Cavuto Fails to Back Up Claim of 'Class Warfare'
Reported by Judy - September 9, 2006 -
Neil Cavuto based a segment of "Cavuto on Business" Saturday (September 9, 2006) on the claim that Democrats are waging "full-on class warfare in the mid-term elections," but never cited a single example of what he considers such rhetoric.
Cavuto sprinkled video of prominent Democrats, such as Senators Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, throughout the program but there was no audio to go with the clips.
Nor was there any summary by Cavuto himself as to what he considers "class warfare." Pressing Wal-Mart to pay higher wages and provide better health care? Is that "class warfare" or merely justice for people who work hard and deserve a fair shake in life? Complaining about wages and benefits making up the smallest share of the GDP in more than 50 years? Is that "class warfare" or only trying to enforce the long-standing bargain that when worker productivity rises, workers should share in the gains or why should they work harder?
Instead of spelling out what he was talking about, Cavuto merely asked his guests, "Which party is actually better for the middle class?"
The pre-eminent yes-man, Charles Payne of Wall Street Strategies, chimed in first, saying, "I don’t think it’s a question that Republicans are better," without saying why. He added, "At the end of the day right now, the Demcorats are definitely winning the public relations war and a lot of people out there aren’t sure any more and that’s going to make the elections really interesting, but if we bring the Dems in we’re going to regret it, particularly when they raise taxes."
Jim Rogers, author of Hot Commodities, took the "a pox on both their houses" line, but came down on criticizing Democrats because "they tax savings, they tax investments. They don't try to make it better. They try to make it worse."
Gregg Hymowitz, of Entrust Capital and a Democrat, termed it a mistake for Democrats to pit one class against another this election, but he said Republicans have failed to provide any fiscal discipline and that the nation should balance the budget, with tax increases if necessary along with targeted tax cuts for the middle class.
Ben Stein, wealthy investor and Republican, repeated his call for higher taxes on the rich. "I definitely think we should rise taxes on the rich," he said. "There’s no question on my mind. We have so many incredibly rich people in this country that have such a wild surplus of income beyond what anyone needs, wildly beyond what is needed to motivate them to continue to work hard. ... I have no problem with a 50 percent level on people with incomes above $5 million a year."
Stein added that he was puzzled why there has become so much inequalilty between rich and poor Americans and that he did not think government policy was to blame. Stagnant wages, the loss of good-paying union jobs overseas -- could those be factors and aren't they influenced by goverment policy?
It was a typical Cavuto business segment -- no real information about what Democrats and Republicans actually are saying on the campaign trail, images of specific Democrats that Fox News loves to lampoon sending a subliminal message, and 100 percent unsupported opinion.
This is "they report, you decide"?
