Mainstream Media Stand To Receive $1.44 Billion From McCain’s Tax Cuts
Mainstream Media Stand To Receive $1.44 Billion From McCain’s Tax Cuts
Prior to and following the vice-presidential debates, conservatives on Fox News purported that the “mainstream media” has a preference for an Obama presidency. Bill Kristol, Kirsten Powers, and Bernard Goldberg all agreed in the “obvious fact” of the “transparent agenda” of liberal media bias. Watch it:
These claims fly in the face of reality. The multinational corporations that run the mainstream media — GE (NBC), Time Warner (CNN), Walt Disney (ABC), News Corporation (FOX), and Viacom (CBS) — stand to benefit hugely under a McCain presidency. The centerpiece of Sen. McCain’s economic plan — actually, the whole plan — is large tax cuts for corporations. It would deliver $1.44 billion in tax cuts to the five largest media companies, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
These giveaways are just one part of McCain’s doubling of the Bush tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy which would create the largest deficits in 25 years and drive the United States into the deepest deficits since World War II. McCain and Palin have promised that the $700 billion bailout would not threaten these tax cuts.
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McCain: New coal plants ‘will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.’
McCain: New coal plants ‘will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.’
Today, Sen. Joe Biden’s criticism of “dirty coal plants,” first reported by TP’s Wonk Room, was picked up by the Drudge Report. The McCain campaign held a press call this afternoon with former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) and mining industry lobbyist Scott McInnis (R-CO) to attack Biden’s comments. But McCain himself attacked coal plants last week, saying they “will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically.” In a Sept. 15 townhall meeting, McCain voiced opposition to mountaintop removal coal mining, then continued:
We’re going to build new plants that generate energy, my friends, we’re going to build them. We’ve got to. There’s an increased demand for it. And it seems to me, it’s going to be coal, which I believe will increase greenhouse gas emissions dramatically, or it’s going to be nuclear, or it’s going to be clean coal technology.
Watch it:
Carbon capture and sequestration (sometimes described as “clean coal” technology) is still in development, and McCain has called fighting global warming part of his “top priority” of national security. Is McCain saying “no” to new coal? For more, go to the Wonk Room.
Despite Campaign Denials, McCain Supports ‘The Elimination Of Mountaintop Removal Mining’
Despite Campaign Denials, McCain Supports ‘The Elimination Of Mountaintop Removal Mining’
Yesterday, the Wonk Room broke the story that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called for an end to mountaintop removal coal mining, a process in which “coal operators blast off hilltops to uncover valuable low-sulfur coal. Leftover rock and dirt is shoved into nearby valleys, burying streams.” In response to a question at a town hall meeting in Orlando, Florida whether he supported ending mountaintop removal, McCain said, “I do.” Watch it:
When the Charleston Gazette pursued the story with the McCain campaign, they “initially denied that the candidate favored an end to mountaintop removal, but backed off that when confronted with video of his remarks”:
Initially, McCain spokeswoman Gail Gitcho repeatedly said the candidate did not support a ban on mountaintop removal. But when video of his remarks in Orlando was posted on YouTube, Gitcho confirmed McCain’s support for ending the practice and issued a short statement.
More at the Wonk Room on McCain’s lobbyist ties and incoherent defense of coal companies.
McCain campaign belittles climate crisis: Running mates won’t ‘agree on every single issue.’
McCain campaign belittles climate crisis: Running mates won’t ‘agree on every single issue.’
Appearing on MSNBC today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker cited McCain’s position on “climate change” as evidence that he had broken with his party. Andrea Mitchell then questioned Hazelbaker, “How do Sarah Palin and Sen. McCain agree on climate change?” Hazelbaker touted Palin’s efforts to build a “forty-billion-dollar natural gas pipeline.” Mitchell persisted, asking, “But doesn’t she have a completely different position on climate change and its origins than John McCain?” Hazelbaker retorted:
Andrea, Andrea. You don’t expect the running mates to agree on every single issue.
Watch it:
But as McCain himself said while campaigning in New Hampshire last year, climate change is not an area where there should be a disagreement because the “time is past when we argue about whether climate change is real or not.”
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Romney mocks Gore for non-existent private jet.
Romney mocks Gore for non-existent private jet.
Last night, at the Republican National Convention, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R) called for “the immediate drilling for more oil off of our shores” and followed with a personal attack on Vice President Al Gore that received thunderous applause:
And I have one more recommendation for energy conservation — let’s keep Al Gore’s private jet on the ground!
Watch it:
ThinkProgress contacted Gore spokesperson Kalee Kreider, who replied, “Gore doesn’t own a jet.”
Conservatives Peddle Hurricane-Spill Lie For Entire Month
Conservatives Peddle Hurricane-Spill Lie For Entire Month
To support the Big Oil agenda of increased offshore drilling, conservatives have been telling the American public that there weren’t any major spills caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita for an entire month. The following video shows Sen. McCain (R-AZ), Wall Street Journal writer Stephen Moore, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer, former Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), and Sen. McCain (again).
Watch it:
They appeared on CNN, CNN Headline News, Fox Business Network, Fox News, and MSNBC, but were never challenged for their false claims.
As the Wonk Room has reported, the clear satellite evidence of major spills was borne out by final reports. In May 2006, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) published their offshore damage assessment: “113 platforms totally destroyed, and 457 pipelines damaged, 101 of those major lines with 10″ or larger diameter.”
Unsurprisingly, this devastation caused significant spillage, according to the official report prepared for the MMS by a Norwegian firm:
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused 124 Offshore Spills For A Total Of 743,700 Gallons. 554,400 gallons were crude oil and condensate from platforms, rigs and pipelines, and 189,000 gallons were refined products from platforms and rigs. [MMS, 1/22/07]
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Caused Six Offshore Spills Of 42,000 Gallons Or Greater. The largest of these was 152,250 gallons, well over the 100,000 gallon threshold considered a “major spill.” [MMS, 5/1/06]
In addition, the hurricanes caused disastrous spills onshore throughout southeast Louisiana and the rest of the Gulf Coast as tanks, pipelines, refineries and other industrial facilities were destroyed, for a total of 595 different oil spills. The 9 million gallons reported spilled were comparable with the Exxon Valdez’s 10.8 million gallons, but unlike the Exxon Valdez, were distributed throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and other Gulf Coast states, many in residential areas. The most massive spills included:
– The Bass Enterprises Cox Bay spill of 3.78 million gallons of oil, the largest spill caused by the hurricanes
– The Murphy Oil spill in Mereaux, LA of 819,000 gallons of oil, contaminating 1,700 homes and the local high school
At the time, the Houston Chronicle described the devastation as “among the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.”
Cross-posted in The Wonk Room
McCain spokesperson lies: Katrina and Rita ‘didn’t spill a drop’ of oil.
McCain spokesperson lies: Katrina and Rita ‘didn’t spill a drop’ of oil.
This afternoon, Nancy Pfotenhauer, senior energy adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and a lobbyist for Koch Industries, lied to MSNBC’s David Schuster, claiming, “We withstood Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and didn’t spill a drop.” She said:
When Senator McCain opposed lifting the ban in the past, it was because there were concerns about environmental capability. Like, could we do this and still maintain a pristine environmental um uh climate and and area around the drilling? And basically, what we’ve seen is the technology has progressed to the point where we could do that. We withstood Hurricanes Rita and Katrina and didn’t spill a drop.
Watch it:
Pfotenhauer — who spent her career in Washington defending the right-wing polluter Koch Industries before joining the McCain campaign — is repeating a popular right-wing lie. The hurricanes, unsurprisingly, caused 124 offshore spills and hundreds more onshore. Like Sen. McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-CA), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, Mike Huckabee, George Will, and Bill O’Reilly, Nancy Pfotenhauer is lying.
McCain: Offshore drilling provides beneficial ‘psychological impact.’
McCain: Offshore drilling provides beneficial ‘psychological impact.’
Last week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) reversed his longstanding opposition to offshore drilling, just before cozying up to energy industry leaders in Houston. McCain claimed his flip-flop would “address the concerns of Americans, who are struggling right now to pay for gasoline.” At a townhall event in Fresno, CA, yesterday, McCain admitted that it wouldn’t provide any “immediate relief” but said there would be “psychological” benefits:
I don’t see an immediate relief, but I do see that exploitation of existing reserves that may exist — and in view of many experts that do exist off our coasts — is also a way that we need to provide relief. Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have a psychological impact that I think is beneficial.
Watch it:
In April, McCain told Neil Cavuto that his gas tax “holiday” would give people “a little psychological boost.” Go to the Wonk Room for more.
GOP strategy memo revealed: This is about ‘making political points’ and ‘finger-pointing over blame.’
GOP strategy memo revealed: This is about ‘making political points’ and ‘finger-pointing over blame.’
At 11 p.m. last night, after Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) shut down Senate debate on the Climate Security Act by forcing the 492-page bill to be read in full, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) revealed the existence of a GOP strategy memo on the climate debate. The anonymous memo, provided to Reid “by a lobbyist involved in Republican strategy meetings,” explains that their climate strategy is “much more on making political points” than “affecting policy.” See the memo at the Wonk Room.
Inhofe: ‘Everything’ in Gore’s ’science-fiction movie’ has been refuted.
Inhofe: ‘Everything’ in Gore’s ’science-fiction movie’ has been refuted.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), who has compared people who raise awareness about the climate crisis to the Third Reich, lied about former colleague Al Gore on the Senate floor today. He claimed that “everything” in An Inconvenient Truth — Vice President Gore’s Oscar-winning documentary on climate change — has “been refuted many times” by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC):
Now Al Gore’s done his movie, almost everything that’s been in his movie, in fact everything has been refuted. And interestingly enough the IPCC on sea levels and other things, scare tactics, used in that science-fiction movie have been totally refuted and been refuted many times by the — by the IPCC.
Watch it:
Of course, the IPCC — which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Gore — has done no such thing. Go to the Wonk Room to read more about Sen. Inhofe’s climate falsehoods.