Does Rupert Murdoch interfere with his news outlets? Does a bear, well, you know…
The Los Angeles Times has an interesting piece of reporting on that, even if it’s fifteen years old. And shows how bigtime Democratic politicians in the U.S. have played footsie with Murdoch:
In 1996, the teenage son of a prominent political figure in Washington, D.C., got suspended from his tony prep school.
Not wanting to see himself, his family or his boss embarrassed by his son’s actions, the father scrambled to keep the incident out of the news. One of the calls he made was to the chief executive of the parent company of a local television station that was planning on running a story. The owner of the TV station assured the politician that he’d have the story killed as a favor from one father to another.
Behind-the-scenes favors between the rich and powerful is nothing new. In this case though, the father in question was Vice President Al Gore, whose son Albert III had gotten suspended from St. Albans. The owner of the television station was media mogul Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp. Spokespeople for both News Corp. and Gore declined to comment on the story, which was confirmed by three former News Corp. executives with direct knowledge of the matter.
The piece also revisits News Corp.’s anti-Nielsen Ratings push, waged in the New York Post with no disclosure about the parent company’s role, and with the help of New York politicians:
That the New York Post, a paper that focuses heavily on scandals and gossip, took such an interest in a new television ratings tool was not lost on Nielsen. “Despicable” is the word used to describe News Corp.’s campaign to derail the meters by Susan Whiting, then the president and now vice chairman of Nielsen, in an article in the Wall Street Journal in September 2004. An earlier opinion piece in the paper said, “anytime you’ve got Hillary Clinton carrying water for Rupert Murdoch by moaning about disenfranchised minority TV viewers, there is no need for a laugh track”…
And Murdoch did not forget who helped him out. In 2006, he held a big fund-raiser for her.
— The Huffington Post has some good labor reporting, going on the ground in Ohio to talk to UAW employees it says are unhappy after years of givebacks, even while the union leadership puts on a happy face.
But at a nearby pub, where the plant’s rank-and-file workforce gathers after work, Todd Siglow offered a contrasting take on recent events: As a result of the union’s concessions, he has been forced to choose between relocating 400 miles away from his Michigan home, separating him from his two daughters - or stay home and risk a 50-percent pay cut.
“They’re so proud of their image: the new GM, the new UAW,” Siglow said. “They preach all this bullshit — brotherhood, solidarity, whatever. You know what? My family is ripped apart. Nobody is helping me with nothing”…
Perry, the third-generation UAW worker, is more worried about her own overdrawn bank account than about the future of the UAW. She saw her wages cut nearly in half under the concessions made to GM. She and 27 other workers at the Lordstown plant have sued the UAW and GM, accusing them of violating the terms of their collective bargaining agreement. She and the other plaintiffs assert they are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in back-pay from the company. GM denies any liability in the matter and declined to comment on the litigation.
Now, GM is profitable again, with its reported net income surging by 89 percent between April and June compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $2.5 billion. GM’s chief executive Dan Akerson is expected to take home $9 million this year in compensation, according to published reports. Yet Perry is struggling to make ends meet on about $16 an hour, making her quest for fair pay feel more urgent than ever.
“It’s disheartening and maddening,” Perry said, her voice cracking. “The people making the decisions are not missing a beat. They didn’t take a pay cut.”
OOOooo. The Obama Administration has decided to offer an empty gesture near the campaign season.
Can you guess why?
http://www.examiner.com/libertarian-in-national/trumka-afl-cio-plans-to-withdraw-support-for-dems
"Barack Obama’s high hopes of reassembling the same posse of supporters that helped him ride to a victory in 2008 took a major hit on Thursday. At a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor, AFL-CIO head Richard Trumka formally announced that big labor plans to scale back its associations with the Democratic Party ahead of the 2012 elections."
"Gee, thanks Obama for not attempting to pass card check, putting forth an excise tax on union health care, doing nothing to motivate the public towards a jobs program, putting entitlement cuts on the table, protecting wall street bankers and companies who outsource labor while killing homeowners, collapsing on debt ceiling talks that should never have happened in the first place, etc..etc..
Yes, now that people can post a notice on a board, we're all good.
People are underestimating how big a rift the DLC democrats have opened between themselves and their progressive base, including labor. But that's okay DLC dems, right? Wallstreet will pull through for you. They have only the best interests of you and the nation at heart.
Idiots.
#1 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Sat 27 Aug 2011 at 12:21 AM
Yeah...
Obama's in trouble now over the leftist hissy fit...
Who are you guys going to vote for? Obama? Or Palin?
Get real. Obama's got the commie/liberal lapdogs in his pocket and he knows it.
No point in whining about it.
#2 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Sat 27 Aug 2011 at 03:44 PM
Yeah, he's got votes. The hissy fit isn't going to change one's vote.
But volunteering one's money, time, and energy? He's not going to get anything close to what he had in 2008. In fact, those people won't likely even go out of their way to vote.
The hope is that the fear of Republican extremism will counter the apathy of supporting a candidate who never tires of betraying you to compromise with those extremists.
"Who are you guys going to vote for? Obama? Or Palin?
Get real. Obama's got the commie/liberal lapdogs in his pocket and he knows it.
No point in whining about it."
I'd love to hear someone say this to the tea party. The progressive/labor left is the Rodney Dangerfeld of politics.
And in that situation, the only option is to primary the a-holes until they fear you again.
#3 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Sat 27 Aug 2011 at 08:27 PM
The problem with the Dems is that they have nothing to bring to the table.
Higher taxes aren't going to fly in a recession. It's stupid (both politically and practically) to suggest tax increases. Printing money isn't working anymore. Neither is borrowing it. This is all the Dems have to offer and the electorate isn't buying it. Poll after poll shows that Americans want smaller government, reduced spending and a balanced budget.
The Dems haven't passed a budget since Obama was inaugurated, for Pete's sake, and the budget Obama proposed was so stupid that not even one Dem voted for it.
The GOP, on the other hand, has solid proposals in play (like Paul Ryan's Medicare overhaul plan). They pushed through two solid debt ceiling bills through the House. Real plans, real proposals.
In doing so, they have shown the Dems to be the "party of nothing".
A primary process only works when there are actual ideas in play - as Ted Kennedy found out in 1980. Until and unless a strong Dem leader emerges with a vision that doesn't involve spending more money, the Dems are stuck on stupid.
And if you think the Dems took a beating last election... Just wait till this one.
#4 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Sun 28 Aug 2011 at 11:37 AM
"The problem with the Dems is that they have nothing to bring to the table...
The GOP, on the other hand, has solid proposals in play (like Paul Ryan's Medicare overhaul plan). They pushed through two solid debt ceiling bills through the House. Real plans, real proposals.
In doing so, they have shown the Dems to be the "party of nothing"."
Why is it that whenever I read padkiller's attempts at political analysis, it sounds like this guy speaking?
#5 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Mon 29 Aug 2011 at 03:18 AM
And whenever you criticize Democrats here, you get silly YouTube ad hominem in reply.
Unless the Dems can come up with a way to cut costs without raising taxes in the middle of a recession, er. I mean the "Obama Recovery", they don't stand a chance in 2012.
You know it too, Thimbles. That's why you're name-calling instead of making any factual point in reply.
#6 Posted by padikiller, CJR on Mon 29 Aug 2011 at 08:07 AM