Wednesday, January 28, 2009
On The O'Reilly Factor...
Segment Summaries
All content taken from The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News Channel. Each weeknight by 6 PM EST a preview of that evening's show will be posted and then updated with additional information the following weekday by noon EST.
Talking Points Memo & Top Story
Can President Obama save the economy?
"President Obama told the nation he will spend as much as $900 billion to try to stimulate the economy and get us out of recession. What is vitally important is that the money is spent honestly and wisely, so Paul Revere - that's me - has an obligation to suggest some constructive ideas. We support the $20 billion tax cut for small business, tax cuts for working Americans, and a one-time rebate of a few hundred bucks to workers. Talking Points also supports federal money to build infrastructure - improve roads, bridges, the national grid. That will put people to work and make the nation better. On the other side, President Obama has to knock off the nonsense when it comes to ideological spending and nanny-state building. $400 million for global warming research? $2.4 billion for carbon capture projects? That doesn't stimulate the economy. Another $650 million for digital TV conversion coupons? That's insane! $150 million for the Smithsonian? No! Then there are billions for food stamps, child care, and other entitlements that have nothing to do with stimulating the economy. Nancy Pelosi and her band of merry liberals want the federal stimulus bill to stimulate the nanny state. President Obama promises transparency and honest government. Okay, but start with the stimulus bill."

The Factor was joined by former Bush advisor Karl Rove, who slammed the massive stimulus package. "This is based on the flawed premise," Rove began, "that we can spend our way to prosperity, and the price of this is $290,000 for each new job. There are some good things here, but there is some laughable spending that will not create jobs, and what bothers me are the permanent additions to government that will be impossible to remove." The Factor also asked Rove to respond to Representative John Conyers, who has subpoenaed Rove to testify about the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys. "Representative Conyers decided to go forward with this witch hunt," Rove replied, "although I don't think of myself as a witch. He's sort of like Captain Ahab and I'm the whale. I've been directed not to respond to a subpoena, but I don't need to hide."
Impact Segment
Dick Morris on the economy
Political strategist Dick Morris entered the No Spin Zone with his ominous outlook on the economy. "This year things will only get worse," Morris predicted. "The economy will shrink by about 4%, there will be deflation and wages will be cut. But in 2010 the depression will gradually end, and then hyper-inflation will take over. You're looking at 20% inflation a year in 2011 and 2012. The right thing for Obama to do is step back and let the economy heal itself, but that's politically unfeasible." The Factor reminded Morris that Obama is at least being transparent. "To be fair to President Obama, he's going to put all the spending on line so everyone can see it, he doesn't seem to be hiding anything. I'm going to be a little more optimistic and say the economy will get better and stabilize."
Policing the 'Net Segment
Catholic group releases provocative pro-life ad
The Factor welcomed Internet ace Amanda Carpenter, who evaluated a new anti-abortion TV ad portraying a fetus that grows into Barack Obama. "This has gone absolutely viral on the Internet," Carpenter reported. "It has been up for about a week and already has 700,000 views. I talked with one of the ad's creators, who said they wanted to send the message that abortion is the enemy of hope." Carpenter also viewed a PETA ad showing barely clad women suggestively licking vegetables. "This is PETA's latest publicity stunt," Carpenter said. "I spoke with PETA and they were blunt, saying they hope people watch the sexy girls and hopefully get a little education about animal rights." The Factor lauded the animal rights group for its public relations skills. "PETA knew this would never be aired, but now they get it on The Factor for free, everybody sees it, and they get their message out. PETA is very smart and they got what they wanted."
Personal Story Segment
Bill's interview with Sky News
Bill showed excerpts from his TV interview with Sky News political editor Adam Boulton, which was broadcast across Europe. A few of Bill's comments: "The European press really did a disservice to the United States by peddling a lot of propaganda" ... "Americans are very uneasy about Barack Obama dismantling the Bush anti-terror strategies that have kept us safe for eight years" ... "American troops taken prisoner get their heads cut off, these savages don't care what we do" ... "If Barack Obama doesn't improve things in this country in two years, the Republicans will retake the House."
Miller Time Segment
Dennis Miller on the stimulus package
The inimitable Dennis Miller began his weekly observations with Al Gore's appearance before Congress, at which he issued his usual alarms about "climate change." "Al Gore seems like a nice man," Miller began, "but on this he looks like a bit of a doofus. He has too much of his personal salvation tied up in this for me to take him at face value. I think he has clumsily overplayed his hand." Miller also weighed in on Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich: "The guy is growing on me because he has embraced his inner dirtbag. I love it when he stands there and brings up Gandhi, I cannot believe the cojones this guy has." Finally, Miller disagreed with Barack Obama's outreach to the Arab world: "These people go to jihad over pizza toppings, for God's sake. It seems to me the only person Obama has come down in his first week is Rush Limbaugh."
Back of Book Segment
Bernard Goldberg on the media love affair with Obama
Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg new book, "A Slobbering Love Affair," examines the mainstream media's enormous affection for Barack Obama. The Factor asked Goldberg to assess the three networks. "Katie Couric and the others," Goldberg said, "have invested a lot into the success of Barack Obama. The left-of-center media saw the historical importance of Barack Obama's election, so if they slobbered over him during the campaign, it will be tough to cover a guy who they fell madly in love with. The media's job is to keep an eye on government, but if they were so enamored by Obama during the campaign, are they going to keep an eye on him now that he's president?"
Pinheads and Patriots
Catherine Zeta-Jones & Martha Stewart
Wednesday's Patriot: Actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, who claims to use a beer and honey rinse on her hair. The Factor lauded Zeta-Jones as a patriot, but only if she is rinsing with a domestic brew. And the Pinhead: Martha Stewart, who aired a segment on "dog yoga," which actually uses a live puppy as a training aid.