Matthews: "We don't produce bad [economic] news on this show. ... We only put out good news here on the economy"
Summary: Responding to a charge by Ron Christie, a former special assistant to President Bush, that he doesn't report "good things" about the U.S. economy, MSNBC's Chris Matthews said, 'We don't produce bad [economic] news on this show," later adding: "We only put out good news here on the economy."
On the March 17 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, host Chris Matthews stated, "We don't produce bad [economic] news on this show," later adding: "We only put out good news here on the economy."
Matthews made his comments in response to guest Ron Christie -- a former special assistant to President Bush and former policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney -- who asked: "When do you ever hear people in the media come out and say the economy is strong in this country?" Christie later continued: "[W]hy doesn't the media, why don't we sit and have a conversation on Hardball and say, 'Let's talk about some of the good things [about the economy]'?"
As an example of the "good news" reported on MSNBC and Hardball, Matthews stated: "Every single night on this network, we produce on the half- hour, the latest stock averages. We show Nasdaq's doing well and Dow's [Industrial Average] doing well and the economy's doing well. We don't produce bad news on this show."
But Matthews's "good news" reporting ignores one of the most vulnerable segments of the U.S. population -- lower-income people, particularly children. As Christian E. Weller, a senior economist at the Center for American Progress, noted in a March 14 statement, "Since President Bush took office, 3.7 million more people live in poverty." Weller wrote:
The share of the population living in poverty has grown from 9.5 percent in 2000 to 10.8 percent in 2004. At the same time, the share of children under the age of 18 who live in poverty has also increased from 16.2 percent to 17.8 percent. That is, 1.4 million more children lived in poverty in 2004 than in 2000.
Weller's statistics are derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's August 2005 study Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004. The Census Bureau has not yet released national poverty statistics for 2005.
From the March 17 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: After a while, people develop a reputation. And Dubai, Harriet Miers, Katrina, the bad intelligence in Iraq, the bad ability to predict what we're going to face when we got there, the promise that was broken, that all the oil would pay for the cost of the campaign. When do people stop believing in the competence of an administration?
CHRISTIE: Well, I think people actually still have a lot of faith in the competence of this administration. I'll turn the question around on you.
MATTHEWS: Where do you find that evidence?
CHRISTIE: Where do I find that evidence? One small fact. One, on the domestic side of the aisle, the economy is strong. If this administration was incompetent --
MATTHEWS: I agree with you.
CHRISTIE: Exactly.
MATTHEWS: Well, why don't people think so? How come when you ask them how the economy's doing, they're tougher on the economy than they are on Iraq?
CHRISTIE: Miraculously, Chris, because you never talk about it.
MATTHEWS: Wait a minute --
CHRISTIE: No, wait. When do you ever hear people in the media come out and say that the economy is strong in this country?
MATTHEWS: Every single night on this network, we produce, on the half-hour, the latest stock averages. We show Nasdaq's doing well and Dow's doing well, and the economy's doing well. We don't produce bad news on this show.
CHRISTIE: No, no, no. You're not hearing my point. What I'm saying to you is, if we spent as much time talking about what's going on across America -- if you look, and you have five states around the country right now who have the unemployment rates at the lowest level. If you look at the unemployment rates of the 50 states around the country, 46 of those states have had the unemployment rates go down. Consumer confidence is up, people are spending more money. People have the confidence by spending and opening their wallet --
MATTHEWS: But why don't people say things are going well?
CHRISTIE: Because - what I'm saying to you is, why doesn't the media, why don't we sit and have a conversation on Hardball and say, "Let's talk about some of the good things"?
MATTHEWS: We only put out good news here on the economy.
—J.B.
Comments (17) Show
1 - 17 |
Oooopsie!
Bit of a Freudian slip there Chris?
Right after he said that, Matthews probably said to himself: "Did I say that out loud?"
- draftedin68/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:14:03 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
This would be funny...but it's not
The rich get richer.
The GAP between the Rich and the Middle-class continues to widen
The Poor remain poor or get poorer.
Mathews is rich. I'm betting Christie doing just fine & Bush and his buds ain't hurting.
So in Matthews mind...The Economy is just Swell.
Matthews statement : "We only put out good news here on the economy." is one of the dumber BUT more TRUTHFUL things he's uttered lately. Yes Chris we KNOW how you kiss up to THIS administration... And Never is Heard a Discouraging Word
- jeter2/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:24:37 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
The GAP between the Rich and the Middle-class continues to widen
...and the last time I looked at the numbers, the middle-class is getting smaller too. We should be very concerned about the future for our children. You may agree that a strong middle-class is the key to a vibrant democracy.
CD
- ChristianDemocrat/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:04:45 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Agree
And the main reason that the Middle Class is dimininshing is that many in the Middle Class are not voting for their Economic Benefits; instead voting against Abortion or Gay Rights. The Rich are Winning!
- dougsomers/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 07:56:25 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Never report the bad news only the good news
Hmmmm, that sounds familiar, isnt there a word for only reporting the good about something and ignoring the bad? Wait, I remember, PROPAGANDA. Tweety's mentors at PRAVDA would be so proud
- solon/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:29:54 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
joke or ...
Did he make a joke or did he say that we only present biased information? Is his show a news show or presenting his opinion?
- Yellow Bird/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:30:32 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Yellow
It's presenting opinion. My daughter pointed this out to me the other day. I was complaining about how Matthews show is all opinion and biased toward Republicans. My daughter said it was always an opinion show and that my problem with the show now is that I can no longer find something I can agree with him on. Touche, I don't watch anymore. She always found CM annoying.
- Lynn/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:10:01 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Male Bimbo
Chris Matthews is a male "bimbo"...watch Democracy NOW! news instead, if you're serious about news.
- mapleboard/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 12:34:27 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
When all else fails...
When all else fails, blame the media.
- ga/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:40:41 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
The Point
The point of the exchange is this:
CHRISTIE: No, wait. When do you ever hear people in the media come out and say that the economy is strong in this country?
MATTHEWS: Every single night on this network, we produce, on the half-hour, the latest stock averages. We show Nasdaq's doing well and Dow's doing well, and the economy's doing well. We don't produce bad news on this show.
And in Matthews mind, since his network is displaying the "good news", therefore everyone is seeing it , getting it, and feeling it.
Earth to Chris Matthews: You're a cable news channel with the initials NOT spelled FOX. Nobody's watching.
- bruce1ace/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:42:50 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Great catch MMFA
This clip sums up Hardball's mission in two key ways:
1. It demonstrates Matthew's sucking up not even to Bush, but to one of Bush's toadies.
2. Matthew's admitted that his show is a tool for pro-administration propaganda.
The funniest (saddest) part to me is that Matthew's initially appeared to engage in a line of questioning that was critical to President Bush but as soon as he was called out as doing so by Christie, he curled up like a roly-poly and started boot-licking. Pathetic.
- cantseefade/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:52:05 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
"Let's talk about some of the good things"
Yeah, let's...
Um, I think there is....
What about....
Or, perhaps....
Wait, there's gotta be some good news....
Hmmm.... Ah!
Most planes did not crash today. Most arrived on schedule in fact. Most 7-11's did not get robbed today.
[...]
[2 months later of reporting only good news]
Um... Jeez, guy's, our ratings have plumetted! Ad revenue is way down! Subscribers are leaving in droves! Let's start printing the bad news again!
--
Seriously, that's one argument.
The other -- regarding the Bush Admin stressing that "good news" is not being reported -- is pure propaganda.
- ga/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 01:54:11 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Why, oh why?
"No, wait. When do you ever hear people in the media come out and say that the economy is strong in this country?"
The economy of this country is not strong, it cannot be with the defecit that the Bush administration has created. Strange they want to act like it doesn't exist. I wonder why?
- Intergalatic Purveyor/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 02:15:10 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Mathews celebrated early
Is it just me or does CM seem drunk in this clip - the slurred words and even more ridiculous than usual? Methinks Chris stopped by the pub early on St.Patrick's Day. O'Hardball indeed.
- nukeboot/ Wednesday March 22, 2006 02:16:40 PM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Matthews could barely get through the list of
Bush administration disasters in his opening question to Christie. He sounded like it hurt to list them.
- skiploader1111/ Thursday March 23, 2006 12:32:46 AM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
Again not conservative misinformation
but a confession. Chris should get kudos from MMFA for outing himself. Now if only those other people on the adminstration payroll would be so kind. Hey Chris could you help us out here? Just give us your copy of the neo-Con phone tree, we'll work backwards from there.
- ufleirx/ Thursday March 23, 2006 02:59:40 AM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
The GOP's "Catch-22": When MYTH confronts REALITY.
The latest strategy for explaining/combatting Bush's horrible poll numbers is simple: BLAME THE MEDIA.
Yet, the GOP has a big problem with this.
The MEDIA is almost all ON THEIR SIDE.
Witness here. The tactic is launched, IT'S THE MEDIA'S FAULT that people think the economy is rotten and getting worse. And the missile lands on Chris Matthew's forehead. He IS the media. Unfortunately, he also is a primary Bush Cheerleader, who obediently reports ONLY the "good news" about Bush and his policies, and none of the bad.
All of a sudden, Bush is saying Chris is "the ENEMY". How can this be? Chris bleats. I'm loyal, I'm doing as told, I GUSH over this President. Why has he forsaken me?
The circular firing squad has just begun. It's one thing to continue the myth that it's a "LIBERAL MEDIA", and quite another to try to attack the myth in real time. Wherever the GOP "message carriers" go to promote their "it's the MEDIA's fault" storyline, they will be attacking their rightwing interviewers. It cannot help but be so, because where would a GOPer GO to harrangue an actual "leftist" reporter/pundit? Not FOX. Not talk radio. Not MSNBC (as seen here). Where IS this mysterious Liberal Media that's reporting only the BAD news? IT DOESN'T EXIST!
God Forbid a Bush Messageman would go to Air America to decry it's AA that is polluting all American's minds to where 6 or 7 out of 10 believe Bush to be a failure, a liar, and incompetent.
Answer: the GOP is left to blame and attack their BEST FRIENDS, who have been carrying the Bush propaganda for years (and for years prior, attacking Clinton).
It's the battle of SUPERMAN versus his clone, except in this instance, there is no GOOD Superman going against a BAD Superman. BOTH sides are BAD, the Administration AND the Rightwing Mainstream Media. The cannibals have turned on each other.
So, who will ultimately WIN? If there is a God in heaven, EACH will destroy the other, and the American People will win.
- tex/ Thursday March 23, 2006 09:54:33 AM EST
- Reply to this comment / Flag this comment
1 - 20 | |
