News Hounds

Fox Business Panel Sickened By The Thought Of Universal Sick Leave

Co-authored by Brian

On Saturday’s (5/1/10) Cashin’ In, the panel inveighed against a White House plan to mandate sick leave. Host Cheryl Casone reported at the beginning that this would be a way of lowering health care costs by “helping employees get healthy sooner and stay healthy longer.” She didn’t report to the “We report, you decide” network’s audience that, as Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis put it, “The stakes are even higher when the worker or a family member is coping with a contagious illness – like 2009 H1N1 - given that the consequences of an employee’s decision to go to work when ill or to send a sick child to school can adversely affect many others.” But most of the panelists didn’t just disagree with the measure, they suggested it was a way of coddling slackers and giving them a free vacation. With video.

The Glenn Beck Week That Was: The Slavery Edition

Guest blogged by Aunty Em

I got nothing.

It’s not for a lack of trying. I responded to Glenda Beck’s rallying cry during Monday’s show opener, “If you think this country is great, but corruption is bringing us down, stand up, get a pencil, and follow me!” With video.

Fox Politicizes H1N1 Flu

I can understand a debate over the seriousness of the flu epidemic and what should be done about it. But what's the point of dragging pundits S.E. Cupp and Kirsten Powers (who, last I checked, have no medical credentials) into a segment titled Beating H1N1: How to stay clear of deadly flu if not to use the occasion to attack President Obama? Even the doctor took a few gratuitous swipes at the president for supposedly overstating the severity of the epidemic. I can just imagine what the Foxies would be saying if they thought they could accuse Obama of understating the threat.

Fox News' Cashin' In Panel: Let Americans Get Sick!

On Saturday's Cashin' In, the lead-off discussion attacked President Obama and his health care reform (before he's even finished putting forth a policy) via the Orwellian means of accusing the Obama administration of trying to use the swine flu epidemic to promote Obama's agenda. It's a typical Fox News tactic: Rather than hold a serious debate about the economics of health care in our country, they framed the issue in such a way that the nearly all anti-Obama panel could trash his not-yet-existing plan without really discussing it. Democratic guest Julian Epstein did a fine job of exposing the BS; when he demanded the names of any Obama administration official who was using the swine flu for political purposes, nobody could provide even a single name. Throughout the segment, Epstein's opponents (virtually everyone else on the panel) seemed to think that the state of health care in this country is just fine and that since anyone can go to an emergency room for treatment, there's no health care problem. With video.

On FOX News Sunday, Wallace Called VP Biden "A Crackpot"

Those "pro-America" folks at FOX News have been all over Vice President Biden for his comments advising people to avoid commercial airline flights and the subway because of the swine flu. You'd expect that Red Eye, Cavuto and "liberal" Van Susteren would try to make hay out a Biden gaffe, even if the administration did already apologize for and clarify the remarks. But Chris Wallace calling Biden a "crackpot?" That was after Wallace suggested that Biden might be part of a White House conspiracy to hide the seriousness of the threat. John Amato at Crooks and Liars has more analysis and video.