CNN/TEA Party Express to Join Forces For Putting Together Republican Primary Debate

As a showing of how influential the TEA Party movement has become in everyday politics, CNN and the Tea Party Express will hold a Republican primary debate next year on Labor Day:

CNN is teaming up with the Tea Party Express for a first-of-its-kind presidential primary debate, both organizations announced Friday. The Tea Party debate, featuring 2012 Republican presidential candidates, is scheduled for Labor Day week 2011. It will take place in Tampa, Florida – the site of the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Since the spring of 2009, the Tea Party movement has been increasingly vocal in advocating for less government spending, lower taxes and shrinking the deficit. The Tea Party debate will place specific emphasis on those issues.

Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer talked to CNN about what activists hope to hear from Republican presidential candidates. "We want to hear what their ideas are – what their thoughts are – on turning this economy back around and getting us on a sound economic footing, paying down some of our deficit, getting a balanced budget, and reining in the spending," Kremer said.

Kremer added, "We've proven ourselves in this last campaign, election cycle of 2010, we're the only Tea Party group that engaged in election activity. And we got involved because we simply believed that if we're going to affect change we're going to do it at the ballot box. And the tea party movement has proven how powerful it is."

Sam Feist, CNN Political Director and Vice President of Washington-based programming said, "The Tea Party movement is a fascinating, diverse, grassroots force that already has drastically changed the country's political landscape."

This could be huge for the next presidential race. It’ll help to frame the debate to issues that are important to the TEA Party and those that are sympathic to many of their concerns.

No More Tea-Bagging for CNN's Rosegen, She's Taking "Previously Planned Vacation"

I guess she's had enough "teabagging" for a while.

So far Roesgen is not talking publicly about the situation. CNN tells us she's now on a previously-planned vacation.

It's a curious time for her to have a "previously-planned vacation". Is it like the "vacation" Dan Rather took after Memogate?

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CNN Doesn't Like Criticism: Blocks Reporter's Email After Controversial Comments

So, we are all well aware of the so-called “reporter” from CNN, Susan Roesgen whose on-air haranguing of those she was ostensibly reporting on made obvious her anti-Republican bias. Well, for the past day Americans have been emailing her to let her know how they feel about her unprofessional attitude. Apparently, CNN does not appreciate hearing from its viewers, though, because all of a sudden anyone that sends an email to Roesgen’s CNN email address will have it returned as address unknown!

Exhibit D: The Mainstream Media doesn't really care about your comments. They don't care about how much you don't appreciate them talking down to you and acting like they know what's better for you. They don't care that you would rather have them be as fair and balanced as they can be and not a mouthpiece for the Obama PR team.

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http://www.redstate.com/warner_todd_huston/2009/04/16/avoiding-criticism-cnn-shuts-down-anti-tea-party-reporters-email-address/
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CNN Reporter Appalled by Obama/Hitler Comparison, Flashback: Linking Bush/Hitler, Eh...Not So Much

"In (her segment) (Susan Roesgen) sought out another TEA Party participant who had a mocked-up sign in which President Barack Obama is melded with Adolf Hitler.  She immediately began arguing with this gentleman as well; amongst the things she angrily said were "Why be so hard on the President of the United States with such an offensive message?" and "Do you realize how offensive that is?"

While I agree with her that it is over the line to like Obama with Hitler, that isn't the point of this post. Newsbusters has dug up an old video of her covering a anti-Bush protest in New Orleans where someone made a float with W's head with devil horns and a Hitler mustache, and all she could say about it was this:

"City officials aren’t the only ones wondering when federal money will materialize. Catholic school girls marched on Jackson Square. They and their teachers say more money is needed to fix the levees, and they hoped the President would stop by after his meeting with business leaders. But while a look-alike showed up with a wad of cash, Mr. Bush did not."

This "look-alike" was the previously mentioned Bush head. Where was her outrage then? There was a stark difference in her demeanor between her confronting the "tea" protestor and her commenting on the Bush float.

Your honor, this is exhibit A in the investigation as to why CNN gets beat by Fox every single day and time slot for the past few years.

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CNN's Heidi Collins: Today's Overspending Still Bush's Fault

CNN's Heidi Collins: Monstrous Spending Bill 'Is a Hold-Over From the Last Administration'
By Michael M. Bates
March 6, 2009 - 14:58 ET

On this morning's CNN Newsroom, anchor Heidi Collins gave Barack Obama some cover by characterizing the omnibus spending bill, larded with thousands of earmarks, as left over from the Bush administration:

A controversial $410 billion spending bill hits a snag in the Senate. This is the bill we've been talking about with about $8 billion in earmarks. Republicans and a few Democrats are mad about all that pork barrel spending. That led members from both parties to push President Obama to veto the bill.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid says the measure will be opened up for changes next week in an effort to gain more support. The bill is a hold-over from the last administration.

Collin's reporting comes straight from the Obama playbook.  Last Sunday on "This Week," Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag defended his boss's support for the measure:

"This is last year's business.  We want to just move on.  Let's get this bill done, get it into law and move forward."

It was originally drafted last year, but congressional Democrats didn't want to send it to President Bush, so it will only fund the government from April through September.

Paul Kane at The Washington Post points out that the bill is "leftover from last year's congressional agenda."

And the Associated Press reported yesterday on Senator John McCain's attempts to defeat the spending bill:

McCain took aim at the $410 billion spending bill to keep the government running, specifically Obama's willingness to accept thousands of pet projects that it would fund. Orszag, McCain noted, called the so-called earmarks "last year's business."

"Last year's business? Does that mean last year's president will sign this pork barrel bill?" McCain railed from the Senate floor. "It is the president's business. It is the business of the president of the United States."

No, Heidi, the omnibus bill working its way through Congress isn't a hold-over from the Bush administration.  Your saying so is evidence of what's become increasingly apparent: When it comes to covering up for Obama, the news readers at CNN are shovel ready.

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My Thoughts

Michael pretty well said it all. The left can't keep blaming everything on Bush. The American people aren't stupid. They'll see it for what it is, subterfuge.

How can they blame today's spending bill on Bush? Obama is president not Bush. It is true they wrote the bill last year, but they didn't dare try and pass it. Why? The Democrats knew damn well that Pres. Bush would have vetoed it in a Gotham second. It was always written with Pres. Obama in mind not Bush.

Unless Obama wants to resign and appoint W. the president again, it isn't Bush's bill. It never really was. The Obama administration and the Democrats better start acknowledging their own culpability for the beginning of the recession and the continuous downward slide of the economy. They are not going to be able to hide behind W. for much longer.