Sequester - Its the Democrats Who Won't Compromise

I had the unfortunate experience of listening to two hours of MSNBC today, while waiting for my wife in a hospital waiting room.  (It was a routine procedure, no worries.)  Besides the ridiculously loaded language* they used whenever describing Republicans, I found their arguments on the coming sequestration to be the worst of their propaganda.  The essence of the argument is that the Republicans invented sequestration and foisted it upon an unsuspecting President and now won't compromise because they want to wreck the country.  This is because at MSNBC the government IS the country and they equate an $85 billion cut to a Federal budget of $3.8 trillion (2.2%) to wrecking the country.  At least one guest made the point that the size of the sequestration is 1/175th of the Gross Domestic Product, saying it is hard to believe it will have much effect on the economy.  Indeed, with sequestration already a certainty, the stock market has not moved much.

With the tax increases that were passed at the beginning of the year, the Democrats got what they asked for, more taxes on the rich.  But of course, now they want even more.  I am waiting for them to propose meaningful reductions in spending.  That's why there is a sequestration.  They don't believe that there is a spending problem.  Until they do, their is no room for serious discussion.

UPDATE

I found this quote from a WSJ article on the sequester:

In the current dustup, Mr. Obama is showing little appetite for negotiating with leaders on Capitol Hill. Thursday, Mr. Obama spoke by phone with Mr. Boehner and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, his first time speaking to either GOP leader in weeks. People familiar with the call said it did little to bring the two sides closer to agreement.

*In one example, Rush Limbaugh was described as "a mouthpiece of the Republican Party" when he is not a spokesman and if he was, the loaded term "mouthpiece" shouldn't be used by a self respecting news organization.

No Wonder Their Ratings Have Tanked

I was watching Sean Hannity cover health care tonight and I thought, "I wonder what the lefties are saying about health care?" It was also prompted by the fact that I have never been a Hannity fan, more so since Colmes left. So, I flipped it over to MSNBC, but to my unbelieving eyes, I watched Rachel Maddow spend 15 minutes of her hour program on John Ensign. Raise your hands if you know who John Ensign is. Not all at once. Ok, you in the back, Tingles, I didn't know you followed my column.

Ensign is the junior senator from Nevada who had an affair with a female staffer and went to Podunk Chamber of Commerce today to say he was really, really sorry. (Link here for political guide on handling these things.) Amazingly this was followed by a lengthy analysis of what Ensign said and the manner in which he took questions. Then they dredged up every quote he had given during the Clinton impeachment hearings. Then they analyzed why Ensign should resign because he had called on Clinton to resign and then they spent more time refuting his response that he shouldn't resign because he hadn't done anything illegal. Yawn. Don't get me wrong, Ensign is a turd, but I have a news flash for MSNBC, it's no longer 1998. But, when you're a professional hater, I guess you just have to keep score.

Do you think they might have more interesting and/or relevant things to talk about? Heck, I would have settled for a little Whole Foods boycott talk.

This kind of programming leads to this.

Live + Same Day Cable News Daily Ratings for August 18, 2009

P2+ Total Day
FNC – 1,394,000 viewers [FNC=Fox News]
CNN – 471,000 viewers
MSNBC –401,000 viewers
CNBC – 173,000 viewers
HLN – 267,000 viewers

Also:

9 PM – P2+ (25-54) (35-64)
Hannity –2,972,000 viewers (746,000) (1,296,000)
Larry King Live—886,000 viewers (236,000) (349,000)
Rachel Maddow Show—1,063,000 viewers (393,000) (585,000)
Big Brother, Big Business– 175,000 viewers (78,000) (83,000)
Issues- 436,000 viewers (111,000) (183,000)