Discussing the economic recovery bill during the February 2 broadcast of his Fox News program, Sean Hannity falsely claimed that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) "say[s] it's not a stimulus bill." However, in analyzing the House version of the bill, H.R. 1, and the proposed Senate version, the CBO stated that it expects the measures to "have a noticeable impact on economic growth and employment in the next few years." Additionally, as Media Matters for America documented, in his January 27 testimony before the House Budget Committee, CBO director Douglas Elmendorf said that H.R. 1 would "provide massive fiscal stimulus that includes a combination of government spending increases and revenue reductions." Elmendorf further stated: "In CBO's judgment, H.R. 1 would provide a substantial boost to economic activity over the next several years."
Hannity also suggested that the CBO, in addition to Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd C. Blankfein, has stated that money spent "in 2010, 2011, 2012" would be ineffective as economic stimulus, asserting that "[w]hat they're telling us" is "the infrastructure spending and real spending in this bill comes out in 2010, 2011, 2012. How does that -- how do you label that a stimulus plan?" But as Media Matters has noted, economists, including Elmendorf, have said that fiscal stimulus in 2010 or later would be effective in the current economic situation, in which economic output is projected to remain below its potential long after the technical beginning of the recovery. In his January 27 testimony, Elmendorf stated that, unlike in ordinary "periods of economic weakness" that "are fairly short-lived," "CBO projects that economic output will remain significantly below its potential for several more years, so policies that provide stimulus for an extended period of time may be appropriate."
From the February 2 broadcast of Fox News' Hannity:
HANNITY: We had a stimulus in the early part of the year. What -- when has government spending like this -- first of all, it's unprecedented in American history. James, when has this ever worked in history? It never has.
JAMES DELINGPOLE (author): In my country, we've been punished for this over the last 12 years. You can either advance the cause of the economy or you can advance the cause of socialism. You can't do both.
HANNITY: And Great Britain is on the verge of bankruptcy.
DELINGPOLE: I'm afraid it is. Yeah, we've seen it all before.
BOB BECKEL (Fox News contributor): It was on the verge of bankruptcy when the -- when Labour took over. That was the problem.
And by the way, in that introduction you just gave, when you described that bill, there were more factual errors in the opening of that than I've ever heard you give, which is an amazing thing. There's no mall money, No. 1.
HANNITY: There was. They took it out.
BECKEL: It's not in the bill, Sean.
HANNITY: They took it out.
BECKEL: There's a final bill - let me explain to you how this works. House, Senate, get together conference. Right. Now --
HANNITY: I understand.
BECKEL: And you're going to -- I know you do. I'm proud of you, and that Catholic education did you a world of good.
Now, I don't know where you've gotten misguided, but somewhere along the way. Look, the fact of the matter is that the Republicans now have gotten a lot in this bill in the last 48 hours. Obama has met with more Republicans in three days than George Bush met with Democrats in four years.
And you get business tax breaks, and you've now got housing credits that the Republicans wanted. What more do you want? And you lost. And you lost. If it were up to me --
HANNITY: I understand Obama and Nancy Pelosi say that at every meeting.
Here's the problem, Bob, is that the Congressional Budget Office, which used to be the gold standard that we used to rely on to give us information, even they say it's not a stimulus bill. Goldman Sachs' CEO says it's not a stimulus bill.
What they're telling us is the following is that, you know, the infrastructure spending and the real spending in this bill comes out in 2010, 2011, 2012. How does that -- how do you label that a stimulus bill?
BECKEL: First of all, if I could just update you at little bit. At this hour, they're now up to 74 percent in the first two years -- the Congressional Budget Office.
Secondly, what is your alternative? Do you want to go back to George Bush economics?
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A FINANCIAL REVOLUTION PART II
A Modern day “Boston Tea Party”, Americans all over America have gotten wise. Here is the American publics’ response to government, bailouts, stimulus packages and the putting us back to work to spend. The wizards of Government and Wall Street, through their greed and corrupt practices, have given us the people few options: risk destitution, foreclosure and bankruptcy or save. We've chosen to save. To save, save, save ourselves.
1. This isn't working. The public doesn't get information on what's going in and what's coming out of bills until the information is already out of date. We have no effective means of tracking and influencing the legislative process. Our participation is limited to whether or not we support saving the economy. We don't have a seat at the table when it comes to the actual nature of making government work.
2. Whoever is in office be it Democrat or Republican makes no different. American government is about keeping the system going. The system is for the elite; corporate America, our elected officials and keeping capitalism alive. The masses of people are inconsequential and expendable at every level, rich, middle class and poor.
3. Let's face Reality; the top 400 people in this country took in 250 million a piece each and every one of them for a year... ONE MILLION DOLLARS A DAY......or 100 billion for the year and paid less than 20% in taxes....and that was adjusted income,,,, What do you imagine their incomes were BEFORE the adjustments....
4. Wall Street is the CANARY in the COAL MINE... We will never make significant process until these people’s unmitigated GREED is alleviated by 94% tax rate....
5. The less you know, the less you care. The less you know, the more you believe. The less you know, the cheaper your job. The less you know, the weaker your opinion. The less you know, the easier you're scared. The less you know the better pawn you are.
6. This is what the internet is all about! This is what transparency looks like! Put a million pissed off people with computers to work and stand back!
7. Judging a system only by the magnitude of profits is a fool's assessment; capitalism as designed by free market fundamentalists, also, falls much harder when it fails, and it ALWAYS fails, as its design flaws make it impossible to sustain.
8. I am one of many unemployed Americans. I lost my job 10 months ago, and have yet to find employment. The harsh reality today is that I had 2 interviews for a long-term temp assignment, and still haven't even landed a short-term assignment. I possess a graduate degree and have 9 years of direct work experience. The point of my comment is not to elicit pity; I am simply one of the millions of disillusioned Americans hoping for a better tomorrow.
9. Government tells us keep hope alive for that bridge building job or to pave roads. Who cares if you paid $100,000 for your education or what degree you hold?
10. American people, design stuff, manufacture stuff, construct stuff, grow stuff; create your own jobs. Human productivity, not financial manipulation.
11. I think we have to pull together. People on the lowest rung......they need the most support. If the gas prices go up, they can't even get to work or feed the kids. They are looking at homelessness. Those who have stretched their resources and bought a house beyond their real capacity to guarantee repayment lured in by greedy bankers whose at fault? They aren't the worst who need to be saved. Some were suckered into taking a bad risk.
12. A great way to put billions of dollars back into the economy via this stimulus bill, lobby for every Senator and Representative to take a 35% pay cut, every senator and rep receiving Soc Sec and drawing a congressional salary, give up Soc Sec, because that's double dipping. Whittle down those aides and staff from 50 each to 5 each so these people can actually do the jobs they're hired for instead of handing tasks off to a lackey. Also, cut off pensions for these losers. If American people who have lost all their pensions and the autoworkers who are being penalized for drawing pensions can do without, so can these moochers.
13. Alright everybody time to start calling our congress and senate.
14. For all of the pandering, the "moderates on both sides" are now getting ready to gut the budget, and prove that the only thing they believe in is a failed ideology of "supply side economics." Cut taxes, raise defense spending, screw the poor.
15. This "bipartisanship", "post-partisanship", "new politics" is a complete and total failure.
16. For the Office of the President the people voted for change. But when it came to the Congress people voted for the status quo in both houses. The people in Congress are the same people who voted for the Iraq war, No Child Left Behind, TARP, etc. If you wanted change, you should have voted against your incumbent in the primary and general election. As long as the same people are in Congress we will not have change. 2010 you get another chance to do so.
17. We are still arguing Evolution and the rest of the developing world is investing in education, infrastructure, engineering and science. What do you expect in a highly competitive globalized business?
18. We are getting rolled by government. That has no experience in governing and it is showing. The lack of ability of government to pass a bill or negotiate with colleagues on an executive level civilly is showing every time key legislation needs to be passed. They have no idea what they are doing and so our congressional leadership is playing games and playing us like a fiddle...particularly with these catch phrase named bills where they through in the kitchen sink to be funded by us.
19. Could you explain how enormous government spending and borrowing from the Chinese will create long term private sector jobs?
20. We wouldn't be in the position if we hadn't gone heavily into debt to purchase sophisticated agreements that nobody really understood but seemed like a sure thing right up until they started destroying the economy. In the solution I see ominous reflections of the problem. Do we really know what we're getting for our debt? Does anybody know if it will work? The answer is no.
21. It seems that most efforts to help the housing market are aimed at maintaining the artificially high inflated prices that are part of the problem. If you want to see home sales go through the roof, list a $100,000 house for $100,000 instead of $300,000 and watch what happens. Continuing to prop up these unrealistic home "values" only makes current mortgage holders' ability to make their payments more tenuous (in this job market especially) and continues to price many prospective buyers out of the market entirely.
22. The real problem can be summed up with two numbers: Average price of houses sold in America in December 2008: $247,900. Average personal income 2007 (most recent data available): $38,611.
23. Hang onto your wallet...The states are collectively about 100 Billion in the red.
24. A tax rebate is tempting, but doesn't change the bottom line, which is we aren't making enough money to afford the housing bubble. Where I live $15,000 does not offset the fact that mortgages have doubled in a few short years. All this will do is lure people in who can't afford it, and award those who can game the system. It will keep mortgages artificially high and we'll need another boost down the road....
25. Doesn't it seem that the bailout dollars will keep those sinking from going to the bottom and that then it will take even longer for the fail/rebirth cycle to run its course? Like the Phoenix that rose from the ashes, wouldn't we need ashes before there could be an arising, and anything else will just prolong the misery.
American people while the old way of “storming the fort” was applicable in that day and age to signal revolt, this is modern America’s way, by us staging a “financial revolution”. Not buying into the consumerism that keeps the cycle of abuse going.
We have seen our annuities shrink by tens of thousands of dollars, and likewise, the value of our homes. Of course we are not spending. We may never spend. One reason is that we are so ANGRY at the corporations. We are tired of being subjected to social engineering every time we enter a store, tired of cheap junk merchandise from China, tired of our government being bought instead of representing us, tired of the government being taken over by armband religion, tired of our healthcare, tired of lousy schools that are unaffordable, tired of bailouts which is really nothing but more robbery of the people, specifically, the middle class.
We have no representation, no free press, and no recourse of any kind, except, not spending. So, by golly, we are not spending. It's practice for when we won't be able to spend anyway, because the government will end up with every last cent that we ever earn anyway.
Congress, American government, consider yourself notified. Americans are no longer “buying” the swampland, of buy, buy, buy, or, consume, consume, consume. It is now save, save, save ourselves. Unless you start mailing out checks directly to the American people to help bail us out, to get us through this depression, expect it to go on for as long as it takes, to bring down the system of the elite. You left us no other recourse. We are no longer going along with the program (stimulus, relief, bailout, TARP or whatever you decide to call the next bone); you heard it, first, from us…
Sean Haity is not going to let a few facts get in the way of his GOP talking points. I used to watch the show on occasion, but since Allan Colmes left I can't stomach it for even a few minutes. I didn't think they could find a weaker Liberal than Colmes, but they did. Now, he can spew lies and half truths unchecked.
It was nice to see Bob Beckel call him out. If a liberal scores too many points at faux "news" he is never invited back.
Good post.
I've tried to watch but Hannity's fake outrage seems to always pissed me off. Guys like him invite liberals that they can smack around but with this new format Hannity invites middle of the roaders or people he can claimed make up the liberal point of view.
What make guys like Hannity, Limbaugh and some of their clones funny they won't debate anyone or get interviewed by anyone unless it's another right winger. If they're point of view is valid why not debate the best on the left? But I give Ann Coulter and her Asian clone Michelle Malkin credit at least they go on shows where they can get smoked depending on the format of the show.
I like the fact that you are promoting liberal talk radio on your blog with links. If you don’t mind I’m going to copy your lead and do the same on my blog. BTW, did you see Stephanie Miller on C-Span Sunday night? She was great. Keep up the good work
Sure I have no problem with you doing that more people doing that would help the cause of promoting liberal talk. Because there's some great people out there like Guy James who for some reason can only get a show online. I missed her cause I was doing something with my sister and her son last night. I swing by her site later to catch it.
Thanks
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