1. Lobby in Favor of SS Tax Hike, Against Extending Income Tax Cuts
In looks at President Bush's economic summit, CBS on Wednesday night lobbied in favor of raising Social Security taxes and was joined by ABC in arguing against making Bush's income taxes permanent. On the CBS Evening News, John Roberts fretted that "increasing taxes could easily extend the life of Social Security, but President Bush won't even consider that." Anthony Mason concluded a review of tax policy proposals by noting that "critics of the President say he will need some bold ideas because the tax cuts alone add a trillion dollars to the national debt with no clear plan in place to pay for them." Similarly, ABC's Peter Jennings painted tax cuts, not soaring spending, as the greatest concern, asking Terry Moran: "The President wants to make his tax cuts permanent. Talk about that and how he does that given that the federal deficit is getting so much larger every moment." Moran warned that "most experts say that making those tax cuts permanent would cause gigantic deficits virtually as far as the eye can see."

2. Today Puts Rumsfeld "On the Defensive," Cite Critical Neo-Con
Matching the content of Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, Today on Wednesday, unlike CBS's Early Show of ABC's GMA, led with attacks on Donald Rumsfeld. "Good morning, on the defensive," Katie Couric touted at the top of the December 15 show. "Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comes under fire from Republican Senator John McCain again..." Following a Jim Miklaszewski piece which recounted the criticism from McCain and Democrat Jack Reed, Tim Russert came aboard to discuss Rumsfeld's negative poll numbers before Matt Lauer found wisdom in the criticism from Bill Kristol, one of those "neo-cons" usually portrayed as misguided. Lauer proposed: "Let me read you this from the Washington Post this morning. William Kristol writes this, quote, 'All defense secretaries in wartime have, needless to say, made misjudgments. Some have stubbornly persisted in their misjudgments, but have any so breezily dodged responsibility and so glibly passed the buck?' end quote."

3. Chevy Chase Unleashes F-Bomb, Calls Bush a "Dumb [Expletive]"
Chevy Chase's vicious blasts at President Bush. At a People for the American Way event Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, actor/comedian Chevy Chase, Thursday's Washington Post reported, "unleashed a rant against President Bush" as "he deployed the four-letter word that got Vice President Cheney in hot water, using it as a noun. Chase called the prez a 'dumb [expletive].'" Richard Leiby, compiler of the Post's "The Reliable Source" column, added: "Chase also said: 'This guy in office is an uneducated, real lying schmuck...and we still couldn't beat him with a bore like Kerry.'"

4. MRC Announces Winners of Annual Awards for Worst Reporting
The results are in for the "Best Notable Quotables of 2004, the Seventeenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." A panel of 43 leading media observers judged 17 award categories and the winning quotes and top runners-up have been posted on the MRC's home page, many accompanied by RealPlayer video clips.

5. "Top Ten Ways to Improve the Department of Homeland Security"
Letterman's "Top Ten Ways to Improve the Department of Homeland Security."

Lobby in Favor of SS Tax Hike, Against
Extending Income Tax Cuts

     In looks at President Bush's economic summit, CBS on Wednesday night lobbied in favor of raising Social Security taxes and was joined by ABC in arguing against making Bush's income taxes permanent. On the CBS Evening News, John Roberts fretted that "increasing taxes could easily extend the life of Social Security, but President Bush won't even consider that." Anthony Mason concluded a review of tax policy proposals by noting that "critics of the President say he will need some bold ideas because the tax cuts alone add a trillion dollars to the national debt with no clear plan in place to pay for them." Similarly, ABC's Peter Jennings painted tax cuts, not soaring spending, as the greatest concern, asking Terry Moran: "The President wants to make his tax cuts permanent. Talk about that and how he does that given that the federal deficit is getting so much larger every moment." Moran warned that "most experts say that making those tax cuts permanent would cause gigantic deficits virtually as far as the eye can see."

     Rather also offered a most nefarious take on Bush's motivations: "You may want to note that many critics of the President's ideas insist Social Security is not in nearly the trouble that Mr. Bush and some others say it is. Their view is that the President is overstating the case to serve special interests such as Wall Street investment houses."

     Earlier, Roberts had contended that "worst of all political worlds" would be to "institute so-called means testing, where more affluent seniors who have contributed all their lives will never see a penny from the government?" But that would be the best of all worlds in exposing Social Security for what it is: an income transferring system from current workers to former workers.

     This wasn't the first time CBS fretted about Bush's plan to reform Social Security as they advocated repealing the tax cuts. As recounted in the December 10 CybeAlert:
     The CBS Evening News tied a story on President Bush's plan to reform Social Security to a worker who supports the idea of private accounts for a portion of an employee's payment, but only after anchor Dan Rather reverentially described Social Security as "the biggest, most successful retirement program in the world." Though over time the stock market has always out-performed Social Security, John Roberts warned of instability in the stock market. Over video of people on the floor of a stock market yelling and waving their arms, Roberts asked: "Remember what happened to all those 401(k) accounts three years ago? The people who print Social Security checks never act like this." Roberts concluding by bringing up how "some critics claim that the coming shortfall could easily be covered by repealing the President's tax cuts." www.mediaresearch.org

     Back to Wednesday night:

     -- CBS Evening News. Dan Rather opened his December 15 broadcast: "Good evening. President Bush has launched a two-day conference to build support for his second-term economic policies. The President and his most trusted advisors, including Vice President Cheney, are leading discussions of bread-and-butter issues that could affect you and your family for years to come: Changes in Social Security and federal taxes and changes in how lawsuits by ordinary citizens are handled. To help you sort through these proposals, CBS News correspondents have overviews of the three top items on the President's economic agenda. First, John Roberts has your report on Social Security from the President's point-of-view."

     Roberts explained, as corrected against the closed-captioning by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth: "Franklin Roosevelt's Social Security safety net is quickly developing huge financial holes. In 1935, the system was flush: 16 workers paid in for every one that drew retirement benefits. That ratio is now just a little more than 3 to 1. By the time all the baby-boomers have retired, just 2 to 1. In 2042, Social Security will become insolvent, and today's young workers risk losing their benefits. President Bush wants to mend the holes, [items on screen] allowing workers to invest a small portion of their weekly payroll taxes in stocks and bonds that will grow or fall with the market. Those accounts would become the employee's property. At retirement, government-paid benefits would be reduced according to how much was put in the personal account.
     "But private accounts don't address the overall funding problem. Without broader reforms or a rise in the payroll tax, the government side of Social Security will still run out of money. Increasing taxes could easily extend the life of Social Security, but President Bush won't even consider that. So there's some tough choices ahead. Will the White House propose to raise the retirement age, cut benefits or, in the worst of all political worlds, institute so-called means testing, where more affluent seniors who have contributed all their lives will never see a penny from the government?"
     Rather: "John Roberts at the White House. You may want to note that many critics of the President's ideas insist Social Security is not in nearly the trouble that Mr. Bush and some others say it is. Their view is that the President is overstating the case to serve special interests such as Wall Street investment houses. The argument figures to continue for a long while."

     Rather moved on: "Now, what can you expect in the way of tax revision proposals in the President's second term. CBS's Wyatt Andrews is tracking that for you. Wyatt?"

     Andrews outlined: "Dan, on tax reform the President's done a lot of thinking, but not much proposing so far. But here's a rundown for taxpayers of what's on his mind. Hands down, the President's top priority is to make his income tax cuts permanent, cuts that freeze the rate for the richest taxpayers at 35 percent, and for low-income at 10 percent. The President would also like to scrap or lower the AMT. The alternative minimum tax was supposed to target the rich, but now it's squeezing the middle class and wiping out their tax cuts."
     George W. Bush during the campaign: "It is a complicated mess."
     Andrews: "Back in the campaign, the President said tax reform would start with a simpler tax code, fewer loopholes, and less paperwork. Very soon Mr. Bush will appoint a blue ribbon panel on taxes to give him advice, and it's from that panel that truly revolutionary ideas, like a 20 percent flat tax, could emerge. Critics of the President say he will need some bold ideas because the tax cuts alone add a trillion dollars to the national debt with no clear plan in place to pay for them. Dan?"

     -- ABC's World News Tonight. Peter Jennings: "At the White House today, there was a conference on the economy. It wasn't a very controversial one. Virtually everyone there agreed with what the President wants to do in his second term. Tomorrow, they will take up the very contentious issue of reforming national security. Today it was about cutting taxes, reforming the tax code and trying to make it more difficult for people to sue doctors and corporations. Our White House correspondent Terry Moran is prepared for questions. Terry, number one, the President wants to make his tax cuts permanent. Talk about that and how he does that given that the federal deficit is getting so much larger every moment."
     From the White House, Moran replied: "Peter, that is something the President talked about at nearly every campaign stop this fall, so he thinks he's got a mandate to do it, but most experts say that making those tax cuts permanent would cause gigantic deficits virtually as far as the eye can see, and President Bush has not spelled out how he would balance the budget under those circumstances."
     Jennings: "Tax reform. Every President has promised. No one's delivered."
     Moran: "Well, that is a record. The President is kind of vague on this one, as well. He wants to study it. His principle is that it should encourage savings more than spending, but he's going to basically put this one in the Treasury for a year or so and study it."

Today Puts Rumsfeld "On the Defensive,"
Cite Critical Neo-Con

     Matching the content of Tuesday's NBC Nightly News, Today on Wednesday, unlike CBS's Early Show of ABC's GMA, led with attacks on Donald Rumsfeld. "Good morning, on the defensive," Katie Couric touted at the top of the December 15 show. "Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comes under fire from Republican Senator John McCain again..." Following a Jim Miklaszewski piece which recounted the criticism from McCain and Democrat Jack Reed, Tim Russert came aboard to discuss Rumsfeld's negative poll numbers before Matt Lauer found wisdom in the criticism from Bill Kristol, one of those "neo-cons" usually portrayed as misguided. Lauer proposed: "Let me read you this from the Washington Post this morning. William Kristol writes this, quote, 'All defense secretaries in wartime have, needless to say, made misjudgments. Some have stubbornly persisted in their misjudgments, but have any so breezily dodged responsibility and so glibly passed the buck?' end quote."

     For the rundown of the December 14 NBC Nightly News coverage, see the December 15 CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org

     The MRC's Geoff Dickens noticed that this was how Couric opened Wednesday's Today over video of Rumsfeld: "Good morning, on the defensive. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld comes under fire from Republican Senator John McCain again on Tuesday but White House officials are publicly standing by their man today, Wednesday, December 15th, 2004."

     Lauer soon elaborated: "It's been fairly well documented that at times over the years Senator McCain and the President had a kind of frosty relationship. Well now the Senator's comments and criticism of Donald Rumsfeld that's put him at odds with the White House once again."
     Couric: "That's right Matt and as you know earlier this week Senator McCain said he had quote, 'no confidence,' in Secretary Rumsfeld and Tuesday he went on the offensive again in a radio interview. We'll have more in just a minute and ask Tim Russert if Rumsfeld still has the confidence of the President."

     News reader Ann Curry set up Miklaszewski's piece: "In the news this morning the White House remains confident in Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld saying he's been doing a quote, 'tremendous job,' during some trying times. This in response to strong, new criticism of how Rumsfeld has handled the war in Iraq. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski has more now."

     Miklaszewski began his story, slightly modified from what aired the night before: "Vietnam veteran Senator John McCain said he has no confidence in Defense Secretary Rumsfeld for the way he's run the Iraq war."
     Senator John McCain on a radio show "We've got to have more troops over there and we made serious mistakes at the beginning and we're paying a very heavy price for it."
     Miklaszewski: "Congressional critics claim that Rumsfeld made a series of serious mistakes. That he underestimated the growing threat from insurgents in Iraq and then failed to respond quickly enough."
     Sen. Jack Reed: "So that's a combination of factors that, that undermines my confidence in his continued ability to be a successful Secretary of Defense."
     Miklaszewski: "That criticism intensified last week after a soldier in Kuwait asked Rumsfeld why troops have to dig through landfills to find armor for their Humvees."
     Donald Rumsfeld at event in Kuwait: "As you know you go to war with the army you have."
     Miklaszewski: "Many consider the answer dismissive and disrespectful. In fact Rumsfeld's 'take no prisoners,' approach has turned many of the military's top brass against him. But Pentagon officials claim Rumsfeld's hard charging style of management and personal toughness is exactly what President Bush wants and what the nation needs in time of war. Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News, the Pentagon."

     Lauer turned to Russert, who appeared from Washington, DC: "On Close Up this morning Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld under fire. Tim Russert is NBC's Washington Bureau chief and moderator of Meet the Press. Tim, good morning to you."
     Russert: "Good morning Matt."
     With "Rumsfeld Under Fire" as the on-screen heading, and poll numbers on screen from a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll which found Rumsfeld's positive rating fell to 34 percent from 39 percent in May while his negative rose from 33 to 38 percent, Lauer cued Russert: "Let's start by talking about some poll numbers that have just come out. The Secretary of Defense's positive numbers are going down. His negative numbers are going up. These aren't huge shifts, by the way. Just about five percent in both directions. But clearly not what the administration would like to see. They're publicly supporting Donald Rumsfeld at the White House, Tim. Anything going on behind the scenes?"
     Tim Russert: "Not at the White House, Matt. They are foursquare behind the Secretary of Defense. This President believes very deeply to acknowledge any weakness in Secretary Rumsfeld's leadership would be a suggestion of a mismanagement or a mistake in terms of the war in Iraq. He just doesn't want to send that signal."
     Lauer: "Alright so we got the President speaking out in support of Donald Rumsfeld. We know he has a good friend in Vice President Dick Cheney. But some key Republicans are starting to criticize him publicly. John McCain as we've said, said he has no confidence in Secretary Rumsfeld. Chuck Hagel the other day said, quote, 'I don't like the way he has done some things. I think they may have been irresponsible. I don't like the way we went into Iraq, we didn't go into Iraq with enough troops.' Why are we hearing these criticisms now, Tim?"
     Russert: "Well the linchpin, I think Matt, was last week when the young National Guardsman asked Secretary Rumsfeld about the lack of armor for Humvees. And you could feel the watershed just bursting. Suddenly people who had been, built up criticism of Secretary Rumsfeld for not providing enough troops unleashed but also on the other side people who had opposed the war began to call him callous and cavalier. So Secretary Rumsfeld really is the man in the middle, getting it from both sides. Those who don't think he's done enough in terms of more troops for Iraq and those who think the war was misguided from the beginning."
     Lauer: "This may be a point that proves that. Let me read you this from the Washington Post this morning. William Kristol writes this, quote, 'All defense secretaries in wartime have, needless to say, made misjudgments. Some have stubbornly persisted in their misjudgments, but have any so breezily dodged responsibility and so glibly passed the buck?' end quote. I guess the question here is don't all and it's kind of, he points to this in that comment don't all secretaries of defense face these kinds of criticism during times of war?"
     Russert: "Yes, but recall during the Persian Gulf War, Matt, Secretary of Defense Cheney, enormously popular in the country and over 60 to 70 percent approval rating. So there are moments in our history when Secretary of Defenses do in fact have those kinds of numbers. It all goes the success or failure or perception of the success or failure of the war."

     For Kristol's December 15 Washington Post op-ed, in which he concluded that the "soldiers deserve a better defense secretary than the one we have," go to: www.washingtonpost.com

Chevy Chase Unleashes F-Bomb, Calls Bush
a "Dumb [Expletive]"

     Chevy Chase's vicious blasts at President Bush. At a People for the American Way event Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, actor/comedian Chevy Chase, Thursday's Washington Post reported, "unleashed a rant against President Bush" as "he deployed the four-letter word that got Vice President Cheney in hot water, using it as a noun. Chase called the prez a 'dumb [expletive].'" Richard Leiby, compiler of the Post's "The Reliable Source" column, added: "Chase also said: 'This guy in office is an uneducated, real lying schmuck...and we still couldn't beat him with a bore like Kerry.'"

     Flashback. Attending the infamous July 8 Kerry fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall, Chase castigated Bush as "venal," admitted he's "frightened by Bush," and insulted Bush: "This guy's as bright as an egg timer." For details, see the July 10 CyberAlert: www.mediaresearch.org

     An excerpt from Leiby's December 16 The Reliable Source column:

It's the F-Time Show With Chevy Chase

Even certified Hollywood liberals were reeling after Chevy Chase's potty-mouthed Bush-bashing Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center, where the actor hosted an awards ceremony staged by People for the American Way....

After actors Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon delivered speeches accepting their Defender of Democracy awards, Chase took the stage a final time and unleashed a rant against President Bush that stunned the crowd. He deployed the four-letter word that got Vice President Cheney in hot water, using it as a noun. Chase called the prez a "dumb [expletive]." He also used it as an adjective, assuring the audience, "I'm no [expletive] clown either....This guy started a jihad."

Chase also said: "This guy in office is an uneducated, real lying schmuck...and we still couldn't beat him with a bore like Kerry."

People for the American Way distanced itself yesterday from the actor's rant. "Chevy Chase's improvised remarks caught everyone off guard, and were inappropriate and offensive," Ralph Neas, the liberal advocacy group's president, said in a statement....

Meanwhile, the other host of the evening, the newly blond Cynthia Nixon, told us she had a more gracious message for Bush: "Don't just listen to people who are telling you yes, listen to the people who are telling you no!"

     END of Excerpt

     For the December 16 The Reliable Source column in full, with a picture of Chase: www.washingtonpost.com

     The home page for People for the American, which as of now does not mention the event or Chase's rant: www.pfaw.org

MRC Announces Winners of Annual Awards
for Worst Reporting

     The results are in for the "Best Notable Quotables of 2004, the Seventeenth Annual Awards for the Year's Worst Reporting." A panel of 43 leading media observers judged five to eight quotes in each of 17 award categories for the MRC.

     We've been working over the past several days to tabulate the votes and squeeze as many quotes as we could into the eight-page hard copy version. It went off to the printer on Tuesday night. A press release announcing the results went out this morning and the issue is now featured on the MRC's home page where it is posted along with RealPlayer clips for many of the quotes uttered on television. Go to: www.mediaresearch.org

     The direct address: www.mediaresearch.org

     You'll also see a link to an Adobe Acrobat PDF that matches the eight-page hard copy version. Direct address for the PDF: www.mediaresearch.org

     The judges, who gave generously of their time:

- Lee Anderson, Associate Publisher, Chattanooga Times Free Press
- Chuck Asay, editorial cartoonist, The Gazette in Colorado Springs
- Brent H. Baker, MRC's Vice President for Research and
     Publications; Editor of CyberAlert and Notable Quotables
- Mark Belling, radio talk show host, WISN in Milwaukee
- L. Brent Bozell III, President of the Media Research Center
- Priscilla Buckley, retired National Review Managing Editor
- Blanquita Cullum, syndicated talk show host for Radio America;
     Governor, Broadcasting Board of Governors
- Mark Davis, radio talk show host, WBAP in Dallas-Ft. Worth;
     columnist for the Dallas Morning News
- Midge Decter, President, The Philadelphia Society
- Bob Dutko, radio talk show host, WMUZ in Detroit
- Jim Eason, San Francisco radio talk show host emeritus
- Barry Farber, national radio talk host on the Talk Radio Network
- Don Feder, media consultant and free-lance writer
- Eric Fettmann, Associate Editorial Page Editor, New York Post
- Ryan Frazier, editorial writer and associate editor at the
     Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Mike Gallagher, syndicated radio talk show host; FNC contributor
- Tim Graham, Director of Media Analysis, Media Research Center
- Kirk Healy, Executive Producer, WDBO Radio in Orlando
- Quin Hillyer, editorial writer for the Mobile Register
- Jeff Jacoby, columnist for the Boston Globe
- Marie Kaigler, radio talk show host and mass media consultant
- Cliff Kincaid, Editor, Accuracy in Media
- Mark Larson, radio talk show host, KOGO in San Diego
- Jason Lewis, radio talk show host, WBT in Charlotte
- Kathryn Jean Lopez, Editor of National Review Online
- Bernadette Malone, editor, Penguin Group USA and columnist for
     The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
- Patrick B. McGuigan, Contributing editor, Tulsa Today and The
     MidCity Advocate (Oklahoma City, OK)
- Joe McQuaid, Publisher, The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
- Jan Mickelson, radio talk show host, WHO/WMT in Des Moines
- Wes Minter, radio talk show host, WTMJ in Milwaukee
- Robert D. Novak, syndicated columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times;
     co-host of CNN's Crossfire
- Rich Noyes, Director of Research, Media Research Center
- Marvin Olasky, visiting professor of politics, Princeton University
- Henry Payne, editorial cartoonist, The Detroit News
- Wladyslaw Pleszczynski, Editorial Director, The American Spectator
- Mike Rosen, radio talk show host, KOA in Denver; columnist for
     the Denver Rocky Mountain News
- William A. Rusher, Distinguished Fellow, Claremont Institute
- James Taranto, Editor, OpinionJournal.com
- Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist; host of FNC's After Hours
- R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., Editor-in-Chief, The American Spectator
- Clay Waters, Editor of the MRC's TimesWatch.org
- Dick Williams, host of Fox Atlanta's Georgia Gang; columnist
- Thomas S. Winter, Editor-in-Chief of Human Events

- In Memoriam: During 2004 we lost two dedicated judges who loyally completed their ballots each year. On January 4, Dr. Ted J. Smith III, a journalism professor at the Virginia Commonwealth University, died at age 58. On December 9, David Brudnoy, a talk radio host on WBZ-AM in Boston and professor at Boston University, passed away at age 64.

     For links to Web pages for the judges: www.mediaresearch.org

     Those involved at the MRC: Rich Noyes, Tim Graham, Geoffrey Dickens, Jessica Anderson and I selected the quotes for the ballot and then hashed out award titles. Kristina Sewell distributed the ballots to the judges and tabulated the results. Michelle Humphrey located the videos for clip posting which was done by Mez Djouadi who also posted the issue. Michael Chapman coordinated the press release. Jessica re-checked the numbers so we didn't have any Florida type problem and we all proofread the issue. Rich also handled the difficult task of getting all the quotes to break at the ends of pages as he laid it out in PageMaker -- and then he created the PDF.

     To find out who won in each category, for now you'll have to go online. Keeping with tradition, during the last week of December CyberAlert will feature all the quotes, starting with the winners and then running through the first runners-up followed by the second runners-up and the third runners-up.

     But I will give you one winner: Dan Rather won "Quote of the Year" for this tease, at the top of the March 31 CBS Evening News, the day four American civilian contractors were killed and mutilated in Fallujah: "What drives American civilians to risk death in Iraq? In this economy it may be, for some, the only job they can find."

"Top Ten Ways to Improve the Department
of Homeland Security"

     From the December 15 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Ways to Improve the Department of Homeland Security." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Instead of colors, assign each threat level a different flavor of Pringles.

9. Come up with a cool catch phrase like that "You're Fired!"

8. Get on Osama's good side by sending him nice Christmas fruit basket from Harry & David.

7. Maybe some area rugs and throw pillows?

6. All foreign visitors to be outffitted with Lojack System.

5. Anyone who phones in a tip about a terror plot gets Sirius Satellite Radio.

4. At all border crossings, employ intimidating, locked-out NHL players.

3. Institute "Books For Bombs" program.

2. Find a replacement for Tom Ridge who's even ridgier.

1. Instruct airport screeners to hit everybody in the nuts.

     # Katie Couric is scheduled to appear Thursday night on Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

-- Brent Baker