
                              http://aolsearcht7.search.aol.com/aol/search?query=James+O%27keefe+investigations+of+edited+tapes+of+ACORN&s_it=chstrip

                              Tired of doing your homework for you but on that page you will find more than enough articles debunking the ACORN story. From Rachel Maddow video,the conclusion of the Brooklyn DA investigation. to the investigatioon by Att. Gen. Brown in Calif., that found the tapes edited,the San Diego worker suing the phony pimp,to some MMFA articles. Enjoy!!!
                              Report Abuse
                          • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 3:58 pm ET)
                            1 2
                            You are a liar, I NEVER called Obama a Muslim. Prove it.

                            And point out where I am blaming the poor for the financial mess, that is another lie. Put up or shut up.
                            Report Abuse
                            • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 4:48 pm ET)
                              3 1
                              Fakeliberul your bigotry was called out last week,when you questioned Obamas Christianity and implied that he may be a Muslim preying to Allah. I'am not going to waste my time looking up your post that we both know you posted.

                              As far as placing the blame on people of color and the poor don't tell me your post on F and F is not the same drivel Diamonds is arguing and you so-called cons have been using along with the attacks on the CRA to say that it was those government agencies and policies that forced banks into making loans to the poor and minorities that they could not afford. Go ahead and deny it?

                              Report Abuse
                            • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 5:09 pm ET)
                              3 1
                              How could you forget this in all the bunk you posted Fakeliberul:

                              “We can put light where there’s darkness, and hope where there’s despondency in this country. And part of it is working together as a nation to encourage folks to own their own home.” — President Bush, Oct. 15, 2002

                              The Reckoning
                              White House Philosophy Stoked Mortgage Bonfire


                              http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/21admin.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
                              Report Abuse
          • Author by doughpro1604643 (July 19, 2010 3:21 pm ET)
            3 1
            Actually, the housing industry is a leading economic indicator. Mess with the housing industry, and you are messing with a HUGE portion of the economy. For one thing, most people consider the value of their home a major factor in their overall worth.
            Report Abuse
      • Author by danwethepeople (July 17, 2010 7:02 am ET)
        1 4
        Simple question. Have you ever seen a poor person create a job? Over 80% of this nations taxes are paid by the rich. Your side has business so nervous about what nutty thing is going to happen next that very little hiring is going on at this time.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by toombsie (July 16, 2010 5:58 pm ET)
      6 1
      Only 95 times? Surprising, I thought it would be 200 times at least.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by eb (July 16, 2010 7:31 pm ET)
      16 1
      Conservatives! Be honest. Deep down, do you really think that this Neo Panther movement is going anywhere other than as a temporary vehicle for the fox news real America hysteria campaign?

      Do you really think that this obscure group has any real relevance either in the Black community or in our mainstream politics?

      Do you actually fear this New Panther group because their ideas will spread or their powerful tactics will intimidate and control?

      Do you stay awake at night sweating at the thought that from now on voting will require citizens to walk through a gauntlet of menacing ghetto thugs with clubs and pistols?

      Are you really worried that Obama's not so secret plan to destroy white power and privilege will be accepted because we have been all brainwashed and poisoned by political correctness?

      Do you actually think Obama could, if he really wanted to, get away with a campaign of massive government promoted voter fraud, under the auspices of shadow acorn like revolutionary cells?

      Please troll up a reason for me not to believe that Fox news takes its audience for gullible, simple minded idiots. They really have a low opinion of their viewers and are confident their viewers will swallow whatever fairy tales they dish out.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by diamonds (July 19, 2010 3:27 pm ET)
          5
        It's an indication of what the Obama administration thinks. They were pursuing a slam-dunk case, and mysteriously dropped it. Not even that they didn't pursue it, but it was going successfully, and then out of the blue, was dropped. Why? Why would you do that?
        Report Abuse
        • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 3:42 pm ET)
          3  
          Could it that one of the defendants charged in the intial case wasn't even at the site. look it up. But tell me why was the case of the minuteman in Arizona who was carrying a weapon and intimidating Latino voters not pursued by the bush DOJ?
          Report Abuse
        • Author by eb (July 19, 2010 5:15 pm ET)
          3  
          So you think this panther threat is real?

          For the sake of argument, lets say they let go a slam dunk case. So what? How is it relevant to anything? I fail to see all the damage. Furthermore I can't imagine that such a micro event was ever even discussed with Obama.

          Or do you think this was part of a conspiracy from the highest level of government to... keep inner city people from voting... for McCain...

          Conservatives look like complete fools when they fixate on this. Even if it was a bungled prosecution, tell me why it matters one bit?

          If it is some sort of conspiracy to intimidate voters, are we to believe this somehow represents federal policy or a plan to unleash the angry black masses on... black voters...

          This infantile attempt to find anything to rile up conservative media consumers and fill up tea party rallies is not just dishonest but on its face laughable. I imagine if the republicans win in November we can have hours of hearings and media speculation on the finer points of New Black Panther party ideology and tactics and intense debate on what Eric Holder knew and when he knew it.

          This event makes it obvious to me that certain segments of our politics are not interested in leading this country and solving problems. It also is obvious that certain media outlets should consider going to an animated format so that they more accurately represent the cartoonish nature of their programming.
          Report Abuse
    • Author by ScienceBuff (July 16, 2010 8:47 pm ET)
      15  
      The facts in the case of the New Black Panther Party case.

      Two individuals alleged to be part of the NBPP were outside a Philadelphia voting location on election day. One of the individuals was a certified poll watcher and committed no objectionable acts according to the police who answered the complaint.

      The other individual (Samir Shabazz) sat outside the polling place with a nightstick. The police were notified of his presence and when they spoke to him he left. He was there only a short time, leaving by midmorning.

      A republican poll watcher claimed that he heard complaints about Shabazz's presence. None of those supposed complainants spoke to the police or came forward later. There is no official record of any individuals reporting intimidation.

      There were no other reports of any similar instances anywhere else in the US involving the NBPP or any affiliated groups. The NBPP disavowed any connection with Shabazz and condemned his actions. Thus, there is absolutely no evidence of any organized effort at voter intimidation.

      The precinct Shabazz went to voted over 80% for Obama which was consistent with historical voting patterns. Even if voter intimidation was the goal, that would be an extraordinarily poor location to achieve it. It would be comparable to someone in KKK robes sitting outside Montana district 72, precinct 20 which went over 85% for McCain.

      Shabazz received the largest penalty that could be justified by the evidence and actual events. With no overt acts of intimidation and no voters testifying to intimidation in a precinct where there were very few who would be subject to intimidation, actual voter intimidation would be almost impossible to prove.

      Nothing I stated is false. There are no significant facts omitted. How is this a significant event?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by pilotx (July 16, 2010 9:30 pm ET)
        7  
        At that precinct there were 8 votes for Bush in 2000 and 24 in 2008. If the NBPP wanted to scare away Republican voters they did a poor job of choosing a location. There is no law against stupidity.
        Report Abuse
        • Author by didi (July 16, 2010 10:16 pm ET)
          10  
          I think they were really trying to stop rethuglicans from challenging voters when they came to the polls.

          For many years the GOP have been stationing their thugs outside of black districts to supposedly prevent voter fraud. Frankly the NBPP was wrong but Faux Noise compounded that error by trying to make a big deal out of nothing.
          Report Abuse
          • Author by pilotx (July 16, 2010 11:49 pm ET)
            4  
            That seems to be their intention but after the way this blew up I think they were paid to be there. Just a hunch.
            Report Abuse
          • Author by armadillo (July 17, 2010 3:09 pm ET)
            10  
            Use Teh Google on "republican restraining order" to get a good list of the instances you cite. Not a pretty picture. They really dislike the American electoral process as they continue to fight against it. Maybe we could export them to some dictatorships around the world who need their talents.
            Report Abuse
      • Author by PavementBlues (July 17, 2010 2:28 pm ET)
           
        Now THAT is a real response. Thank you - I was getting tired of wading through "YOU'RE JUST SCARED OF BLACK PEOPLE!" comments to figure out what happened, and if what you said is true, then you have certainly changed my opinion. Source?
        Report Abuse
      • Author by ken1042 (July 17, 2010 8:51 pm ET)
          4
        Sort of reminds you of the lies against the tea party when Obamascare was passed. Still nothing has been proved there!
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Cate (July 17, 2010 12:32 am ET)
        2
      Is it true that this guy actually was outside th epolling booths with a poster that read " GET READY TO BE RULED BY THE BLACK MAN CRACKER " If this is true then why isn't the white community protesting ?
      Report Abuse
    • Author by donwelty (July 17, 2010 3:50 am ET)
      11 1
      I see the Fox has jumped down the rabbit hole once again and ate one of those "eat me" mini loafs that made them smaller so that this pseudo-news story looks pretty big. Like the Cheshire Cat, they talk about something that seems to make sense to them but not to anyone else. Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck are Tweedledum and Tweedledee with a few strands of DNA from the Red Queen.

      In Wonderland, the sum of all of their intelligence seems to be a negative number, and the more they talk, the lower it gets--such are the laws of physics in Wonderland.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by d-alford1361 (July 17, 2010 9:55 am ET)
           
        i leave it to MM to watch faux fake news thank you,but on the other hand CBS,ABC,NBC,ARE DRIVEN BY FAUX FAKE NEWS.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by d-alford1361 (July 17, 2010 9:35 am ET)
      1  
      oh well just file this in the category of right wing propaganda,fake news won't be happy until people die,they're rock throwing kids who hide their hands
      Report Abuse
    • Author by wareagle (July 17, 2010 11:25 am ET)
        3
      Just because this lame PROPAGANDA outfit says the story is phoney DOES NOT MAKE IT SO. Keep drinking the kool aid, lemmings.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by margotdarby (July 17, 2010 11:55 am ET)
        4
      Oh please. So Fox News gives airplay to a scandal that is all but ignored elsewhere in the media. Is that your real complaint--that Fox doesn't fall in line with your commissars' gag order? I don't recall seeing anything on the case in HuffPo or Kos. There was one story in the NYTimes, buried around page 5, that appeared after Fox had been talking about it for a week. A non-story? Hah! You'd like it to be, wouldn't you!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by seahawks123 (July 17, 2010 12:55 pm ET)
      1 13
      I think that there should be some white guys doing the exact same thing as the Panters did. It's not racist or wrong according to you libs so why not?
      Report Abuse
      • Author by congero6189599 (July 17, 2010 1:02 pm ET)
        8  
        Now I understand Forrest Gumps axiom; "Stupid is as studpid does."
        Report Abuse
      • Author by pilotx (July 17, 2010 9:56 pm ET)
        7  
        They have. Google voter intimidation Mississippi and see what you get. Also google the Black Wall Street and see what you get. See, the difference is we have actually been killed to keep us from voting not just a "threat" from one guy with a little bat. Nice try though.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by Airroll (July 17, 2010 2:06 pm ET)
      1  
      Fox News the fair and Balanced? who ever wrote that was wearing a blind fold.
      They don't even show you the other side of the story.
      They get on the internet and have their own hackers embed Software that make's it impossible to see the second half of a debate.
      If anyone tries to make a comment on their web site, they black list you. They are afraid of Fair and balanced debate. They are a propaganda machine in the same way that Joseph Goebbels was in world war two!That's all the integrity that they have!
      Report Abuse
    • Author by edrossinoelwein9669 (July 17, 2010 2:24 pm ET)
      4 14
      The saddest part of this deal is the libs defense of the obvious malfeasance at the DOJ.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by didi (July 17, 2010 2:50 pm ET)
        11 3
        The saddest part of this is that people like YOU think that this story is a big deal.

        Some day you might just wakeup and realize that you've been listening to propaganda.

        Or maybe not!
        Report Abuse
      • Author by Conchobhar (July 17, 2010 5:28 pm ET)
        9 3
        The saddest part of this deal is the libs defense of the obvious malfeasance at the DOJ.


        Now you've proven you don't understand words that have more than one syllable.
        Report Abuse
    • Author by big_O_Other7415 (July 17, 2010 9:35 pm ET)
      6  
      See Crooks and Liars on the conservative fantasy that they could bring "Eric Holder down" and damage Obama--according to the report of no less than Abigail Thernstrom, anti-affirmative action Bush appointee, on the so-called 'commission' to investigate this:

      "But when it comes to the investigation that the Republican-dominated commission is now conducting into the Justice Department’s handling of an alleged incident of voter intimidation involving the New Black Panther Party — a controversy that has consumed conservative media in recent months — Thernstrom has made a dramatic break from her usual allies.

      “This doesn’t have to do with the Black Panthers; this has to do with their fantasies about how they could use this issue to topple the [Obama] administration,” said Thernstrom, who said members of the commission voiced their political aims “in the initial discussions” of the Panther case last year.

      “My fellow conservatives on the commission had this wild notion they could bring Eric Holder down and really damage the president,” Thernstrom said in an interview with POLITICO."

      Of course, it was the Bush DOJ who dropped this case on Jan. 7, 2009, 13 days before Obama was inaugurated.
      Report Abuse
      • Author by fairliberal (July 19, 2010 3:09 pm ET)
        2 3
        You should check you facts, 1/7/09 was the day that the Bush DOJ filed the civil case against the panthers. Perhaps you should post some evidence for your claim?
        Report Abuse
    • Author by ken1042 (July 18, 2010 10:24 am ET)
      1 2
      I have noticed the only news you have on here is TRYING to discredit Fox News. Too bad you don't have anything constructive to report, but I guess that's the liberal way, never anything true. Truth only gets in your way.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by AmeriGus (July 18, 2010 11:39 am ET)
      1  
      The New Black Panthers flap is the new manufactured ACORN moment. Be sure guys like James O'Keefe are pounding the pavement right now looking for tape of black racists talking about white voters.

      But if we look at fraud and intimidation tactics used in the US, we would see GOP anomalies in the 2000s far surpass anything done by others. The most glaring evidence is vote caging emails secured by Greg Palast that were sent from Karl Rove to the White House. John Conyers sits on this evidence to this day after his Conyers Report and the GAO detailed improprieties carried out by Ken Blackwell in Ohio, including the retroactive de-certification of "vulnerable" Diebold AVMs that elected Bush. There are volumes more reports at Bev Harris' site blackboxvoting.org for anyone who truly cares about vote integrity in the US.

      Fox wants nothing to do with vote integrity stories that don't have a prescribed outcome and their listeners and sponsors should be called on this fact, plus the glaring reality that the GOP wants to repeat Bush mistakes on the war, economy and environment if they are elected.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by madlib76 (July 19, 2010 10:21 am ET)
         
      Seriously, who cares how many hours Fox spends on this story? It's a non-story, let them. Instead of focusing on that, focus on proving the facts in the article. Really, the only one that means anything is that it was Bush's DoJ that dropped the charges, not Obama. Where's the link to that story? THAT would be worth reading. The rest is garbage.
      Report Abuse
    • Author by Tbone Slickens (July 19, 2010 12:55 pm ET)
      2 5
      Well the Washington Post (finally) agrees that this isn't a "phony" story. When the admin wins by default and downgrades the charge not once but twice, then yes questions should be asked by the supposed media.

      Report Abuse
      • Author by congero6189599 (July 19, 2010 1:43 pm ET)
        4 1
        Always late to the discussion. Catch up boney we've been over this already.
        Report Abuse
      • Author by CoolSlaw (July 19, 2010 2:08 pm ET)
        3  
        So according to the article you cited...you think we should change the rulings of the justice department because they don't produce the results politically that you would like?

        That's pretty much what this boils down to. It is a non-story made into a smear campaign by the likes of right wing media.

        According to you and the writer of the editorial you cite, we may as well go back and just open up every case the justice department ever ruled on where we dislike the results of the ruling, or want to capitalize on the rulings politically.

        Also, toward the end of that editorial the Washington Post ombudsman admits that this story should be covered because "coverage is justified because it's a controversy that screams for clarity". In other words, he is taking the typical cowardly corporate media stance that if the right wing smear machine is howling about it, it is then newsworthy by that virtue alone. Any evidence he has about actual wrongdoings in this case are the words of Adams, who is hardly a non-partisan source.

        I love this quote from that article:

        To be sure, ideology and party politics are at play. Liberal bloggers have accused Adams of being a right-wing activist (he insisted to me Friday that his sole motivation is applying civil rights laws in a race-neutral way).


        I'm so glad he assured the Washington Post Ombudsman and editorial writer that he isn't a political hack, I guess we can out that to rest!
        Report Abuse

my.MediaMatters.org

Login  Sign Up

Push Back

Phone calls, emails and letters from the public do make a difference. Remember that to be effective you must be polite, and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and indicate what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.