Podcast: Obama’s Budget

Oh dear as a Minnesotan I know that voice-it’s Lampher.

Sorry OT:
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In an unexpected move, the 9th Circuit has rejected the Obama/Dead-Ender attempt to stay the al-Haramain suit against Bush for illegally wiretapping it.
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The order is short and sweet:
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We agree with the district court that the January 5, 2009 order is not appropriate for interlocutory appeal. The government’s appeal is DISMISSED for lack of jurisdiction. The government’s motion for a stay is DENIED as moot.
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http://firedoglake.com/

Wow, that’s really bad. Not only does Lampher reduce Obama’s budget speech to the tired “pep rally” metaphor, and then casts the questions about the budget in purely partisan terms (how you feel about the budget depends on “which team you’re on”), but then JNS herself gets involved in pushing the media created “class warfare” line.
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for another example of how the media pushes the “class warfare” discussion, consider this article.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090226/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_budget_analysis
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Here’s how it opens…

Analysis: Obama plan brings cries of class warfare
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He’s not being timid, that’s for sure.

President Barack Obama’s first federal budget lays out the most far-reaching agenda for American life since Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. But paying for it by having upper-income earners shoulder much of the cost quickly provoked cries of class warfare in Congress.

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now if you read the rest of the article, while you find GOPer critical of the budget, nobody even suggests ‘class warfare’. The GOP criticism is restricted to the wisdom of raising taxes during a recession, and how increased excise taxes will affect all Americans.
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the only place that you find the term “class warfare” in the rest of the piece is in a description of a question asked by the media of the White House press secretary.
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So what we’re talking about here is the media creating a completely imaginary critique — one that is likely to be adopted by members of the GOP because they know that by adopting it, they can get their name in the paper. The media loves the idea of “class warfare” being the basis of discussion, its a whole lot easier to say “class warfare” than discuss how the the wealthiest 10% of Americans realized almost all of the gains of the economic growth during the Bush years — and the destructive impact that the consolidation of wealth has on the economy as a whole.

PNNTO: It may sounds like Lampher when she says it, but it’s spelled Lanpher.
JNS

http://www.katherinelanpher.com/

Thanks JNS.
I’ve heard her off and on for many years. She had some spectacular meltdowns when she worked at the local rightwing radio station maybe 10 years ago.
I’ve been wrong all these years.

Wow — JNS, Obama is banking on the people being unemployed to get re-elected?
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Does your twisted logic even register? I mean, the GOP spend trillions and we have nothing to show for it and now the money is be spent on rebuilding our infrastructure, investing in our citizens, and creating a future economic engine and the best you can do is call it a cynical move to get reelected? So what was the Republican agenda a moot point?

Dee: Obama’s banking on people being EMPLOYED to get re-elected. Thus when I said the efficiacy of these programs will determine not only the success of the economy but his reelection.
JNS

Thank you so much for responding to commentary with helpful clarifications, Jay Newton-Small; it is very appreciated.