2.17.2011

Loesch on John King, USA: "Michelle Obama's plot to promote breastfeeding is a 'nanny state plot' to ruin families"

On tonight's John King, USA, Dana Loesch was complaining about the breastfeeding promotion as a "nanny state tactic." She was on her anti-Obama high horse. Her counterpart Leigh Ann O'Connor, defended the use of breastfeeding supplies for women.

KING: A new change in tax law offers a benefit to mothers who breast feed and has some conservatives complaining of a new nanny state. Here's Republican Congresswoman, a Tea Party favorite, Michele Bachmann on "The Laura Ingraham Show".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I have given birth to five babies and I breast fed every single one of these babies, but to think that government has to go out and buy my breast pump for my babies (INAUDIBLE) you want to talk about the nanny state. I think you just got --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Literally --

BACHMANN: -- new definition of the nanny.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: First lady Michele Obama told a group of reporters last week she wants to aggressively promote breastfeeding as a way to reduce childhood obesity. It's not the first time she's focused on this issue. Here she is talking a few months ago at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: And because it's important to prevent obesity early, we're also working to promote breast feeding, especially in the black community -- where 40 percent of our babies never get breast fed even in the first weeks of life. And we know that babies that are breastfed are less likely to be obese as children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Smart advocacy or too much lecturing, interference from the White House.

Joining me from St. Louis, radio talk show host, Dana Loesch. She's the editor in chief of the conservative "Big Journalism" blog. And in New York, lactation consultant Leigh Anne O'Connor.

Dana, to you first -- is Michelle Obama trying to create a nanny state in your view?

DANA LOESCH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I kind of have to answer yes and no with this. And I don't think it's necessarily Michelle Obama that's trying to do this. I don't necessarily think it's the first lady, but rather some of the actions that the administration has taken.

Look, I am all for breast feeding. I myself breast my children until they were well passed a year. And I think it's fantastic and advocacy for that. I'm a very vocal support it.

But at the same time, from a conservative perspective, I have to question what the White House is doing, because breast pumps actually fall under medical devices, which as you know, under the health care law, those devices are going to be hit with a massive excise tax. So, don't make something tax deductible that you're taxing, just don't tax it. That's sort of the first criticism I think I have over it.

But the second thing and this I don't think necessarily pertains to the first lady, but the way that the White House is kind of positioning itself towards this -- as far as breast feeding is concerned, I realize that the White House is trying to exert some influence over businesses to offer, to be more breast-feeding friendly -- again, fantastic. But I don't think it is the government's role to direct business in that. Leave that choice up to the individual businesses, to the parents, to the individual, period.

KING: Leigh Anne, what do you think? Should this -- should the first lady be encouraging this? She's not an elected official or government employee per se, but she's the president's wife. When she speaks, one assumes she is speaking on behalf of the president. At Dana noted, there are some other government actions involved as well.

LEIGH ANNE O'CONNOR, LACTACTION CONSULTANT: Well, we know that breast feeding is important, and one of the biggest barriers to continued breast feeding is working. So if we support these women by giving them -- by letting their flexible spending dollars be used for this equipment, we're not paying for breast pumps. What we're doing is giving women -- letting women use their pre-tax dollars to have this equipment cared for and then they can continue breast feeding. And that's what we want.

It would -- the difference is, how much does it cost for these tax breaks versus the $13 billion that it would cost us in health care because women aren't breast feeding?

KING: Let me look -- let me actually lay out for anyone watching you who hasn't heard the change in the tax code. Let's show what it does. This is an IRS announcement from one week ago, "Recognizes breastfeeding supplies as medical expenses worthy of reimbursement through those flexible spending accounts." Some of you probably get through your employer, health saving accounts, you set money aside tax-free and you can use it on health care expenses. It recognizes breastfeeding supplies as a worthy medical expense. It also authorizes breastfeeding supplies to be itemized as a deduction when you deduct your medical expense if you reach the threshold on your taxes.

I want you to listen to Congresswoman Bachmann. She was on "Good Morning America" this morning talking about her take on the change in the tax code.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: My quarrel isn't necessarily with the whole topic. I've given birth to five children myself. I strongly believe in breastfeeding. But I think what this points up again is that the tax code is used by government as social engineering.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: If you follow that argument, Dana, am I fair to say -- if you take away deductions for breastfeeding devices, we should also take them away deductions for home ownership? Because that's, you know, if that's social engineering, it's social engineering, too, isn't it?

LOESCH: Well, you are talking to someone who thinks -- who subscribes to the Jimmy McMillan theory that things are already too high as is. I won't go in the full effect of that. But you get where I'm going with it.

I just -- I look at deduction -- again, breastfeeding is fantastic but the government, it's already kind of making it a little bit difficult for moms anyway with all of the excessive taxation. And we have 19 new taxes with the health care law. These excise taxes -- I think this is going to cost businesses in excess of over $20 billion a year, which is going to skyrocket, not only the cost of these breast pumps which I used when I was a nursing mother -- but also a lot of other related accessories to motherhood.

So, I just -- I think it's kind of a weird way that the administration is going about it. And again, with the businesses -- if businesses want to attract better employees and more employees by offering perks like breastfeeding rooms and pumps and all of that stuff, then if they want to make a smart business move, they should be allowed to make that decision for themselves without necessarily the government kind of exerting influence over that.

KING: How about that argument, Leigh Anne, that this should be the power of the marketplace, that a competitive business wants to hire you away from where you work right now and say, hey, come here, look what I will do to you to make your life better? O'CONNOR: Well, I think it's important that companies do get a tax break for offering breastfeeding rooms and breastfeeding supplies and time off for mothers to express their milk. It makes a huge difference. There's a huge return on investment on creating these opportunities for women and for their families, and you're going to retain employees.

It's -- and businesses don't know this until maybe somebody says, hey, this is -- this is important. This is going to make a difference locally and globally.

KING: Dana Loesch, Leigh Anne O'Connor, appreciate your time on this important debate tonight. We'll see you both at another time.

When we come back --

O'CONNOR: Thank you.

KING: Thank you both.


UPDATE: From Media Matters on her 1st CNN appearance as an official CNN contributor.

Recently-minted CNN contributor Dana Loesch claimed that breast pumps will be subject to the "massive excise tax" on medical devices under the health care reform law. In fact, the law exempts medical devices that are "generally purchased by the general public at retail for individual use."



From the 02.17.2011 edition of CNN's John King, USA.



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Hypocrisy Alert: CNN's Loesch complains about CNN

Newly hired CNN contributor and partisan truthless hack Dana Loesch complains about CNN, while on their payroll. Media Matters for America has dug into the archives of Loesch's CNN bashing.

Loesch
CNN hired Dana Loesch as a political contributor last week; however, MediaMatters dug up some blog posts dating back several years in which Loesch calls CNNthe biggest bunch of idiot blockheads,” (June 6, 2009) “state-run media,” (March 2010) and said that the network was the home to “tinfoil hats” (Sept. 2008).

The new CNN hire also wrote that Anderson Cooper got his job “by benefit of silver spoons” (Feb. 2008).

Loesch wrote all of this on her blog “The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative.”

Media Matters for America has also ripped her anti-CNN attacks while on its payroll:


Last week, CNN hired Dana Loesch as a political contributor. Loesch previously called CNN "the biggest bunch of idiot blockheads," "state-run media," home to "tinfoil hats," and accused the network of having a "blatant disregard for objectivity." Loesch also wrote that Anderson Cooper got his job "by benefit of silver spoons."
Loesch: CNN Is "State-Run Media." From a March 9, 2010, post, headlined, "CNN Joins Coffee Party on the Astroturf":
Loesch: "CNN Are The Biggest Bunch Of Idiot Blockheads." On June 16, 2009, Loesch linked to a post on Anderson Cooper's website and wrote: "CNN are the biggest bunch of idiot blockheads. They've been using Tweets from Iranian protesters and using their names along with the updates, essentially painting a target on the backs of these people. Unbelievable. No wonder media is begging for a bailout." [The Dana Show blog, 6/16/09]
I hope that conservatives continue to wake up in these numbers. We went from 1,500 participants on February 27th to around 8,000+ on Wednesday. Several people have asked me if we will take action - and by action, in case DHS is watching, means legislative action. As I've said before, I don't believe that you can make the case to change a law by breaking it. Before people can take action they have to be awake - and I feel that this first wave of protests have done just that, they've woken up a mass of people that have been verbally browbeaten into thinking that they are a small minority or that their political ideals are dead. Wednesday proved that conservatism is emphatically not dead and no matter how hard the mainstream media tries to stuff this story at the end of their newscasts, in the backs of the metro sections, or ignore it completely, they can't mis-report it out of existence. Our progress isn't measured by whether or not CNN loves us but you could say that our progress can be measure by how badly certain outlets want to shut us up. [The Dana Show blog, 4/17/09]

Is this lady out of her mind, and she is worse than either Malkin or Coulter at this point of the game. This nimrod will NOT let go of "union thugs beating up Gladney" nonsense, even when she's proven wrong. She's scheduled to be on John King, USA tonight.

CNN's Loesch Responds To Media Matters' "Premenstrual Freakouts" Over Her Anti-CNN Remarks
20 minutes ago

From the February 17 edition of KFTK's The Dana Show:

2.11.2011

Dana at CPAC 2011

Here are some highlights from CPAC 2011 that Dana Loesch was making lies about:

Parker/Spitzer blog interviews Loesch at CPAC:

Thousands of conservative activists will descend on the nation's capital Thursday for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, a three-day political carnival of speeches, strategy sessions and after-hours networking.

Loesch is attending the CPAC meeting.

How important is this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference?

I think it's important for the members of any coalition to gather together from time to time. There's a great fellowship that occurs which you can't replicate online to some extent.

Possible 2012 Republican presidential contenders are scheduled to appear at the conference: former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Rep. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Gingrich, Pawlenty, former senator (Pa.) and Sen. John Thune (S.D.). What will you be listening for from them?

I'm interested in seeing what sort of reception Mr. Gingrich receives. There are many people whom I'm hoping to hear.

What do you hope to accomplish at the conference? What will you do there?

I'm speaking on Thursday afternoon about new media and also introducing the documentary "Fire From the Heartland," a film about the rise and leadership of women in the conservative grassroots movement. Myself, Rep. Michele Bachmann, and other ladies are featured. I'm also broadcasting my radio show live from radio row and have a great bunch of guests scheduled.

Turns out that Loesch was NOT on Parker/Spitzer, thank goodness.


Her full speech of nuttiness:



She was at CPAC interviewing Richard Dreyfuss.


Speaking at CPAC 2011:



Newly hired CNN contributor and Breitbart toady Dana Loesch praises Lila Rose's "sting operations", smears Planned Parenthood and creates the illusion of "feminist genocide."




Adam Shriver at the St. Louis Activist Hub had this interesting piece: Dana Loesch swaps conspiracy theories with other bloggers, such as Pamela Geller and Jim Hoft.

Dana Loesch, Bill Hennessy, and Jim Hoft are today lamenting the birth of democracy and end of Mubarek's repressive regime. Why? Because scary people-who-aren't-Christians will now be allowed to live in a democratic society! And naturally that will result in chaos, since as we all know only tea partiers are informed enough to be allowed to vote.


Too bad for Loesch, Hoft, and their buddies: Egyptian "Elected" Dictator Hosni Mubarak resigned today.

Dana Loesch talks to Future Voices



Jimmy McMillan, the man who ran on the "Rent Is Too Damn High Party", visits The Dana Show.
from the 02.11.2011 edition of The Dana Show, at CPAC.


I'd love to see him get the GOP nomination, but sadly, it won't happen because he is pro-LGBT Rights and presumably pro-choice.

2.10.2011

Dana Loesch joins CNN (officially)

We have some news to break: CNN has hired Breitfart's liar-in-chief Dana Loesch to do election coverage with Liberal Cornell Belcher and Conservative Will Cain.

She has gone on CNN several times to spout out lies and the hosts and/or guests NOT calling her phony bunghole out. CNN should NOT be allowing proven liars like her on their shows.

Dana Loesch

2.03.2011

Yet more Islamophobia peddled from Dana Loesch's lying mouth

Dana Loesch, St. Louis's leading liar and rapidly morphing into big-time looneyland, is attempting to claim that the "Muslim Brotherhood were inspired by YMCA." Typical of her Islamophobic and racist screeds.

In what way was the Muslim Brotherhood “inspired by” the YMCA? By the way the YMCA doesn’t assassinate leaders? Or that it’s comprised of people whose Christian faith would get them killed in many Arab countries? The Brotherhood was aligned with Nazis during the 30s and, after the fall of the Istanbul caliphate, filled the void of Muslim unity. It wasn’t “inspired” by the YMCA; it was “inspired” by the hole left after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Anwar Sadat

He was assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Fact is that Sadat was NOT assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood, which Loesch distorted as usual with her. She will stop at nothing to damage Liberals, Progressives, Democrats, and Unions to her careless fact-free agenda enacted.

2.02.2011

Dana The Devil defends the Mubarak dictatorship, claims it's "either Mubarak or 'radical Islamists' running Egypt"

Today, we have more nonsense peddled from Dana Loesch-- this time regarding the Egyptian Protests. She defended the Mubarak dictatorship as this:

So, why in the world does Anderson Cooper (or any responsible media outlet) allow Loesch to spew out lies without getting chewed out?

The Pro-Mubarak protestors beat up reporters, including Anderson Cooper.

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