CNN's "Stimulus Desk"

[njlib]

They're doing segments every hour or so to "track the money and find out how many jobs are being created". OK, I get it. You're a news channel and are doing some investigative reporting, keeping the big, bad government "honest". Now, why didn't they have a TARP desk to investigate and keep track of that money?? Or a War desk to investigate all the no-bid contracts going to KBR & Blackwater and how the money they've been paid has been spent? Or a 9 Billion in Missing Cash in Iraq desk? Or a Katrina desk to track the government's progress in rebuilding?

Are these investigative "desks" only necessary when there's a Democrat in the White House? If any administration needed to be "kept honest" it was the LAST one!! Why the obsession with investigative reporting NOW and why is a program intended to help the people in this country being scrutinized so closely??

Am I wrong to be pissed off about this?

[napi21]

1. I like that site. It give me amunition against those who say

the stimiulus didn't do anything!

Why didn't they do that with the past admin? Threats would be my guess!

[njlib]

3. Yes, it's helpful when trying to make a point

but it really aggravates the crap out of me that, after not batting an eyelash during the 8 years of shit that Bush got away with, they've become the auditors of Obama's administration!

[FrenchieCat]

2. It is odd how some of the "news" stations are not into "investigative"

journalism, and it just started happening after January 20 of last year.

Even the SOTU gets fact checked. Did the same happened with Bush's (I don't know,
cause I never watched Bush's SOTU or the reactions afterwards by the pundits).

[njlib]

4. I caught the fact checking on MSNBC today

and my first reaction was "Not you, TOO??"

I could never watch Bush's speeches either because he made me want to throw the TV out the window, but I caught enough of the pundits and discussions the next day and they DID NOT fact check his speeches.

[doc03]

5. I have been watching them too, what they are doing reporting

on a few projects handpicked by Republicans. I could show them dozens of excellent projects around Ohio yet the only report I saw them talking about in Ohio is the one about the signs. Even that was a complete distortion, they say it didn't make any jobs. I think they said there has been about $3 million spent on signs nationally and no jobs created. Someone had to make the steel posts to mount the sign on, the aluminum used to make the sign, the paint and someone was paid wages to paint the sign. All those people involved with making the sign bought things and created $3 million dollars in economic activity of some kind. Here it is as I type, now our our local news is doing a report on the signs. There have been tens of millions of dollars spent around the area and they are talking about a couple thousand dollars for signs. I have been seeing signs on public projects all my life now the Republicans don't want anything to draw attention to the Stimulus.

[njlib]

9. Exactly!

I've been seeing "Your tax dollars at work" signs all my life here in NJ!

I guess what really gets me is that they seem to be so proud of themselves, like they're going to bust this wide open with some sort of shocking details of waste and corruption. They've got all their little newsroom desks set up, people sitting at pc's and on the phones...looks more like a movie set than anything else.

Do they not see how obviously biased and ridiculous this is? Will they continue to do this from now on, even if there's a repub in the White House? Somehow, I don't think so...

[moondust]

13. The signs story.

The clip I saw made a big point at the end about some signs being erected even before the projects had begun. The conclusion the CNN reporter made was: "LOOK AT HOW BAD THEIR PRIORITIES ARE!"

I could be wrong but there may have been a separate contract for somebody to put up X number of signs at certain places and it made no difference to the sign contractor if the actual project had been started or not; they simply went ahead and put up the signs as per their contract. Big fucking deal. In some cases I think CNN is trying too hard to make things look bad.

[njlib]

14. Yes, they're trying so hard to find something bad NOW!

Where were they during the nightmare that was Bush?

Putting up the signs is necessary to let people see where that money's going and how it's benefitting them directly. It makes no difference if the sign goes up before, during, or after the project is completed.

[doc03]

15. They are trying to out fox Faux. n/t

[targetpractice]

6. It's easy, because the info is not secret...

Not many investigative journalism skills are required to read aloud information from the www.recovery.gov web site.

[njlib]

10. LOL

That's true, but they hype it up like they're Woodward/Bernstein! It's funny, until it starts to piss you off.

[ClusterFreak]

7. Rec-the-fuck-o-mmended!

:headbang:

[mzmolly]

8. +1!

:hi:

[njlib]

12. I can hardly wait to see

what they're going to discover today! Last I heard during Anderson Cooper's show, there were a bunch of new police graduates who were able to get and keep a job in one city because of that money. I think their strategy is going to backfire because I haven't seen anything negative yet, but they sure are trying!

[njlib]

11. Thank you

very fucking much! :)

[Moochy]

16. Hey Baby...

Come over to my cubicle where I can show you my 'Stimulus Desk'! growl

Dear HR: This was not posted at work.

[spanone]

17. the media only asks pertinent questions of democratic leaders.....

[bullwinkle428]

18. I was SCREAMING (in my head, anyway - public place) about the *$9 billion

the other night while catching a portion of this segment when I was working out at the gym!

They were going on and on about $50,000 for a renovation of some public facilities in Montana, and was just gob-smacked by the utter hypocrisy of it all!

(*$9 billion that disappeared in Iraq when Smirky McAssclown was runnin' the show!)

[njlib]

19. Screaming at the TV is a daily occurrence in my house!

What I want to know is how do they do this so enthusiastically and with a straight face? Did any of the producers or anyone else behind the scenes say "Hey wait a minute...this seems a little ridiculous, a little too biased and one-sided" or suggest that maybe they should apply the same scrutiny to TARP? Or the defense budget?? Maybe the taxpayers would like to be educated on where TARP money went, what it was used for, and how much has been repaid. Maybe they need to do this kind of reporting and investigating BEFORE money is approved and spent...do it during the introduction and debate stage.