Friday News Roundup - Hour 1
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-03-11/friday-news-roundup-hour-1
Wisconsin’s Senate Republicans bypass Democrats to pass an anti-union bill. The Senate rejects two partisan budget plans. And a House committee begins hearings on American Muslim radicalization. A panel of journalists joins Diane for analysis of the week's top national news stories.
Guests
Lynn Sweet
Washington bureau chief, Chicago Sun-Times, and columnist at politicsdaily.com.
Lisa Lerer
politics reporter, Bloomberg News.
Shailagh Murray
reporter, The Washington Post.
News Roundup Video
A caller comments on Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) past support for the IRA. King's past comments revealing his support for the IRA have come under fire in light of his running of this week's House committee hearings on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans as the current head of the House Homeland Security Committee. According to the Associated Press, in 1985 King said, "If civilians are killed in an attack on a military installation, it is certainly regrettable, but I will not morally blame the IRA for it:"
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Thank you Gov. Walker and the rest of the Republican legislators for standing up for what you stated you would do during the campaign. You showed real courage for standing up to this mob and the mainstream media. I hope that Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan follow suit.
Alejandro.
A FREE PRESS is vital to democracy. It is the 4th Estate, the watchdog of democracy. NPR is our independent information source in this age of corporate owned media. Republicans are busting UNIONS to reduce funds for democratic candidates' campaigns. Thanks to a Conservative Supreme Court, corporations can now spend without limits nor oversight, benefitting the republican party. That means this is only the beginning of the assault on workers. PLEASE discuss the need for PUBLIC FUNDING for all ELECTION CAMPAIGNS - and PUBLIC BROADCASTING for the future of our democracy! Thank you!
When is this president going to show some leadership?
On all the big issues of the day, he comes across as a follower at best, and incompetent at worst.
Middle East: The president has been completely directionless with numerous conflicting messages. The freedom fighters of the ME are right to be confused and disappointed. This has been the clearest evidence of late that this president wasn't ready for the middle of the night calls.
Budget: Ignoring the lies told in the State of the Unions, this president has been absent on budget issues. His own proposals reject his own deficit commission's recommendations.
Wisconsin: He shouldn't have interjected himself in this controversy, especially with his deficits. But more importantly, he is clearly a puppet of his SIEU masters who seem to camp out in the west wing.
The legislating away (probably unconstitutional) of important human rights and hard won labor rights shows that the United States is having another "center cannot hold" moment like an elderly cardiovascular patient suffering a mini-stroke. Add to this the religious targeting of our Muslim community by the House Homeland Security Committee and we have a crisis of conscience. The ineffectual nature of citizen reaction is becoming evident. Tyrants in totalitarian oil states may prove more responsive to human rights and immediate needs than our corporate controlled government.
Yes, racist Obama critics, he really has all the power of a game show host. He reads a teleprompter, and the recipients of the prizes are already chosen. (Don't fool yourselves, White working men and small business operators are slated to get nothing from corporate.) That hatey-backward thing will not work out.
It works like this: If gas goes up the economy will go down.
And I do think gas prices will stay up and translate into increasing prices for other necessities, pretty draconian at a time of unlikely pay increases. Credit lines are exhausted and consumerism cannot help but flag. This is not a time to start or expand a business, and the jobs will not be there when you need one.
Conservative people who think capitalism serves them are going to suffer a major shock. Will they blame ethnics, immigrants, and so-called liberals or the privileged people responsible? Why is there no political movement yet offering an alternative to our two business parties? Look around, this may be managed democracy, "government by and for the people" in name only. L. Paul Bremer could have designed it.
I support domestically produced oil ONLY if there is a string attached that anything produced here stays here and not get shipped out to the world market. Otherwise, drill baby drill only translates to profits baby profits for Big Oil
Once again, one-way, one-sided commentary from NPR's liberal "Talking Head", Diane Rehm. Governor Walker did the right thing for the right reason for the taxpayers of Wisconsin. Like the federal government, collective bargaining for public employees makes absolutely no sense. Who are they bargaining with...the taxpayers who have no say in the process except in November of election years. Last November, in case you forgot, the taxpayers of Wisconsin made their wishes heard. I'm interested in the facts, not your liberal spin on the news.
Regarding James O'Keefe's gotcha-video...
When James O'Keefe was found guilty last year of a federal misdemeanor (got a plea down from a felony) for his attempt to access the phone lines of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, his sentence included 3 years probation. Would his latest entrapment video be a violation of that probation?
There was a rather unnoticed story last weekend about two natural gas companies having to stop their hydraulic fracturing in Arkansas while there was an investigation to determine if their "fracking" was causing the extreme increase in earthquakes in the state.
Should we be demanding a halt across the country while there's an investigation of increased earthquakes? After all, a disturbance in the mantle anywhere shifts the whole thing and has to reverberate elsewhere! Isn't today a good day to consider this!
Mention the Pentagon, 9/11, the FED, and listen to the stuttering.....
Where's the reporting and "outrage" from NPR over death threats from union activists against Wisconsin Republican State Senators and their families? Why is it that Diane Rehm chooses to ignore this news? Can't blame conservatives this time.
I noticed Lynn Sweet used "cross hairs" in her comments about NPR. I guess it's okay to say again? Or just not okay for Sarah Palin and the Republicans.
Re: Budget....What would happen if every department had to reduced their budget by say 2%...2% of Foreign Aid would I guess be minimal in comparison tothe funds saved by 2% of the Defense budget. Is this a reasonable approach to take ? Or is it impossible for some reason?
First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me
- Pastor Martin Niemoller attribution
I find that NPR shows treats O'keefe differently from any other investigative reporter though his techniques seem the same. Is there anything that differentiates him from other muckrakers other than the political views of NPR commentators.
Diane, you cannot condemn the behavior of the perpetrators of the NPR "sting" without also commenting on the Scott Walker/Koch Brothers mess. This is a clear double standard.
When you ask about the flight of the Democrats to prevent a vote, all you say is how much money it brought. The teachers claiming sick-leave falsely? Breaking into the capitol building? This is behavior is the shame! And to tie together CPB and Gov. Walker: I remember your Friday show commentators rather gleeful about his being caught by a phony 'phone call. I also wonder if most people know the salaries of the people who work at public broadcasting.
Thank you, Diane.
Thank you, cane!
What about the fact that my cable company forces me to pay for Fox news even though I don't want it. This is really the same thing as funding of NPR. The cable companies have a monopoly in any given regional area but the choices as to what is on the offered packages is non-existent.
Hmmm....the guy that "duped" the Wisconsin governor is called a "reporter" by the panel.
I really get turned off my people who make remarks about the situation in Northern Ireland without qualifying the circumstances in which the nationalist community must live. Tactics used by the British are similar to those used by the CIA to divide and conquer, while using that portion of Ireland as a training ground for troops. A clear give away to one's ignorance are comments about the IRA without reference to the UDA. Note that more people have been killed by the British and their sympathizers than by the IRA - for those who like to keep count. The propaganda machine never quits!
Hey NPR just make an announcement that because of the budget cute you are going to have to stop airing Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck and watch the right wingnuts cry they are totally clueless!
Seriously just take car talk off and watch the right wing cry!!!
I've worked for Wisconsin. The salary was not overwhelming. The benefits were attractive, but the main attraction for me was doing public service with like minded people. My coworkers were serious about giving value to the citizens of Wisconsin. They worked hard and were in constant lookout for possible improvements. Not so every private company I've ever worked with.
We were hardly gouging the state, we were only interested in a decent wage, not an extreme one. The people gouging the state was every business out there trying to overcharge the state at every opportunity, and now that I live in Illinois, I see the same attitude toward doing business with the state here.
I've no doubt Walker need only rescind his tax breaks to the rich and corporations to balance his budget. But the man is engaged in class warfare. What we need is for the people to stand up and give their legislators the grief they deserve. There are many good people in Wisconsin and I don't doubt they will be able to push back.
I understand that Taxpayers are paying less than $10 a year toward public radio and TV. As a cable subscriber, I strongly object to being FORCED to support 4 Fox Channels when ipay my monthly cable bill which is around $100 a month, more than $1200 a year! If Congress stops supporting NPR, then they need to include language in the bill that the rest of us DON"T HAVE to PAY to support FOX NEWS. Disaggregate all FOX Channels from our cable bills -- and have ONLY those that listen pay for it -- Just like they want to do with PUBLIC MEDIA!!
This country's disdain towards the vulnerable members of our Darwinian financial societry has never been clearer. What this country needs is another Poor People's March on Washington to give a face to those being disenfranchised. Raise taxes for the wars; don't sentence the poor, the elderly, and the chronically ill to conditions most of your listeners would not want to suffer.
Judging by previous GOP shenanigans, I've no doubt these were fake threats made by GOP activists. You don't think you pose as the enemy? Read what happened to NPR.
Republicans start with the notion that they should be the exception and they go from there. Always have.
Lontime listener, you are not forced to buy cable. One must pay taxes.
I'm a center-right independent, a member of WAMU and a daily listener to NPR. I appreciate NPR for the depth of its coverage and its efforts to remain non-biased. I think federal funding (limited though it may be) helps to ensure that NPR stays near the center of the politcal landscape. In my opinion, NPR IS left of center, but it would be much farther to the left and much more biased without the necessary constraint that federal funding represents. Work to retain federal funding and strive to stay in the center. There are PLENTY of news sources on both ends of the political spectrum - we don't need another one.
Actually since the Cell Phone corporations have forced everybody in the country to get cable or buy a digital antenna, you really do have to have cable. In Baldwin, MI we went from 3 stations to 1 part-time (meaning it is only accessable for a couple hours a day). With the backbone of a democracy being an informed populace, this hardly qualifies