8.30.2011

Dana Loesch continues to misinform for her audience

She ran with 2 non-stories (except with the Righties), 1st with the Gibson Guitars allegedly being raided for politics, and secondly, falsely accused ESPN of being a "liberal outlet."

Firstly, the Gibson Guitars:

Loesch though it was all just a "political hit on GOP-supporting business." WRONG!
@DLoesch
I'm now 99% convinced that this was a political hit on a GOP-supporting business. #Gibson

She had on the Gibson Guitars CEO Henry Juszkiewicz on last Friday's edition of KFTK's The Dana Show to blame it on Obama, Holder, and the DOJ.

From the 08.26.2011 edition of KFTK's The Dana Show:




Secondly, on her Big Non-Journalism blog, she alleged that Paul Azinger was silenced and baselessly accused ESPN of being "Obama Cheerleaders".


A note for future prospective ESPN employees: You can only cheerlead Obama at ESPN. I’m not joking.

Case in point: The network’s golf analyst, 12-time PGA Tour winner Paul Azinger hit out at the President’s amount of golf games on Twitter.



Azinger’s remarks prompted ESPN to crack down:
ESPN is coming down on Paul Azinger for mocking President Barack Obama on Twitter. The golf analyst tweeted Thursday the Commander-in-chief plays more golf than he does — and that Azinger has created more jobs this month than Obama has.
On Friday ESPN ‘reminded” Azinger his venture into political punditry violates the company’s updated social network policy for on-air talent and reporters.
“Paul’s tweet was not consistent with our social media policy, and he has been reminded that political commentary is best left to those in that field,” spokesman Andy Hall told Game On! in a statement.
ESPN’s Hall would not comment on whether Azinger, who won the 1993 PGA Championship, will be fired, suspended or punished in some way. “We handle that internally,” he said.
Fired? Seriously? I wonder if Mayne was ever threatened with his job over his antics.
I support businesses’ rights and if ESPN wants to enact a ban on political commentary from their on-air talent (it seems a bit of a stretch for me to include personal social media accounts into that) they have the right to do such and contributors have the right not to sign with them. However, if ESPN is allowing one on-air talent to air his political views while denying another the same privilege under the same rules, then it seems tantamount to discrimination and a host of other problems, which isn’t OK.
Team Azinger, for the record.
So Disney bankrolls Obama’s campaign, also owns ESPN, allows glowing commentary of Obama from its contributors and on-air talent and censures Obama dissent from their talent. No, no bias here at all.

No, Dana, Azinger was NOT silenced at all and ESPN does NOT cheerlead for either party.





From the 08.29.2011 edition of CNN Newsroom:


Transcript:

KYRA PHILLIPS: "Political Buzz," your rapid fire look at the hottest political topics of the day, three questions and 30 seconds on the clock, and playing today is Democratic strategist, Maria Cardonia, Pete Dominick, host of XM radio's "Stand Up with Pete Dominick" and CNN contributor and talk radio host, Dana Loesch. All right, guys, first question. President Obama is saying this isn't over. Governor Christie telling the folks to get off of the beach or even the North Carolina Governor Perdue being front and center, the damage from Irene wasn't as bad as feared.

But in any national disaster, there are political winners and losers. So what do you guys think, who won and lost, Maria?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think that the winners here, Kyra, were from the president on down to state and local elected officials including Mayor Bloomberg, the legend of Cory Brooker in New Jersey continues to grow as a response of leader, mayors, governors, Governor Christie, I think did a great job.

And Governor O'Malley, Governor Perdue as you mentioned, Governor McDonald, I think it's really a testament to how prepared the federal government was to basically coordinate the operations with the state and the local officials.

The losers were people like Ron Paul who thinks that FEMA should not exist and people like Rick Perry who wants to make Washington inconsequential, to those Americans whose lives were saved that's not a good thing.

PHILLIPS: Dana --

DANA LOESCH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It is not a Monday without Maria, God bless you.

PHILLIPS: Back at you, Dana.

LOESCH: Kind of, in a weird way, agree with her. I think that state officials did a fantastic job because this is what state officials need to do, this is how you respond to disasters.

But ultimately I think the winners were the American people, because we kept hearing that this is so much worse than it actually was, and still, there is damage and lives lost.

But I mean, think about how bad this could have been and compare with the results that we actually saw. So I think that it really comes down to, again, American people won.

PHILLIPS: OK, Pete?

PETE DOMINICK, HOST, STAND UP ON XM RADIO: Well, the political winners, and in this case any time there's a hurricane, all presidents and all politicians at the federal level, they think about Katrina. Nobody wants to be George Bush and heck of a job brownie.

So they were prepared for that politically, but yes, I think government wins because people reminded of what government's role is, what their responsibility is and mostly, they did a great job.

But remember, without the federal government, states would pick up that 75 percent of the cost themselves. The federal government is going to do that in places that were declared a natural disaster area or emergency disaster, whatever they call it.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Part two here, Ron Paul saying that we should get rid of FEMA. Michelle Bachmann says the storm and earthquakes are signs from God.

OK, guys, are these candidates ready for the big office?

Dana?

LOESCH: Well, what I don't understand is how FEMA went from being Satan's spawn under Bush to now it's like yes, FEMA. I don't think that there's any argument that FEMA is a -- a completely corrupt department. I don't think that there's any argument. You had the Florida "Sun Sentinel," the "Los Angeles Times," "The Journal of Economics" that have all done in depth investigative reviews and studies of how much money is actually wasted by this department.

But I think what Paul was actually saying is that we need to really rely, again, on the states and states being able to respond.

For instance, we had -- we had family and friends who lived in New Orleans...

(BUZZER)

LOESCH: -- and there were -- they actually -- they stopped the Red Cross from coming in and donating. They stopped locals and -- and charities from coming and from helping out. That's -- that's not disaster relief, that's control.

PHILLIPS: Maria?

CARDONA: I want to answer for Dana's first question, is Hurricane Katrina. That's why FEMA became yes, FEMA now, whereas before, they had absolutely no clue what they were doing.

In terms of your question, Kyra, absolutely not. They are not ready for prime time. Look, under a Ron Paul administration, we would already have legalized marijuana, the Department of Education would have been wiped out. So people would be mellow, they would be undereducated and perhaps they wouldn't even know if their neighborhood was underwater and no one was coming to rescue them.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Pete?

DOMINICK: Well, Ron Paul is right about marijuana and -- and foreign policy. But on this whole FEMA thing, Michelle Bachmann talking about that, you know, God and, you know, the earthquake -- was behind the earthquake and -- and the hurricane, I agree with her. Michelle Bachmann is right, God is mad. But he'd mad that American people would possibly consider her as president of the United States.

(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: Oh, whoa. Your buzzer beater now. Twenty seconds each.

Here we go. George Pataki says he's not going to make a presidential run in 2012. At least he won't be another candidate to throw his hat into the ring only to have voters say, who exactly is that?

So who else do you want to see not run, guys, in the 2012 race, any party?

Dana.

LOESCH: Oh, goodness. Well, I'm kind of glad that Pataki is not running, because I always thought of him as a RINO. But I think that we have a lot of Republican stars that are not yet ready for a presidential race. I'd like -- perhaps Mike Pence will run in 2016, not now. Marco Rubio, I think, is a safe bet for 2016. Chris Christie maybe for 2016. But none of them now, not -- no -- no offense, guys, but just not right now.

PHILLIPS: Maria?

CARDONA: I think for me, as the Democrat on the panel here, the question actually does need to be the opposite, because I would love all of those people to actually jump in and run.

First on my list, Sarah Palin. Second on my list, Christine O'Donnell. She might not even not only be able to talk to God, she can talk to the Goddess. So I think that you can also look at Alan Keyes.

Where is that guy?

Tom Tancredo would be great. Jump in, everybody. The more the merrier.

(BUZZER)

PHILLIPS: Pete Dominick?

DOMINICK: Yes, Alan Keyes was a tough was a tough candidate. Also, Pat Robertson or any of these people that, like Michelle Bachmann, think God is responsible for the natural disasters because of things that are happening in America.

I'd like to announce today, Kyra, I have decided I am not running for president in 2012. A lot of people are going to be very, very happy about that.

PHILLIPS: Oh. We are...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's to bad, Pete.

DOMINICK: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the three...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: -- the three of us ladies here...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- might run.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we're very disappointed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

DOMINICK: I will be getting the e-mails from all of you. Yes, I know. I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: See you guys.

DOMINICK: Maybe next...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's still time.

DOMINICK: Maybe next time.

PHILLIPS: Yes. There you go. You never know up to the last minute.

All right.

Well, the New York City...

DOMINICK: There's never been a...

PHILLIPS: The New York City hospitals that evacuated the patients because of Irene, well, they're slowly getting back into place. We're going to have a live report and an update just after the break.




Loesch, like other Right-Wing yakkers, bashed Obama's handling of Hurricane Irene for partisan gain.

From the 08.29.2011 edition of KFTK's The Dana Show:

8.23.2011

DanaBusted.com nominated for KMOX's Most Valuable Blogger Award

My blog, DanaBusted.blogspot.com, is entered in the KMOX's Most Valuable Blogger Award. Its category is Local Affair blogs, along with our sister blog St. Louis Activist Hub, Urban Review STL, St. Louis Core, St. Louis Technology News, NOCO, NextSTL, and Capitol Calling.


http://wayne.cbslocal.com/mvb/badges/MVB_badge_stLouis.png

A vote for DanaBusted.com or St. Louis Activist Hub is a vote for pissing off Dana Loesch. Voting ends September 9th, 2011. Winner not only gets to be MVB, but a $50 Amazon gift card.

8.19.2011

On HLN's Dr. Drew, Dana Loesch again shills for Bachmann

Appearing last night on CNN's sister network HLN (formerly Headline News)'s Dr. Drew, serial misinformer Dana Loesch repeated the same lie that she is an "Independent Conservative," when in fact she is just as much as a Republican Watercarrier. She again falsely claimed that the "liberals and progressives are hijacking the gay rights movement." Loesch also supported Bachmann's "women should be submissive to men" belief and the controversial pledge that supported slavery.

Alex Burns, who isn't exactly liberal (like most of Politico's writers are), told the facts on the 2012 GOP horse race. Even the former chair of the Denver Republican Party Mary Smith thinks Bachmann is a liability be elected and is running on her social issues in addition to her Fiscal Conservatism, who unlike the Bachmann shill Loesch claims she's running solely on her Fiscal record, tells the truth on that point. And she hammered Perry on that point as well. Smith states that addition attention on "Palin and other candidates will benefit from it."


Dr. Drew Pinsky hosts his radio show, Loveline, with co-host Psycho Mike, which airs on Emmis-owned KPNT (105.7 The Point) from 10PM-12AM CDT on Sunday-Thursday. Pinsky has also hosted the TV version of Loveline on MTV, Discovery Health (now OWN)'s Strictly Sex With Dr. Drew and Strictly Dr. Drew, VH1's Celebrity Rehab and its spinoffs Sober House and Sex Rehab, and more recently his HLN show (Dr. Drew) and coming to syndication this fall, Dr. Drew's Lifechangers (which will air on KPLR [CW] in the St. Louis TV market). He has been both praised and criticized for his tactics.


From the 08.18.2011 edition of HLN's Dr. Drew:



Transcript:
PINSKY: It`s very funny, but you can`t boil a person down to slipups and bloopers. And politics aside, Bachmann`s way is powerful. It`s undeniable. Her message resonates with many, and she angers many as well. Tonight, we`re looking at the person behind the politics and what our reaction to her says about us.

So, joining me now is Alex Burns from Politico. He is on the phone. I`ve got CNN contributor and editor of bigjournalism.com, Dana Loesch, also a political fundraiser and strategist, Mary Smith joins me. Alex, to you first. That clip we just saw, late night comics singling out Bachmann. Are they doing so unfairly?

VOICE OF ALEX BURNS, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: You know, Drew, I think that the question is sort of what`s important for Bachmann whether it`s fair or unfair, but it`s certainly politically beneficial to her to be perceived as being under attacked like this. Her core supporters see her as a political outsider who`s willing to speak truth to power.

And when you see these prominent figures in the mainstream media, the comics that you played and the cover of "Newsweek" with unflattering pictures of her last, this sort of reinforces her core appeal.

PINSKY: Does it bring anybody over though who sort of have issues with her or does it just reinforce the sense that people have of her as kind of a cartoon character?

BURNS: Well, I think that`s a very fair point. For someone like Michele Bachmann who really does appeal to a niche part of the electorate, she`s not necessarily going to command a majority support in any sort of general election outside of her Congressional district. You know, for her to make an impact on the national stage, what she needs is that passionate, you know, 15, 20 percent that`s available to her and it`s ginned up by this kind of stuff.

PINSKY: Now, Bachmann took hit from the left for her views on homosexuality. This is how she put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: It`s part of Satan, I think, to say this is gay. It`s anything but gay. If you`re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it`s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: And as recently as Sunday, she reiterated her stance on gay marriage. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: When it comes to marriage and family, my opinion is that marriage is between a man and a woman. And I think that`s been my view.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: She also says she`d bring back "Don`t Ask, Don`t Tell." And, she and her husband caught a good deal of grief for using what, sometimes, call this pray the gay away approach at their mental health clinics. Dana, does this impress her base and infuriate her detractors?

DANA LOESCH, EDITOR, BIGJOURNALISM.COM: Well, I think so if it`s presented in the manner in which it usually represented. Michele Bachmann`s views on gay marriage and "Don`t Ask, Don`t Tell" and so on and so forth, I mean, really, when you look at it, it`s in line with the tradition of most other faiths. And what she said in 2004, a lot of people focus on that, but at the same time, it`s not really a fair break, because no one questions the president on things that he said or the churches that he`s been to or sat in for 20 years.

But, the bottom line is that, one of the things that Michele Bachmann had said, and I understand that. She had said, I`m not running to be the judge of gay people. I`m running to be president of the United States. And I think the question comes down to whether or not she can govern in an impartial and fair way. And I believe that she can, and I have not seen any reason from her to say, otherwise.

PINSKY: Dana, I`m going to ask you a follow-up, and that is, I find her very appealing as a person, but, you know, we`ve just been through a thing in California here where a referendum overturned the concerted opinion of the Supreme Court of the state, and a minority was expunged of their rights as a result of just the tyranny of this majority. Some of the things she says scares me.

LOESCH: Well, I mean, one of the things that I notice with -- if you`re referring to Prop 8. I mean, that was passed by a majority of individuals who ruled in a certain way. And I think that if you want to get into a discussion on gay marriage and civil unions, you know, that`s one thing, but that`s not what she`s running on.

And honestly, I think if you look at where the country is right now as someone who`s an independent conservative, I`m not so much focused on gay marriage or "Don`t Ask, Don`t Tell" right now as I am the economy. And, she`s been asked before, would you or would you not appoint an openly homosexual person into your administration, and she had said, look, if they can go by the constitution, I don`t this why this would even be a viable question, because that`s what it comes down to.

And ultimately, I think this issue -- and I say this constantly. I see this issue as something that has been hijacked by honestly progressives and to use as kind of a wedge issue when, really, limited government, fiscal responsibility, constitutional aspects that govern us, that is something -- it`s not patented by one group or another. That`s something that`s open to everybody regardless of your sexual orientation, regardless of your ethnicity, et cetera.

PINSKY: Well, it seems like limited government is what resonates with a lot of people, and we`re hearing the same thing from the governor of Texas. Alex, back to you, how do we distinguish these two candidates?

BURNS: You know, Drew, I think that for supporters of Governor Perry, these are people who are genuinely in line with Michele Bachmann ideological views. They`re also very conservative, very (INAUDIBLE) to federal government, want to get government out of business. This term constitutional conservative gets used by both of them.

But what Governor Perry has that Congresswoman Bachmann doesn`t have is the ten years running the second largest state in America. So, you know, he has proven himself to be the kind of person who can handle the pressure of a very big campaign with a, you know, more diverse voter base than a Bachmann has in her Congressional district, and frankly, to just raise the kind of money that you need to compete.

PINSKY: Now, I want to read you something from a speech Michele Bachmann gave in 2006. She said, quote, -- this is interesting -- quote, "My husband said, now you need to go and get a post-doctorate degree in tax law. Tax law? I hate taxes. Why should I go into something like that? But the lord says be submissive. Wives, you are to be submissive to your husbands."

Mary, I`ve been reporting this story about Warren Jeffs and that`s the kind of nonsense I heard from them. I hope that was just some sort of an out of context quote. But, these kinds of controversial statements, do those cause her trouble?

MARY SMITH, FORMER CHAIR, DENVER REPUBLICAN PARTY: They absolutely cause her trouble. And, with respect to other people on the panel, I think until these people can wrap their minds around issues like civil rights for all people, the Republican Party will be climbing an uphill battle before they can actually send somebody to the White House again. Michele Bachmann is out there talking about a lot of issues, and she`s not running on anything but fiscal conservatism.

The truth of the matter is it`s a four-year term. She needs to be open to having people of many faiths, of many beliefs, and of many life practices that make sense to them and allow them to continue as part of the American fabric. Same goes for Rick Perry. Same goes for everybody running.

PINSKY: Well, I just heard -- I think Dana saying that that`s actually what she intends to do, but don`t you think she needs to calm down her rhetoric a little bit if that`s really her belief system?

SMITH: I think that if it were really her belief system, she wouldn`t be using that kind of rhetoric to begin with. And I think it makes it very clear as she continues her path across America, that it`s important to ask her these hard questions. Yes, an unflattering picture in "Newsweek" is a tough day. But the truth of the matter is, she has to be out there and on about all of these other issues. It`s not about the gaps. It`s about being taken seriously as a candidate.

PINSKY: Dana, last word to you.

LOESCH: Yes. I`d like to add something about the submissive part. I would really hope that if people are going to quote the bible, that they actually get the full verse in. The other half of that scripture is that husbands should adore their wives and hold them up to the level that they do the church. That is an order that has not given to women.

That means that while women should be respectful to their husbands, men has to treat their wives as good as they would the church, and that`s something that`s repeated over and over again in the New Testament. That is incredibly tally (ph). And I think that`s very empowering to women, as well. So, I wanted to note that.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Reach out to independents and people of all faiths. They really need to be able to expand beyond this kind of very specific --

LOESCH: And they absolutely have.

PINSKY: Wait, one second. One second. Host here, guys. Hang on. I got to interpret, because we have to go to break. We have more to come.

And up next, I have a question which is, do we treat Michele Bachmann differently because she`s a woman, and she`s an attractive woman? Another female power player thinks so. I`ll tell you who straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: Before we get started, I have to apologize to everyone in this room, because I did forget something, and I have to confess. I forgot my teleprompters today. And I know you`ve never seen a president without their teleprompters, at least, not the current (ph) one, but in the Bachmann White House, there will be no teleprompters.

(APPLAUSE)

BACHMANN: Because I Believe South Carolinians can take the raw, unvarnished truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Just because there may happen to be two women in the race that they would, you know, as Michelle had put it once, get in the mud and engage in cat fighting, that`s ridiculous. It`s kind of even a sexist notion to consider that the two women would be kind of duking it out. No. If I want to duke it out, I`m going to duke it out with the guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PINSKY: That, of course, Sarah Palin, undeclared but potential Republican presidential candidate, addressing friction between she and candidate Michele Bachmann. Back with me are Dana Loesch, CNN contributor and editor of bigjournalism.com and political fundraiser and strategist, Mary Smith.

Mary, I want to go to you first, and Dana, I`ll give you quite a chance to ring in here in a second here, but is it -- do we not sort of reserve a special should we call it aggression or enmity for women in politics, and particularly, attractive women in politics? And if we do, does it ever benefit them?

SMITH: Sure, it benefits them. The additional attention benefits them. People are drawn to attractive people. That is well proven across lots of different spectra. The issue with women in politics is special one because there are so few of them. So, the occasional gaffe by Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann seems (INAUDIBLE) to everybody watching, and the truth of the matter is it just doesn`t have very often.

So, it`s a shiny new toy that people are watching, and they get a little bit of additional scrutiny. But, there`s a lot to be said for the - - all press is good press. They`re getting the attention. And it`s allowing them to get their ideas out there too and to be heard on a huge stage and on a huge scale. So, I wouldn`t -- I don`t feel sorry for these women. If you can`t take the heat, get out of the political kitchen, and neither of them are.

PINSKY: Well, Dana, I`m going to go to you. I`m wondering if it just says something about us that these female Republican candidates are often, when they`re attractive, often portrayed as dumb or silly.

LOESCH: Yes. That`s something that seems to be consistent. And quite honestly, having followed politics for and been involved for quite a while, I`ve seen this on both sides of the aisle. I definitely saw it with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I`ve seen it with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann. And yes -- being good looking is definitely an asset. And I think any female candidate, if she`s good looking, use it to your advantage, because why not?

I think if you`re full well and able, then do it. But I definitely do think that something that Mary had said is that because there are so few women still involved in politics, anything that they do makes a much bigger statement than anything a male candidate does. And quite honestly, a lot of the sexism that I have seen against women hasn`t been from men. It`s been from other women. And I`ve seen a lot of women especially during the last presidential election.

They didn`t know whether or not Hillary Clinton would be able to do as well as Barack Obama, and they wondered how Sarah Palin would be able to deal with the White House when she had young children. And these were things that are never asked of male candidates. But, I heard them and I kid you not, more often from women than I did for men. So, what does that say about women?

PINSKY: It says you guys beat the crap out of each other, and you`ve been --

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Hang on. And you`ve been doing so since you were 12. You`ve been doing it since you were 12 years old, and that`s my question to women is why are you so rough on each other? What`s that?

LOESCH: Women are catty. Women, I think, are catty. And I had this conversation the other day with a friend of mine. Have you noticed that so many reality shows are centered around women? Because women bring the drama. They`re manipulative. And I`m not saying it`s a bad thing. I`m just saying that that`s something I see more in women than I do in men.

We watch it because we like the drama for the same reasons that I think a lot of people get involved in politics and watch what`s going on in the political arena. It`s the new gladiator arena with women as gladiators.

PINSKY: What I do think -- I do think and Mary maybe you`ll agree with me on this, that we need to check ourselves and think about it when we mindlessly do this, particularly, women against other women, and merely -- and stop doing that. And us that are men if we find them attractive, they`re going to get our vote. Let`s listen to what they said.

And interestingly, Dana you sort of completed that scripture reference in that last segment from Michele Bachmann about submitting to your husband. I found that bordering on reprehensible in its incomplete form. You know what I mean?

LOESCH: Right. It sounds awful. It sounds horrible.

PINSKY: It sounds awful.

LOESCH: Yes.

PINSKY: That`s right. So, in a way, I mean, maybe it`s time for some of these Republican candidates to stay away from some of that material and really focus on the governing. Mary, do you agree with me on that?

SMITH: Take almost any sentence out of the bible out of context and you`ll find something that`s reprehensible if it stands on its own. In context with the rest of it, a lot of it makes a lot of sense. A lot of it is across the board a good way to live your life. But -- and it`s not about women targeting other women. It`s a great stage. And now, we have serious candidates.

Michele Bachmann wouldn`t be on the cover of "Newsweek" if they weren`t taking her seriously. They are. You didn`t see Donald Trump actually making it, talk about a caricature. He`s gone. It`s gone. What we have are some serious people bringing up serious issues. I find it fairly disappointing that we`re spending so much time on John Wayne versus John Wayne Gacy or somebody`s birthday or somebody`s, you know, the day of their funeral.

That`s disappointing, because the substance is lost when we, as Americans, maybe there`s just too much news because we`re concentrating too much on this little stuff and not actually listening to what`s going wrong in the country and the solutions that people are offering to fix it. We need to look more towards the fixes and really hold their feet to the fire. If somebody`s making chitchat about the corn dogs or the fair or whatever, change the dynamic. Change the conversation.

Talk to them about what their ideas, what they are actually going to do. Not their track record, not what they have done in the past. How are you going to bring that to the fore so that you can solve the problems that are right here right now?

PINSKY: More after this. Stick around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BACHMANN: I`ve been at the tip of the spear.

I`ve been at the tip of the spear.

I`ve been at the tip of the spear, and I`ve been a champion for people.

I was the leading voice in Washington against raising the debt ceiling.

I`ve been leading on this issue of not raising the debt ceiling.

I was leading on not increasing the debt ceiling.

We took the biggest punch to the gut this week.

This last week, we got a punch to the gut in the United States.

We saw a punch to the gut in the United States this last week.

We really had a punch in the gut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: Better late than never is no way to conduct United States foreign policy. Finally, after weeks of violence by President Assad against his own people, President Obama has called for President Assad to step aside in Syria. This is yet one more instance of President Obama leading from behind on foreign policy.

The president should have acted weeks ago to call on President Assad to step down when his regime started slaughtering and oppressing his own Syrian people. By this count now, it`s thousands of Syrians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: Where are those people who decided to vote for Barack Obama? I know a lot of them who wish they had voted for Hillary Clinton in that primary race and believe that she, as a woman, but more as the candidates and as the leader, would have done a better job if she was in that position today than he is. I agree with them.

PINSKY: Mary, you bring up the point, and this is something, Dana, you do the final word on this, which is I hear -- I`m clearer about what Rick Perry`s position is on his stance towards how he plans to govern, although, it`s a little unclear. I`m clearer about it than I am, say, with Michele Bachmann where so much noise gets in the way. How do we get passel the noise and the jokes to hear what it is she would do as a candidate?

LOESCH: Are you asking me this?

PINSKY: I`m asking you that.

(CROSSTALK)

LOESCH: Well, something Mary said that I thought was incredibly interesting when she was saying that -- when she said that there`s -- maybe there`s too much news. I don`t know if there`s too much news rather, I think sometimes the news focuses on the wrong thing, because when you go to the ballot box, you`re not going to be thinking about what Michele Bachmann said about Elvis` death day.

You`re going to be wondering, well, why did she vote the way that she did on cut, cap, and balance? Why did she vote the way that she did on TARP. What has her record then? And I think -- and Dr. Drew, you made a very interesting point in terms of you know more how Rick Perry would govern as oppose to Michele Bachmann.

And this says, we could -- I could go off on a tangent on this that`s because, you know, the gubernatorial poll obviously very different than coming from House of Representatives, and presidential candidates don`t normally come from the house. One in the past 100 years, in fact, has. But, I think, it`s very important.

The media is there to sort of enhance and give platform to what is going on news wise. And instead, it seems that a lot of regular supposedly objective news organizations seem to try to adopt the tabloid style of reporting and focusing on things that, in the end, don`t really matter.

PINSKY: Well, it enhances our ratings. That`s why we do it. But guys, I`ve got to stop the conversation there. It`s very sad. Yes, it`s very sad. That`s why I`m trying not to do that tonight. I would like to cut through that and really find a candidate who`s going to change things for the better for all of us. So, thank you, ladies, for joining me.

Now, whatever else you might say about Michele Bachmann, she is a force to be reckoned with this election season. Underestimating someone because of gender is unfair. There is a wrong (ph). It`s also unfair to take shots at a person`s strong sense of values. But it`s important question to ask, do we worry about values that might translate into laws that are unfair?

That`s what I was asking about here a little bit. These are the questions we have to ask ourselves and the ones who come to light when a magnetic and polarizing figure like Michele Bachmann emerges on the landscape. These are the things that we start thinking about. So, it`s going to be an interesting election season. I want to thank you all for watching. We`ll see you next time.

END

Why does CNN and HLN give her a platform to spew out falsehoods uncontested? Dr. Drew (whose political knowledge is not that great and I don't associate politics with him) was being too passive on Loesch.

8.18.2011

DanaBusted.com: One Year Later

One year ago today on this date, DanaBusted.com was launched as a site to counter the lies, smears, and distortions that Dana Loesch regularly peddles on her radio show, her blogs at the Breitbart blogs (primarily Big Journalism), her public facebook page, her twitter page, and her TV appearances to her gullible fanbase. This site has stuff that sometimes Media Matters, RFT, and/or the St. Louis Activist Hub does not catch, and it serves as a complement to these sites as well. I personally did not start following Loesch and her distortions until around early 2010.


One year ago today, Loesch was a blogger at Big Journalism, but not Editor-In-Chief, as Michael Walsh was the EIC at the time DanaBusted.blogspot.com started out.
Now, she is Big Journalism's Editor-In-Chief, and is still distorting at will.

One year ago today, she was on CNN at least semi-regularly (in addition to Fox News, ABC, and CBS) for national TV appearances.
Now, Loesch is a CNN "Contributor" who is still misinforming the American people. Previously, she trashed Anderson Cooper.

Here is a countdown of Dana Loesch's Top 10 most brazen lies during the past year.

10. Loesch claims to be an "Independent Conservative," but is in fact a Republican watercarrier and shill... and has-- at the Presidential level-- endorsed Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin, to name a few. At the Missouri level, she was a big backer of Todd Akin, Peter Kinder, Brian Nieves, Roy Blunt, and Ed Martin.


9. Loesch has continued to spout out anti-choice and homophobic viewpoints. She defended Missouri Congressman Todd Akin's baloney "Liberals hate God" statement without rebuttal. She has ties to the Religious Right. She is also a climate change denier. During the Weiner Debacle, Loesch and her ilk defended the corrupt members who smeared Weiner. She was a big cheerleader of defunding Planned Parenthood and NPR, along with other Progressive programs, such as Social Security.


8. Loesch has accused Liberal Feminists of being "anti-[conservative] woman," when she praises Conservative Feminist principles. She accused the DNC Chairwoman and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of being a disigneous liar, and defended the vile sexist Allen West. She has accused Shriver of "stalking her mommy blog [Mamalogues, which is now defunct]" and other banally insane lies.

7. Loesch has bashed Obama's economic policies as "socialism," "job-killing," and "wealth redistribution." Also, she lies about not being rich, when in fact she and her husband Chris (who works at Shock City Music) are greedy fatcats who hate the poor and the unemployed and has advocated for the country to default.

6. Loesch has repeatedly used Islamophobic rhetoric and has a hard-line anti-Islam stance, including but not limited to: Park 51, Pamela Geller, and mosques. She falsely claimed that the "Tea Partiers were the true Liberals."

5. Loesch has repeatedly and dishonestly claimed that "Liberals condone assualting Conservatives." . She baselessly believes that "The Liberals, Progressives, and Union Thugs do the violence, not the Conservatives." And then advocates violence against Liberals. She falsely claimed that Jared Loughner was a "far left loon." The truth was that Loughner had ties to white supremacist groups. She was the originator of the highly offensive "No meta4s" movement. See later in the countdown for more details on Kenneth Gladney.


4. Loesch falsely accused Obama and the Democratic Party of supporting terrorism. She flirted with Birtherism earlier this year.


3. Loesch's constant demonizations of unions. She painted unions as "vicious violent mobsters" and blames the "liberal media for ignoring union violence."


2. Loesch (and the rest of the STL Teabagger Hate Cabal) still continue(s) to trot out the widely debunked "union thugs beat up Kenneth Gladney" bogus spin, in addition to accusing Liberals and Democrats of being racist. In the immediate aftermath of the "beating," the SEIU Missouri has stated that it was not "SEIU Thuggery" who did the assaulting. Gladney tried to use a wheelchair as a prop, but even the two Teahadist judges weren't buying it (OR any of his hijinks). Elston McCowan and Perry Molens were ruled not guilty in a trial decided in mid-July 2011. Unsurprisingly, Loesch and her Teabagger hordes whined about it.

She is a promoter of Racism and race-baiting.


T1.The Breitbart/Loesch Axis Of Evil smears the UMSL/UMKC professors, defended Phil Christofanelli's falsehoods.

T1. Loesch condoned Rand Paul supporters stomping on a MoveOn.org activist's head. She of course refused to apologize to the MoveOn.org activist who got her head stomped on, and she had the nerve to cruelly suggested that she, not the stompers, apologize.


Bonus: Dana Loesch whined about the new Secret Service bus being made for Obama (and future Presidents and Presidential Candidates [regardless of party], plus the Speaker of the House) being made partially in Canada as a "waste of money." The Winnipeg Free Press had this article, which included a quote from St. Louis's leading liar.

"We just build the shells and we don't always know where it's going to the end user," Ziegler said.

"We're not really at liberty to talk about them, because it's Secret Service."

Prevost's VIP H3-45 is also often used by rock stars on tour.

The jet-black behemoth with tinted windows has garnered attention for its elaborate look.

The $1.1-million bus is one of two ordered by the Secret Service and will be used during the upcoming U.S. presidential elections -- one for each of the presidential candidates.

Dana Loesch, a CNN contributor, radio-host and Tea Party activist, said this week on her Twitter account: "Nothing says 'Let's tour America and talk about jobs!' than a big, black, hearsemobile of doom."
If that bus was made under a Republican President, would Loesch be supporting it? Oh, yeah, she would!


Recently, Loesch was also at least partly responsible for Thom and Jeff's firing at KPNT. The reason why they [Emmis] fired Thom and Jeff is they they wanted to go cheaper and/or pay her a bigger salary come contract time.

8.16.2011

Follow-Up to Shriver vs. Loesch/Breitbart (100th post at DanaBusted)

Today, our friend at the St. Louis Activist Hub Adam Shriver released videos of Toilet Mouth and Senile Liar Dana Loesch telling blatant lies to her followers at the Move-On-Up Conference this past weekend. As we detailed here a day or two ago with the full video and information of Shriver confronting her and Andrew Breitbart-- which Shriver won. Meanwhile, Loesch was making up phony as hell claims such as "That WashU Stalker Blogger Adam Shriver was stalking my kids," "Shriver used WashU resources to defame me and other Teabaggers," and more ridiculous shit along those lines.

Here's Shriver's take on the follow-up:
A few clarifications about the press conference. First, the NAACP was one of the groups at the press conference, but the conference itself was actually composed of several different groups. Zaki Baruti, the guy who made the "Uncle Tom" comments because he believed that Gladney was faking his injuries and attacking the NAACP as a direct result of the fact that tea party and Breitbart's sites were continuously raising money for Gladney, might be a member of the local NAACP, but he's more commonly associated with the United African People's Organization (UAPO).

I distinctly remember being uncomfortable with the term, and in fact the video Breitbart's sites used to claim that the NAACP was "racist" proves that I did not laugh at the claim. In the video, I'm sitting immediately to the left of Zaki (from the viewer's perspective), and it's obvious that I don't laugh when he uses the terms "negro" or "Uncle Tom:"


It's pretty despicable for CNN contributor Dana Loesch to accuse someone of racism based on a completely dishonest claim about a video, but that's exactly what she does.

St. Louis's Most Despicable Toxic Liar falsely claims that "Shriver is a paid SEIU thug blogger."

So what's the evidence for this claim? Loesch says that SEIU "called me their blogger" at the same press conference referred to above. Actually, there were no employees from SEIU at the conference. Elston McCowan and Perry Molens were both former members of SEIU, and here's the video Loesch was basing her claims on.

McCowan and Molens were right, and Delusional Loesch was wrong.








Loesch falsely accuses Shriver of stalking her and her kids:
When I ask her what evidence she has for this obnoxious claims, she responsds, "you've clicked on the site where my children are at." Based on conversations with other tea partiers, I know that this obnoxious claim from Loesch comes from the fact that one time, after Loesch tweeted a link to her Mommy blog from her political twitter account, I linked to that post in one of my blog posts. You can read my post here.

It's pretty amazing that CNN allows their name to be dragged into the mud and slime by paying Loesch as a "political analyst."




These clips are all proof that Dana Loesch is an ultra-right wing psycho. And why would Emmis (who owns KFTK, KHITS, KPNT, and KSHE in the St. Louis market) lets her spew her filth on two stations (KFTK [her home station] and WIBC) for 2 hours per day, 10 hours per week, called The Dana Show? Why in God's name does CNN continue to allow her on the air as a paid "contributor" to say disgusting, false, and loonytunes statements without challenge?

This is the blog's 100th blogpost, which started about a year ago.

On Anderson Cooper 360, Dana Loesch defends Bachmann's flip-flopping

On last night's Anderson Cooper 360, serial misinformer and CNN "Contributor" Dana Loesch was on the show spewing out numerous falsehoods and defending Michele Bachmann's question-ducking and flip-flopping. She also was on earlier in the day telling the same lies. Cornell Belcher was Loesch's opponent, and as usual Belcher hammered her telling lies. She claimed that Romney is a "Big Government RINO." Let's not forget this man ran on a social conservative platform during the 2008 Republican Primaries for President. She thinks Texas Governor Rick Perry is a Moderate Conservative, but Perry is a far-right homophobic secessionist loon and who is Bush 2.0.

From the 08.15.2011 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:





Transcript:

COOPER: She is running for president, which is very possibly the reason why she is not answering this question about her past statements. When asked about the statements by New Hampshire's concord monitor, Congresswoman Bachmann said, quote, "I'm not involved in light, frivolous matter, I'm involved in fringe or side issues. I'm involved in serious issues".

Yet the light frivolous matters were once serious enough to Ms. Bachmann to advocate changing her state's constitution. By the way, we invited Ms. Bachmann on tonight as we do on many nights yet again our request for interview was declined and accepted calls went un- answered.

Joining us however, Dana Loesch, tea party organizer and editor on bigjourmalism.com also Democratic Strategist Cornell Belcher, who served as a pollster in the 2008 Obama campaign.

So Cornel, obviously folks in the media doesn't like it when folks dodge their questions. Does it have any repercussions on the campaign trail?

CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It actually does, Anderson. I'm a little shocked by this coming from Congresswoman Bachmann. It's one thing that voters dislike more than a candidate who doesn't agree with them on the issues is a candidate feel will flip-flop on the issue or change on the issue when its political key inconvenient to do so because they fundamentally then cannot trust the candidate.

And if you can't trust a candidate, I don't care what your position is on education, health care, you know gays and lesbians, if they can't trust you, they're not going give you the benefit of the doubt in any of the areas so its deadly.

And other real quick point about this is you know as a woman candidate, there are stereotypes that she has to deal with that male candidates don't. Minorities have to deal with it as well. This has also sort of become problematic if it looks like you're being dodging or you're ducking the issue or you're not certain about the issue. It also sort of feeds into a stereotype that is harmful to women candidates.

COOPER: Dana, from your perspective, why do you think she is ducking this question? Or do you think she is ducking it?

DANA LOESCH, CNN CONRIBUTOR: Well, I don't necessarily know. I don't necessarily agree that she is ducking the question. I think that she has answered it over and over again. And my assumption is that if she is now running, she is now running for the presidency, maybe she feels that this question isn't relevant at a time when we're dealing with 9.2 percent unemployment, and it's all about the economy right now.

I really think that it could be just very easy for her to just say look, on this issue, with the exception of "don't ask, don't tell," I feel the exact same way about this as President Obama. I feel the same way about this with most people of most faiths.

COOPER: That's not true, though. I mean you mentioned "don't ask, don't tell." but also President Obama is not defending the defense of marriage act, which she is. President Obama hasn't called this satanic or people living this disorder.

LOESCH: No, I'm talking about the issue of gay marriage and I mean the president has said well, my opinion is evolving. So I mean if we're going to talk about statements that Michele Bachmann has made and statements that she has made in 2004 and all of, that I think it's equally fair if we're going to do this, then we need to make sure we give the exact same due diligence to the president's own religious beliefs and the churches that she has gone to.

I mean if we really want to put all of this on the line, then let's put it all on the line. And let's give I mean this is the exact same thing that George Bush also had to deal with when he was running for president. He was asked by the media whether or not he thought that non-Christian were going to hell and I think a lot of the questions that circulate around the issue of religion.

And when it comes to social conservatives are ways for people to perhaps maybe show that these candidates are somehow not as valid as other candidates who don't have as strong as religious beliefs during the campaign.

COOPER: So Cornell, Dana I mean is essentially saying that this is in some ways kind of the media trying to show her to be a fringe candidate.

BELCHER: Well, I think her statement sort of speak for themselves. I think what is interesting here is that, you know, and thing is a fundamentally a good thing, is that when you look at sort of how the American public is shifting on their viewpoint about gay and lesbian marriage and gays and lesbians in the military, you know, you have to seek sort of candidates move in.

As Michele Bachmann becomes less of a fringe candidate, and quite frankly Dana, I you know I think she is your front-runner, she is trying to mainstream herself. And frankly, you're looking at sort of where the public is taking the American people on this. That the American people have moved on, particularly with that younger crowd of voters, you know the 12 percent of our new vote is out there and that the new vote was disproportionately younger voters. They don't even understand the gay and lesbian issue as a political issue. To win those voters, she has to move from where she has been.

COOPER: Dana, I want to branch off to talk about Rick Perry. Obviously, he entered the race this weekend. How do you see him from your perspective? How strong a candidate is he?

LOESCH: I think he is a very strong candidate. And I think he sort of fills a vacuum that has been created by -- you have mitt Romney, which grassroots voters absolutely reject Mitt Romney. He has a very moderate record. He has a very inconsistent record. And he has very - can say that his business-friendly all he wants to, but his record speaks otherwise as a governor - when he was governor of Massachusetts.

And then you have Michele Bachmann who is very, very conservative. She has a history of voting against a lot of big ticket, big government items during her time in the House of Representatives. And then you have Rick Perry who is right in the middle of both of these candidates.

So I think he has the potential to really appeal to grassroots while at the same time I think maybe kind of attracting independents and some more moderates. So I think he is a huge threat initially I think to Mitt Romney, and that's why we're also seeing them going right off the bat and trading barbs at each other.

COOPER: Right.

LOESCH: But at the same time, Perry may want to ignore Bachmann's candidacy as a way to push her to the outside and make it appear as though it's just him and Romney. It's a really interesting triangle.

COOPER: Cornell, as you - from the White House perspective, who do you think they would be most worried about or concerned about?

BELCHER: Look, in the end, I think from the White House - by the way, I don't think I could attack Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann more effectively than Dana just did.

We're going to look at this and say look, you know what? Either of these candidates are so in the pocket with the tea party. And if you're looking at sort of how the tea party's ratings have dropped over the last couple of months, especially with independent voters, look, if you like what the tea party is doing in congress, wait until they have a governing partner in the White House, and they're going to have that either with either Perry or Michele Bachmann. And the way Mitt Romney is running, even with Mitt Romney.

COOPER: Dana Loesch, Cornell Belcher, I appreciate having you on.

Let us know what you think on facebook. Follow me on twitter @andersoncooper. I'll be tweeting tonight It's been a busy night so far.

Up next, President Obama just wrapped up tone hall meeting in Iowa. Part of a three-day swing through Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois. Republicans have launched an ad against the trip, calling it taxpayer- funded campaigning. Is it?

We'll play some of it so you can decide for yourself.


Why the hell does CNN let on Dana Loesch after all these times she lied to the people on (inter)national TV? And why does Loesch keep calling herself an "Independent Conservative who hates all political parties," when in fact she's just another Republican watercarrier. And she is a BIG Bachmann fan.

8.15.2011

On CNN today, Dana Loesch defends Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann

On this morning's edition of CNN's American Morning, hosted by Carol Costello, "Contributor" Dana Loesch took to the airwaves to misinform the viewers, and provide free advertising for Minnesota Congressman Michele Bachmann (R) and Texas Governor Rick Perry , who is regarded as Bush 2.0. Loesch was countered by Leslie Sanchez, who is a Republican analyst. From the 08.15.2011 edition of CNN's American Morning: Transcript:
The candidate who won the straw poll on Saturday and the candidate who stole some Linkof her thunder collided in Iowa over the weekend. It was Michele Bachmann versus the newcomer to the race, Texas Governor Rick Perry. The GOP race is getting hot as President Obama hits the road with a counterattack.

Joining me to talk about it are Republican analysts Leslie Sanchez and cofounder of the St. Louis Tea Party, Dana Loesch. Welcome to you both.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, FOUNDER AND CEO, IMPACTO GROUP LLC: Thank you, Carol.

DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK, so Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are both tea party darlings. What's the difference between the two, Dana?

LOESCH: Well, one of the big differences to me is I think Michele Bachmann has really been on the forefront of a lot of the grassroots movement over the past couple of years. And her campaign is a little bit more different than someone who normally just comes from the House of Representatives in that she has this national appeal because of the grassroots movement.

That being said, I think there's a huge difference because statistically nobody comes from the House of Representatives. I think we've had one president in the past 100 years that came from the House of Representatives. Our best bets are typically from the gubernatorial pool. So I think that makes a huge difference and I think that's something that grassroots voters will be paying special attention to.

COSTELLO: Leslie, there was something interesting on "Politico" this morning. Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry were in the same room in Iowa. They did not engage. The difference was Rick Perry was mingling with the crowd. He was putting his arms around people. He was saying "y'all" a lot. He was very charming. Michele Bachmann sort of stayed on her bus until she had to take the stage. She was surrounded by security and really didn't let voters get close to her. What do you make of that?

SANCHEZ: I think it's campaign style. I wouldn't make too much out of it. They're both uniquely passionate in the sense that they have good, strong -- as she said, grassroots appeal.

Rick Perry, though, he is a retail politics candidate. One thing a lot of people may not know about him, he likes to burn through the shoe leather. He likes people and to engage and handshake and call them y'all. He -- it is not uncommon for him to sit on a barstool and talk to folks, you know, regularly about issues because he's very engaged in issues.

I had a chance to talk to both Bachmann's pollster and Perry's pollster extensively and they both talk about the positive attributes in terms of campaigning. Again, Rick Perry. somebody just getting started but a very strong campaigner. His team likes that. He's very direct on message. He's had a core team that's been with him some since 1998.

They're both going to be doing a lot to engage the base of this party.

COSTELLO: Of course, they both have conservative values.

And, Dana, I want to ask you about this. Michele Bachmann took some flack from reporters this Sunday about her previous statements on gay people. In the past, she said that people who are gay are in personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement. She also said that she would reinstitute the Military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

I want you to listen to this -- the exchange she had with NBC's David Gregory on "Meet the Press".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BACHMANN: When it comes to marriage and family, my opinion is that marriage is between a man and a woman. And I think that's -- that's been my view. And I think that's --

DAVID GREGORY, NBC HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": So a gay couple with kids would not be considered a family to you?

BACHMANN: You know, all of these kind of questions really aren't about what people are concerned about right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: But, still, the majority of the country was for overturning "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and many more people are for civil unions. If Republican primary voters are going to vote for the candidate who has the best chance of winning against President Obama, will they vote for Michele Bachmann?

LOESCH: Well, I don't think anyone -- and this is not an insult to any community -- is paying attention to a social issue like that at this moment considering that we're on a very bad trajectory economically. And I know that GOProud, the group of gay conservatives that are very active within the Republican Party aren't really even looking at this right now either because everyone is sort of looking to see what these candidates -- what these candidates are going to do when it comes to jobs.

We're looking to see what they're going to do when it comes to possibly some foreign policy, but it's all about the economy again. This election cycle, as it should be. We have 9.1, 9.2 percent unemployment. We're not in a really good place right now. And I think we have to make sure that we're even economically sustainable before we can start talking about issues like that, which I think are honestly downstream from the problems that we're dealing with right now.

COSTELLO: So, Leslie, on the subject of jobs, of course, Rick Perry is said to have a pretty good record when it comes to creating jobs in Texas. Mitt Romney is sort of running on, yes, I did a pretty good job in Massachusetts. So what's the difference between those two?

SANCHEZ: Well, in terms of the record, they're both governors, they both have proven records in the area, they both looked at the jobs issue and the health care issue.

With respect to Governor Perry, he's certainly somebody who looked at something a little bit different in 2010. He laid out a framework to say let's build and invest in infrastructure. If we do that with lower regulation, you're going to see increased revenues generated by the new generation of jobs. We can put that money into education and other areas that the state dramatically needs, especially because of the failure at the federal level. I think you saw the same kind of experience leading very much the way with Governor Romney. Both of them have different challenges in that sense. I think, ultimately, they're going to be appealing to a lot on the economic issues.

I was in Ames. That, again, is going to be the top priority, who can get the economy moving. The president has that kind of economic albatross (ph) around his neck and what voters are ideally looking for, what I heard in Ames, is somebody with credibility to prove they can get those jobs created and businesses to kind of relief that.

COSTELLO: So just quickly, because Warren Buffett has an op-ed in "The New York Times" and he said, you know, I talked to my really wealthy friends and we're ready to make a sacrifice, we want our taxes raised.

And since all of the Republican Primary candidates are totally against raising taxes, wouldn't that eventually work against them? Since the majority of Americans think taxes should be raised on wealthy Americans.

SANCHEZ: I'll tell you this much, too, what I heard a lot on the ground, you know, especially with some of these AARP voters is that they believe that 50 -- the 50 percent that are not paying taxes, that corporations, certain corporations, are the bad apples in the group and they are not paying taxes, and I had other business leaders who said, you know, we pay 31 percent taxes, we want to show that we're part and contributing to this economy.

I think there's a little bit of that class warfare debate that is really real. People feel that some are taking advantage of the system, gaming the system, so to speak. They want it fair all the way around, but what they don't want is to stifle the ability to grow private sector jobs. That they feel would burden --

COSTELLO: So there's no wiggle room, in other words, from any of these candidates. You don't -- you don't envision maybe Mitt Romney or Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann saying, maybe -- maybe we should raise a little revenue by making GE --

SANCHEZ: Not in this lifetime, no.

CHO: Not in this lifetime.

COSTELLO: Leslie Sanchez, Dana Loesch, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.
And this woman claims to support the "grassroots." Wrong! She's all hat, no cattle, just like her heroes Bush and Cheney. Later this morning, on CNN Newsroom with Kyra Phillips in the 9AM CDT hour, Loesch trashed Mitt Romney and praised Bachmann and Perry. She accused the "left of hijacking the gay movement," which is false. Transcript:
PHILLIPS: All right. Coming up any second now, we're monitoring something and we've got it on our radar. At any moment, we are expecting to hear live from presidential candidate Mitt Romney. This is actually taped from earlier this morning.

As you know, he's the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. He's expected to take questions from reporters for the first time since Texas governor Rick Perry entered the race over the weekend. So as soon as he starts speaking, we will take it live.

All right. "Political Buzz," your rapid-fire look at the hottest political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona, CNN contributor and independent John Avlon and CNN contributor and talk radio host Dana Loesch.

Hi, all. First question here --

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hey, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: -- over the weekend -- good to see you three -- Michele Bachmann, as you know, who won the Ames straw poll. Rick Perry stole many of the headlines, though.

So, what's your take, who did this weekend actually belong to? Bachmann or Perry? Dana? DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Gosh, it's kind of a hard call. I think ultimately it belonged to Bachmann. I think that she had a good turnout, she had a good performance at the debates and obviously, she won the straw poll. So I think ultimately, it belongs to her.

However, she's still sharing a lot of that spotlight with Rick Perry, who I thought his timing and the way he rolled it out in order to get attention was pretty slick. So, they're sort sharing it right now, but she's in the lead.

PHILLIPS: Maria?

CARDONA: I'm going to agree with Dana on this, Kyra. I think you cannot take it away from Bachmann, especially given where she started out at the very beginning, no one gave her a prayer to ever make it to the top tier. And the Republican elite had a lot to say about how unserious she was. And I think that she has really shown them her ability to organize, to fundraise, to really give a speech that riles up the base.

I think frankly, her rise has a lot more to do with the weakness of the rest Republican field, but having said that, you can't take away from the fact that she did win the straw poll. This will give her a big bounce. Definitely -

(BUZZER SOUNDS)

CARDONA: -- won't say whether she will win, but it gives her a big bounce.

PHILLIPS: John.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Always beware when the Democrat is pumping up a candidate, especially if it's someone on the far right.

Look, Bachmann had a great day. But ultimately, Perry has the game changer, which is his entry into the race fundamentally changes what this field likes like. Therefore, in terms of the big picture, I think you have to give it to Perry.

PHILLIPS: All right, guys. Well, since we're talking about Michele Bachmann, she was being pushed on the specifics of her stance on homosexuality. In particular, I'm talking about "Meet the Press" over the weekend. Let's take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GREGORY, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": Would you appoint a gay, and openly gay person to your administration, to your cabinet or name them as a judge?

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My criteria would be the same for -- which would be where do you stand on the Constitution, are you competent, and do you share my views? That's my criteria. GREGORY: But those views are pretty clear. So you would -- as far as the judge, you talked about that. An openly gay person is acceptable as a matter of your administration - as a member of your administration?

BACHMANN: I have my criteria for what my appointments would be based on, and it's whether you uphold the Constitution, if you're competent --

GREGORY: So it would not be a factor?

BACHMANN: I am not out asking any other question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, guys, here is my question to you. Why not just give a yes-or-no answer? Maria.

CARDONA: Because we know in her heart of hearts that she would never do it. And this is where I think she would get into trouble if she does end up being the GOP nominee. There's no way she'll be able to get through the general election with those kinds of views.

We all know very well how she feels about gay and lesbian rights. And when you want to give more than 10 percent - more than 10 percent of Americans less rights than the rest, I think that is not a mainstream view. Especially when the majority of Americans now believe that gays and lesbians should have the exact same rights as other Americans, where it comes to marriage, when it comes to family and everything else.

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PHILLIPS: Dana.

LOESCH: Were we listening to the same answer? because I heard her answer, and yes. What, gay people can't stand for the constitution? gay people can't be for fiscal responsibility?

I'm so tired of the left try to hijack the gay movement and present them as, oh, no, conservativism is patented only to Christian conservatives. That's such hooey. It's just ridiculous.

I thought her answer was quite clear. Yes, if they stand for Constitution and they're for fiscal responsibility, what's the big deal?

PHILLIPS: Guys, stay with me -

CARDONA: She didn't say yes or no. That's the problem.

PHILLIPS: Guys, we have to get to Mitt Romney speaking live. Let's go ahead and listen in. We'll come back.

PHILLIPS: All right, "Political Buzz" panel. I know you stayed with me because we had to break out of our segment to go to Mitt Romeny there. So, let's roll with this, okay? You just heard Mitt Romney there in Litchfield, New Hampshire. The first question thrown out to him, guys, was about Rick Perry entering the race.

So what do you think? I mean, it was the first question thrown out there. You heard his response. Is he nervous? Should he be nervous about Rick Perry jumping in? Maria?

CARDONA: yes, absolutely he should be nervous here, Kyra. Because clearly, Rick Perry just jumped into the race and he's already in a lot of the polls. Number two, at 15 percent with Romney at 17 percent. Romney absolutely should be nervous, but he should also be nervous about his own record. It's so laughable that he talks about job creation. When he was governor of Massachusetts, forty-seventh. Massachusetts ranked 47th in the state - or in the country -

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CARDONA: -- among job creation. Laughable.

PHILLIPS: Dana?

LOESCH: I'm a little scared right because I'm agreeing with Maria on this. Romney's done, as far as I'm concerned. Perry is more conservative than Romney. Romney, the big small business guy who with his heath care mandate was taxing businesses over $200-something per employee if they had more than 11 employees.

That's not good for business. And he has a lot to answer to with his record.

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LOESCH: He just didn't cut it.

PHILLIPS: John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, Mitt Romney sidestepped the direct criticism, but you heard something that's going to be a major theme of the campaign, which is that he's saying Rick Perry is essentially a career politician. And he's going to be trying to say, look, I've got business experience and private-sector experience.

But of course he should be concerned. Rick Perry's entry in this race immediately makes this at least a two or three-person race. I think it's going to very quickly whittle down to Rick Perry, Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Those are going to be the top two.

(BUZZER SOUNDS)

PHILLIPS: Guys, thank you so much. And thanks for rolling with me. I appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thanks, Kyra.

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