Why watching Sunday morning talk shows is mostly a waste of time!
The Sunday morning political TV talk shows are really just an opportunity for the partisans to spew their positions not matter how outrageous they are. Whether Democrats or Republicans they all just repeat the same lines over and over. It’s like they don’t think we notice the repetitiveness of their spiels.
This week I thought I would try to catch them at the downright lies and truly ridiculous statements.
Jim DeMint, Republican Senator from South Carolina, appearing on “This Week” said Social Security is bankrupt. In 2010 for the first time in its history the system paid out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes as reported in the New York Times. This is not bankruptcy. The system will run out of sufficient funds in 2037 if things keep going as they are now. Alan Greenspan, the former head of the Federal Reserve, recalled in an interview that the sour economy of the late 1970s had taken the program close to insolvency when the commission he led set to work in 1982. So another commission is needed now not fear mongering.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney, appearing on the “Fox & friends” television program, said that if she were in the White House rather than Barack Obama, then things might be different today in the country. No kidding! What a remarkable statement. No two presidents have conducted things exactly the same way. He could also have said things might be different today if John McCain had been elected president. The Associated Press wasted time and posted a story on this non-news item.
Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman contended on “State of the Union” that there have not been any major attacks since 9-11. Well none have been successful. Two most outstanding incidents did no harm but no thanks to our law enforcement officials. He seems to have forgotten the Christmas Day Bomber who only failed because the detonator failed to function in a plane landing in Detroit. There was also the Times Square Bomber whose terrorist attack was foiled when two street vendors discovered the car bomb and alerted NYPD.
Jim Hoffa, head of the Teamsters union (not Jimmy any more), was also on “State of the Union” contending that American companies are not patriotic. He specifically pointed out Apple Computer as one of the least patriotic because they do have their products made elsewhere.
Michele Bachmann, appearing on “Face the Nation” said gasoline had risen from $1.79 to about $3.90 a gallon since Barack Obama had become president. She is correct. She then went on to criticize the president for not taking advantage of the natural gas and oil resources in North America. She would be wrong on that statement. The United States appears to be about to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast. That is a $7 billion project.
Chris Wallace wasted most of his entire program interviewing Dick Cheney. It was basically an infomercial for Cheney’s new book.
So why do I watch these programs? I learn what to expect in upcoming campaigns. Those campaigns are both about re-election and critical legislation.
Coast Contact 
I had to quit watching as I learned nothing other than what talking points are circulating “inside the beltway”. Interesting that my text suggest program thought beltway should be betray.