Unemployment Falls; Couric: 'Do the Jobs Out There Pay Enough?' --11/6/2006

1. Unemployment Falls; Couric: 'Do the Jobs Out There Pay Enough?'
In an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney excerpted on ABC's World News on Friday night, George Stephanopoulos cited the "exceptionally low" 4.4 percent October unemployment rate announced earlier in the day -- down two-tenths from September to the lowest since early 2001 -- and wondered: "Why don't you think the President's getting more credit for that?" Cheney blamed the media: "Well, you guys don't help. The fact of course is that what's news is if there's bad news and that gets coverage. But the good news that's out there day after day after day doesn't get as much attention." Indeed, Cheney was prescient. On Friday night ABC limited coverage to the Stephanopoulos question and 15 seconds from anchor Charles Gibson nearly 19 minutes into the newscast while CBS, and NBC to a lesser extent, spun the good news into bad. Though wages have grown by 3.9 percent over the past 12 months, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric used the lower unemployment news as a segue to ask: "But do the jobs out there pay enough? A big issue in the battle for Congress this year is how much the lowest-paid workers make." Viewers then saw a full story on the plight of minimum wage workers and how raising it is "resonating" with voters.

2. Lauer: Dems 'Have Shame on Shoulders' for Criticizing Kerry
On Friday's Today, Matt Lauer was appalled at how Republicans dared to take political advantage of John Kerry insult of troops for not being smart enough to avoid getting "stuck in Iraq," and even proclaimed that Democrats critical of Kerry should have "shame on their shoulders" for not recognizing a botched joke. Lauer pressed former Bush chief-of-staff Andy Card: "Look me in the eye and tell me, if, with even a fraction of your heart, you think John Kerry meant to question the intelligence of U.S. troops in Iraq." Lauer followed up: "Okay but, again, looking at me you don't think he in any way meant to question the intelligence of those troops?" When Card pointed out how many Democrats were critical and urged Kerry to "stay home" and be quiet, Lauer lashed out at them too: "I think a lot of Democrats should have shame on their shoulders because they ran away from this guy as opposed to standing up and saying it was just a mistake. Here's how Tom Friedman put it in the New York Times this morning, quote: 'Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, "they must think I am stupid because they surely do."'

3. Pundits on McLaughlin, Beltway Boys, Inside Wash Make Predictions
On shows aired Friday and Saturday, the journalists and political pundits on the McLaughlin Group,
FNC's Beltway Boys and
Inside Washington, a local Washington, DC program, made predictions for what will occur in Tuesday's elections. All presumed that Democrats will win enough seats to takeover the House and most forecast that Democrats will win a majority of the most-contested Senate seats. Below is a rundown of the specific predictions issued by columnist Pat Buchanan, Newsweek writer Eleanor Clift, Washington Times editorial page Editor Tony Blankley, Democratic political veteran and television producer Lawrence O'Donnell, John McLaughlin, Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes, Roll Call Executive Editor Morton Kondracke, columnist Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post editorial writer Colby King, columnist and PBS analyst Mark Shields and NPR reporter Nina Totenberg.

4. Maher's Talking Points for Dems, Bush 'a Retarded Child Emperor'
To the delight of his Los Angeles audience which heartily applauded his every barb at President Bush, such as denigrating Bush as "a retarded child emperor," left-wing comedian Bill Maher closed his HBO show Friday night with his recommended talking points for Democrats to use to fight back against Republicans and win on Tuesday. [Be warned, this item quotes a vulgar term for feces] He started his list, on Real Time with Bill Maher aired live at 11pm EST, with how "when they say 'Democrats will raise taxes,' you say 'we have to because someone spent all the money in the world cutting Paris Hilton's taxes and not killing Osama bin Laden.'" Second, "when they say the 'terrorists want the Democrats to win,' you say 'are you insane? George Bush has been a terrorist's wet dream.' He inflames radical hatred against America and then runs on offering to protect us from it. It's like a guy throwing shit on you and then selling you relief from the flies." Third, "when they say 'cut and run' or 'defeatocrat,' you say 'Bush lost the war, period.'" Fourth, "when they say that actual combat veterans like John Kerry are 'denigrating the troops,' you say 'you're completely full of shit.'" And finally, "vote Republican and you vote to enable George Bush to keep ruling as an emperor -- a retarded child emperor, but an emperor." AUDIO&VIDEO

5. "Top Ten Ways George Bush is Celebrating Laura's 60th Birthday"
Letterman's "Top Ten Ways George W. Bush is Celebrating Laura's 60th Birthday."

Unemployment Falls; Couric: 'Do the Jobs
Out There Pay Enough?'

In an interview with Vice President Dick Cheney excerpted on ABC's World News on Friday night, George Stephanopoulos cited the "exceptionally low" 4.4 percent October unemployment rate announced earlier in the day -- down two-tenths from September to the lowest since early 2001 -- and wondered: "Why don't you think the President's getting more credit for that?" Cheney blamed the media: "Well, you guys don't help. The fact of course is that what's news is if there's bad news and that gets coverage. But the good news that's out there day after day after day doesn't get as much attention."

Indeed, Cheney was prescient. On Friday night ABC limited coverage to the Stephanopoulos question and 15 seconds from anchor Charles Gibson nearly 19 minutes into the newscast while CBS, and NBC to a lesser extent, spun the good news into bad. NBC's Brian Williams gave it just 20 seconds as he reported "employers added 92,000 jobs in October," but added how "that was below expectations." Williams skipped how the August and September job numbers were revised to show 139,000 more jobs created. And though wages have grown by 3.9 percent over the past 12 months, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric used the lower unemployment news as a segue to ask: "But do the jobs out there pay enough? A big issue in the battle for Congress this year is how much the lowest-paid workers make." Viewers then saw a full story on the plight of minimum wage workers and how raising it is "resonating" with voters.

[This item was posted Friday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The AP's Jeannine Aversa on Friday reported how the 4.4 percent unemployment rate for October, released Friday by the Labor Department, "was the lowest since the spring of 2001" and though the 92,000 jobs added in October were below expectations, the "gains in both August and September turned out to have been much stronger. For those two months combined, the economy generated 139,000 more jobs than previously estimated." She also relayed how worker's wages "saw solid gains last month. Their hourly earnings climbed to $16.91, up 0.4 percent from September. Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.9 percent." See: news.yahoo.com

Brian Williams read this short item on Friday's NBC Nightly News:
"Here in the U.S., news on the economy tonight. The job market, to be specific. Employers added 92,000 jobs in October. That was below expectations, but the unemployment rate dropped two tenths of a percent to 4.4 percent. That is big news. It is the lowest level since the spring of 2001. Those numbers raised fears of more interest rate hikes. On Wall Street, the Dow was down 32 and a half points..."

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video for the November 3 CBS Evening News coverage:

Katie Couric: "The government today put out the final report on unemployment before the election. It shows the jobless rate fell in October to the lowest level in five years, 4.4 percent. And the economy created about 92,000 jobs. But do the jobs out there pay enough? A big issue in the battle for Congress this year is how much the lowest-paid workers make. Here's Lee Cowan in Ohio."

Lee Cowan: "It's called 'black light bowling,' and it's proved a pretty colorful way to drum out business outside Cincinnati. For the ball buffers and shoe sorters, this is often their first job, sweeping up a few extra bucks at just over the minimum wage."
Michael McIntyre, bowling lane employee: "I mean, $6 an hour, it's not much, but it helps put gas in the car."
Cowan: "It's not bad for an after-school job. But what about someone like Torrie Gregg? She makes just 25 cents an hour more than Michael working at a McDonald's. And she supports five kids. What are you usually left with at the end of the month after all the bills are paid?"
Torrie Gregg, working mother: "Cents. Sometimes nothing."
Cowan: "Her pay is tied to the minimum wage, which Congress hasn't raised above $5.15 an hour since 1997. Since then, 23 states have raised it on their own, and next Tuesday minimum wage will be voted on in a half dozen more states, including Ohio, which wants to raise it to $6.85."
Gregg: "Any little bit helps."
Cowan: "That resonates here in Ohio, which ranks near the bottom in terms of the nation's job growth. In fact, the city of Cleveland was voted the largest poor city in America with one out of every three people living below the poverty line. Like Amanda Stewart who makes less than $10,000 a year."
Amanda Stewart, sandwich shop worker: "I never expected my life when I was a kid to be like this."
Cowan: "But small business owners, like the one back at that bowling alley, have argued for years that if you raise the minimum wage, minimum wage jobs could strike out."
Frank Ruggerie, business owner: "It's going to make me just scrutinize, you know, that part of my labor force much tighter."
Cowan: "He fears if it passes he may have to lay off some of his entry-level workers. Some economists agree with him, but not all of them. They cite states where the minimum wage was raised, and that actually led to job growth. Seventy percent of Ohio voters say they are in favor of the increase just to get the wages out of the gutter [video of bowling ball in gutter]. Lee Cowan, CBS News, Cleveland."

Lauer: Dems 'Have Shame on Shoulders'
for Criticizing Kerry

On Friday's Today, Matt Lauer was appalled at how Republicans dared to take political advantage of John Kerry insult of troops for not being smart enough to avoid getting "stuck in Iraq," and even proclaimed that Democrats critical of Kerry should have "shame on their shoulders" for not recognizing a botched joke. Lauer pressed former Bush chief-of-staff Andy Card: "Look me in the eye and tell me, if, with even a fraction of your heart, you think John Kerry meant to question the intelligence of U.S. troops in Iraq." Lauer followed up: "Okay but, again, looking at me you don't think he in any way meant to question the intelligence of those troops?" When Card pointed out how many Democrats were critical and urged Kerry to "stay home" and be quiet, Lauer lashed out at them too: "I think a lot of Democrats should have shame on their shoulders because they ran away from this guy as opposed to standing up and saying it was just a mistake. Here's how Tom Friedman put it in the New York Times this morning, quote: 'Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, "they must think I am stupid because they surely do."'

A portion of Lauer's November 3 session with Card:

Lauer: "One of the big stories in the news cycle this week, Andy, was this John Kerry situation. He made a joke, he says he blew the joke and inadvertently sounded as though he questioned the intelligence of U.S. troops in Iraq. Look me in the eye and tell me, if, with even a fraction of your heart, you think John Kerry meant to question the intelligence of U.S. troops in Iraq."
Card: "Well, he's had a past bias that would allow people to believe that but, I think it was a joke that went bad but, the mistake he made was not admitting that he made a mistake."
Lauer: "Okay but, again, looking at me you don't think he in any way meant to question the intelligence of those troops?"
Card: "I can't imagine that he would have, but had a bias. Remember he's the one who stood up and threw his medals away. So he did do some things that were offensive to the members of the military."
Lauer: "But this in situation."
Card: "I've seen members of the military since then and they were offended by what he said."
Lauer: "It's Tuesday, the President was campaigning in Georgia. He referred to the John Kerry situation. Let me play you what he had to say."
President Bush: "The Senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and it is shameful. [edit jump] The members of the United States military are plenty smart and they are plenty brave."
Lauer: "So there's the President at a political rally in the week before a mid-term election. It sounds to me as if he's saying, 'I think John Kerry was suggesting that these men and women over there are less than intelligent.'"
Card: "Well, that's clearly what he said, or his implication in what he said was, 'I think that using a joke like that-'"
Lauer: "But is that using a political mistake for your political advantage?"
Card: "I think that it's taking words that were in the public domain and calling attention to them. And John Kerry didn't apologize for too long. In fact, right afterwards, he said, 'I'm not going to apologize to anyone for anything.' And then it took several days for him to apologize. But, even more significantly, it's the Democrats that have said, 'John Kerry stay home.'"
Lauer: "And by the way, yeah-"
Card: "'Stay home.'"
Lauer: "I think a lot of Democrats-"
Card: "'Stay home.'"
Lauer: "-should have shame on their shoulders-"
Card: "'Stay home.'"
Lauer: "-because they ran away from this guy-"
Card: "'Stay home.'"
Lauer: "-as opposed to standing up and saying it was just a mistake. Here's how Tom Friedman put it in the New York Times this morning, quote: 'Every time you hear Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney lash out against Mr. Kerry, I hope you will say to yourself, "they must think I am stupid because they surely do."' So do you think this issue resonates with voters?"
Card: "Well, I don't think that it's going to be a cutting issue. I think that it was a motivational issue. It gets out there so it energized people but I don't think it's cutting. The real cutting issues are going to be the economy, keeping taxes low. Republicans will keep taxes low. Democrats will increase taxes. I think it's also about securing America."
Lauer: "In an interview with the wire services this week, the President said he hopes Donald Rumsfeld will stay with his administration til the end of his presidency in early 2009. 61 percent of people, in a recent NBC News/Wall Stree Journal poll, say they're less confident the outcome in Iraq will be positive. This is the major architect of that war. By embracing him, right before this election, is that a political mistake?"
Card: "Well, I don't think the decision that the President makes about his cabinet is political. He would be making, he'll be picking the best people to serve with him for the last two years in office and I know the President will do it with a lot of good information, but he'll also do it to meet the obligations that he has. He's got the toughest job in the world because he's got an oath to protect and defend us and he needs a lot of help to do it. And he thinks Don Rumsfeld's the right person to help him do it."
Lauer: "Do you think Don Rumsfeld right now should stay in the job?"
Card: "It's up to the President."
Lauer: "You personally."
Card: "I have counseled the President for change. I've also counseled him not to make change."
Lauer: "Right now-"
Card: "I respect the President."
Lauer: "Right now should Rumsfeld stay in the job?"
Card: "The President should make that decision. It shouldn't be made my Andy Card or anybody else."

Pundits on McLaughlin, Beltway Boys,
Inside Wash Make Predictions

On shows aired Friday and Saturday, the journalists and political pundits on the McLaughlin Group,
FNC's Beltway Boys and
Inside Washington, a local Washington, DC program, made predictions for what will occur in Tuesday's elections. All presumed that Democrats will win enough seats to takeover the House and most forecast that Democrats will win a majority of the most-contested Senate seats.

Below is a rundown of the specific predictions issued by columnist Pat Buchanan, Newsweek writer Eleanor Clift, Washington Times editorial page Editor Tony Blankley, Democratic political veteran and television producer Lawrence O'Donnell, John McLaughlin, Weekly Standard Executive Editor Fred Barnes, Roll Call Executive Editor Morton Kondracke, columnist Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post editorial writer Colby King, columnist and PBS analyst Mark Shields and NPR reporter Nina Totenberg.

Those who forecast that Democrats will take control of the Senate: Clift, O'Donnell, McLaughlin, Kondracke and Shields. Those who think Republicans will retain their Senate majority, if barely: Buchanan, Barnes, Blankley, Krauthammer, King and Totenberg.

[This item was posted Saturday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Now, the rundown:

McLaughlin Group:

# Maryland Senate:
- Pat Buchanan: Cardin
- Eleanor Clift: Cardin
- Tony Blankley: abstained
- Lawrence O'Donnell: Cardin
- John McLaughlin: Cardin

# New Jersey Senate:
- Buchanan: Menendez
- Clift: Menendez
- Blankley: Menendez
- O'Donnell: Menendez
- McLaughlin: Menendez

# Ohio Senate:
- Buchanan: Brown
- Clift: Brown
- Blankley: Brown
- O'Donnell: Brown
- McLaughlin: Brown

# Pennsylvania Senate:
- Buchanan: Casey
- Clift: Casey
- Blankley: abstained
- O'Donnell: Casey
- McLaughlin: Casey

# Rhode Island Senate:
- Buchanan: Whitehouse
- Clift: Whitehouse
- Blankley: Whitehouse
- O'Donnell: Whitehouse
- McLaughlin: Whitehouse

# Missouri Senate:
- Buchanan: Talent
- Clift: McCaskill
- Blankley: abstained
- O'Donnell: McCaskill
- McLaughlin: McCaskill

# Montana Senate:
- Buchanan: Burns
- Clift: Tester
- Blankley: Burns
- O'Donnell: Tester
- McLaughlin: Tester

# Tennessee Senate:
- Buchanan: Corker
- Clift: Corker
- Blankley: Corker
- O'Donnell: Corker
- McLaughlin: Corker

# Virginia Senate:
- Buchanan: Allen
- Clift: Webb
- Blankley: Webb
- O'Donnell: Webb
- McLaughlin: Allen

FNC's Beltway Boys:

# Virginia Senate:
- Fred Barnes: Allen
- Morton Kondracke: Webb

# New Jersey Senate:
- Barnes: Menendez
- Kondracke: Menendez

# Tennessee Senate:
- Barnes: Corker
- Kondracke: Corker

# Missouri Senate:
- Barnes: Talent
- Kondracke: McCaskill

# Montana Senate:
- Barnes: Burns
- Kondracke: Tester

# Maryland Senate:
- Barnes: Cardin
- Kondracke: Cardin

# Ohio Senate:
- Barnes: Brown
- Kondracke: Brown

# Rhode Island Senate:
- Barnes: Whitehouse
- Kondracke: Whitehouse

# Pennsylvania Senate:
- Barnes: Casey
- Kondracke: Casey

# Connecticut Senate:
- Barnes: Lieberman
- Kondracke: Lieberman

# Senate overall:
- Barnes: Democrats pick up 4 seats, Republicans hold Senate by one
- Kondracke: Democrats pick up 6 seats, Democrats takeover by one

# House overall:
- Barnes: Democrats pick up 22 seats
- Kondracke: Democrats pick up 30 seats

Inside Washington, a weekly half hour produced by ABC's Washington, DC affiliate, WJLA-TV channel 7 which airs it on Sunday morning after it has aired Saturday night on the affiliate's all-news cable channel, NewsChannel 8, and Friday night on DC's PBS station, WETA-TV channel 26:

# Charles Krauthammer:
- House: Democrats win 21 seats
- Senate: Republicans hold by one

# Colby King:
- House: Democrats gain "at least" 20 seats
- Senate: Republicans hold by one

# Nina Totenberg:
- House: Democrats pick up 20 to 25 seats
- Senate: 50-50 or Republicans hold by one

# Mark Shields:
- House: Democrats will win more than 35 seats
- Senate: Democrats will win control

Maher's Talking Points for Dems, Bush
'a Retarded Child Emperor'

Third, "when they say 'cut and run' or 'defeatocrat,' you say 'Bush lost the war, period.'" Fourth, "when they say that actual combat veterans like John Kerry are 'denigrating the troops,' you say 'you're completely full of shit.'" And finally, "vote Republican and you vote to enable George Bush to keep ruling as an emperor -- a retarded child emperor, but an emperor."

[This item was posted, with video, late Friday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org. The video/audio will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert, but in the meantime, to watch the Real or Windows Media or to listen to the MP3 audio, go to: newsbusters.org ]

Maher delivered his talking points as part of his "New Rules" segment which followed a panel with actor Alec Baldwin, A.B. Stoddard of The Hill newspaper and Republican Congressman Jack Kingston of Georgia.

Addressing Democrats, Maher lectured on the November 3 edition of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, produced live at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, as I transcribed it since a transcript has not yet been posted on the "New Rules" page ( www.hbo.com ):

"Finally, new rule: Controlling Congress is for closers. Listen up Democrats. It's as easy as ABC: Always Be Closing. First prize, subpoena power in the new Congress. Second prize, a set of steak knives. Third prize, you're fired.
"The election is four days away, and I'm through dicking around with you. Here are the leads, here are your talking points:
"One, when they say 'Democrats will raise taxes,' you say 'we have to because someone spent all the money in the world cutting Paris Hilton's taxes and not killing Osama bin Laden.' [applause] In just six years the national debt has doubled. You can't keep spending money you don't take in. That's not even elementary economics, that's just called don't be Michael Jackson. [some laughter]
"Two, when they say the 'terrorists want the Democrats to win,' you say 'are you insane? George Bush has been a terrorist's wet dream.' He inflames radical hatred against America and then runs on offering to protect us from it. It's like a guy throwing shit on you and then selling you relief from the flies. [laughter and applause]
"Three, when they say 'cut and run' or 'defeatocrat,' you say 'Bush lost the war, period.' [applause] All this nonsense about the violence is getting worse over there because they're trying to influence the election, no, it's getting worse because you drew up the post-war plans on the back of a cocktail napkin at Applebees. [applause] And of course Democrats want to win, but that's impossible now that you've ethnically-cleansed the place by making it unlivable -- just like you did with New Orleans. [applause]
"Four, when they say that actual combat veterans like John Kerry are 'denigrating the troops,' you say 'you're completely full of shit.' Remember when Al Gore caught all that flack for sighing and moaning during that debate? Yeah, don't do that. Just say, 'you're full of shit.' If I was a troop, the support I would want back home would mainly come in the form of people pressuring Washington to get me out of this pointless nightmare. [applause] That's how I would feel supported. So, when they say 'Democrats are obstructionists,' you say 'you're welcome.' Sometimes good people have to intercede to prevent dire consequences. You wouldn't like to think of me as an obstructionist, but what if Roseanne [Barr, earlier guest] had offered to sing? [laughter] So I would be happy to frame this debate as a fight between the obstructionists and the enablers. There's your talking point. Vote Republican and you vote to enable George Bush to keep ruling as an emperor -- a retarded child emperor [laughter], but an emperor.
"So Democrats, you've got four days to get out there and close. And it's not about slogans this time, although when it comes to slogans, the only one I'm prepared to accept from the opposition is, 'The Republican Party: We're sorry.'" [applause]

"Top Ten Ways George Bush is Celebrating
Laura's 60th Birthday"

From the November 3 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Ways George W. Bush is Celebrating Laura's 60th Birthday." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Aww crap, it's her birthday?!

9. Laura decides the next country he invades

8. Instead of lighting candles on the cake, Cheney blasts them with a shotgun

7. All-you-can-eat shrimp at Red Lobster

6. Typical night -- watch Wheel of Fortune and then nod off around 7:30

5. Wrapping gifts in old, unread intelligence memos

4. Slim Jims and lottery tickets

3. Wearing his sexy cheerleader outfit to bed

2. 22-karat gold necklace in honor of his approval rating

1. Not surprisingly, he has no plan

-- Brent Baker