To: Alan Smithee who wrote (442113 ) 8/23/2011 3:51:27 PM From: KLP Read Replies (1) | Respond to Bernie Goldberg got after O'Reilly last night too....See below.... The O'Reilly Factor ... Weekdays with Bernie Segment Reviewing the Ingraham-Rangel shoot-out All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST. The Factor invited investor Wayne Rogers and economist/author Ben Stein to critique the Talking Points Memo . "Almost every part of it is wrong," Stein declared. "I don't think President Obama caused the recession, he did not cause the prolongation of the recession, and he is not causing the enormously problematic debt." Rogers, meanwhile, argued that President Obama is almost irrelevant. "I don't think he has much control. He makes innumerable speeches and some of those are just wasted because he doesn't influence anyone. The budget and laws and regulations come out of the Congress, not from the President." Stein pivoted to tax rates, contending that the rich should pay far more than they do now. "We had the highest economic growth in the 40's, 50's, and 60's when we had much higher taxes than now. Why are you against raising taxes on the rich? It would raise tens of billions of dollars and we need the revenue desperately." The Factor told Stein that raising taxes would hurt the economy because "businesses would hire fewer people to make up for the higher tax rates." The Factor disparaged Williams' logic and math, Juan offered this advice: "I want you and Mary Katharine to get out of Margaritaville and come back to reality. We are no longer in a recession, we are in a recovery! We need to spend more money and we need to increase taxes on the very rich." Impact Segment Qaddafi regime seemingly collapses in Libya The Factor asked Stratfor.com analyst Reva Bhalla to critique the rebels' advance into Tripoli. "We knew from the beginning that the Qaddafi regime was not going to fall purely from an air campaign," Bhalla said, "so the U.K. and France made the decision to insert special operations forces. One thing to bear in mind is that the rebels did not pull this off on their own." Bhalla portrayed the Obama administration as reluctant participants in the battle. "The United States was not eager to engage in this operation, France and the U.K. were pushing this. But the U.S. was integral to the NATO operation itself, given the command and control it has in the alliance. This is not over yet, there are big questions about what will happen." The Factor lauded NATO and the Libyan rebels for ousting a villain: "Lots of people in both parties were against the action, but having Qaddafi gone is an overall plus for the entire world." Watters' World Segment Jesse Watters in Martha's Vineyard Factor producer Jesse Watters paid a visit to Martha's Vineyard and spoke with some folks about the President's visit to their island. A few reactions: "I think the guy ought to be back in Washington tending to business" ... "It helps the local economy, which is always good" ... "It's just a nightmare when he's here" ... "We have cell coverage here for the first time all summer, so that's great" ... "Sorry, President, but go home!" Watters entered the No Spin Zone with his admittedly unscientific conclusion: "There's a huge erosion in the President's base and you can see it on Martha's Vineyard. When I was there the first year it was like 'Beatlemania,' it was mass hysteria. Now you're not really seeing that gung-ho mentality." Reviewing the Ingraham-Rangel shoot-out There ought to be a rule on these shows - the host asks a question and then shuts the hell up and lets the guest answer it. But a lot of times the host has an agenda and wants to make a speech." The Factor defended Ingraham's questioning, saying "you have to interrupt when you ask a question if the person deflects or lies." Goldberg turned to a study that examined bias on the network news programs. "The study found," Goldberg reported, "that journalists at NBC, CBS and ABC identified 'conservatives' in their stories twenty times more often than they identified 'liberals.' They identify conservatives because to liberal journalists conservatives are out of the mainstream and their views are dangerous. This proves beyond any doubt that there's a liberal bias in the media."
