AP’s Econ Coverage Continues Singular Focus on Bernanke, Non-Naming of Others in Govt.

Filed under: Economy, MSM Biz/Other Bias, MSM Biz/Other Ignorance, Taxes & Government — TBlumer @ 10:05 am

APonBernankeInCharge082710 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s first full day as the only person in the whole wide world with any kind of influence over what happens in the economy didn’t go too badly.

That’s the impression one might get from consuming two Friday Associated dispatches and a related AP Video.

Bernanke apparently took full charge of anything and everything having to do with the economy on Thursday evening. As noted early Friday morning (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), two Thursday afternoon dispatches from the wire service in advance of the government’s Friday morning GDP report widely predicted to contain news of a significant downward revision to second-quarter economic growth placed surreal importance on the content of a speech he was to give Friday morning shortly after that report’s release. The names of President Barack Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Geithner, and Larry Summers were totally absent from both reports.

Friday, in the wake of the downward revision of second-quarter GDP from an annualized 2.4% to 1.6%, AP’s primary economic report about Bernanke’s apparent first day as Emperor-in-Chief again failed to name the five folks just mentioned, as did a one-minute video from Mark Hamrick found here (after a 30-second commercial).

Here is some of what Christopher Rugaber, with assists from Jeannine Aversa and Alan Zibel, wrote about Ben’s big day:

Economy edges closer to stalling, government says

Shortly after the government’s revision, Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke said the Fed was ready to take additional steps to prevent a second recession, if the economy deteriorates further. But he stopped short of promising any action.

The Fed “will do all that it can to ensure continuation of the economic recovery,” he said.

… Bernanke, speaking to a Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo., acknowledged the economy has slowed more than policymakers had anticipated and said it is “vulnerable to unexpected developments.”

He did say he expects growth will pick up next year. The central bank chairman also sought to reassure the financial markets that he has the tools needed to bolster the economy and will use them if business activity slows further.

Bernanke outlined several options, including having the Fed buy more securities, most likely government debt or mortgage investments, as a way to drive down interest rates on all sorts of debt and spur more spending that might get the economy going.

Bernanke made clear “he is willing to act to ensure that the recovery remains on the right path,” said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities.

That reassured the financial markets, which rose sharply after the Fed chairman’s speech.

… How much the government could help at this point is an open question. The Fed has already lowered its key short-term interest rate to nearly zero, but that has yet to rejuvenate the economy. The benefits of federal stimulus programs are fading, and Congress has declined to pass any major new aid.

… The Fed chief said the foundation is being laid for stronger growth in 2011: Households are saving more and healthier banks are more willing to lend. That should boost consumer spending, which makes up 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

Once again, it’s as if Ben Bernanke is the only guy with any kind of influence on the course of the economy. Obama, Geithner, Summers, anyone else in the White House, Pelosi, Reid, or anyone else in Congress’s Democratic majority? Even though they are collectively responsible for fiscal policy, taxes, spending, regulation and oversight, we’re apparently supposed to believe that they’re all just spectators now, and that they’re as powerless as you or I to influence growth or employment. These people couldn’t possibly have anything to do with why we are where we are, or with why the economic outlook is so grim, could they? Zheesh.

As to President Obama, the AP’s Mark S. Smith took a transparently sympathetic tone in a separate Friday evening missive:

Vacationing Obama can’t escape economy

President Barack Obama biked and golfed under a brilliant New England sun Friday, yet he couldn’t escape the cascade of dour news on the economy as his vacation neared its end.

The Commerce Department reported the economy grew at a much slower pace this spring than previously estimated, a mere 1.6 percent. That followed reports earlier in the week on badly slumping home sales and tapering business spending on manufactured items.

Obama has conferred with his economic team on the phone while vacationing. And before his latest round of Martha’s Vineyard golf Friday, he met for about 15 minutes in the clubhouse with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to discuss the economy.

… The economic news brought renewed criticism for the administration.

… But with cloudless skies over Martha’s Vineyard after rain earlier in the week, the president did what he could to seize some downtime.

“The White House” did comment on Friday’s GDP news, but the AP didn’t mention it, at least based on searches at its main site on “White House GDP,” “White House growth,” and “White House grew” (each entered without quotes), all of which returned nothing relevant. An AP search on “Obama grew” (without quotes) returned only the Smith report just cited.

AFP did cover the administration’s reaction, such as it was:

The White House said Friday the latest US economic growth data represented “positive news” but that the lowered estimates mean more work is needed to keep the recovery on track.

“Four consecutive quarters of economic growth is positive news, but the revised numbers mean there is still much more we need to do to continue on the path to recovery and that remains the focus of the president and the economic team every single day,” said a senior administration official with the vacationing President Barack Obama.

… “President Obama is focused on taking the next steps to keep the economy growing including assistance to small businesses, export promotion, the extension of tax cuts to the middle class, and investments in areas of our economy where the potential for job growth is greatest, like clean energy,” the administration official said.

The “senior administration official” tasked with announcing this blather seems to have requested anonymity. If so, I can’t say I blame him or her. When no one else is getting named, why would anyone volunteer to be the only person in the Washington establishment besides Big Ben associated with the economy?

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

SEE PICS OF DEVASTATING FLOOD IN PAKISTAN (Pray for Them, MAY ALLAH BLESS THEM AFTER THIS INCIDENCE

How can we close our eyes and hearts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May ALLAH Bless our country ( ameen). Needless to say but please donate as much and as often as you can

Continuing Pakistani floods

The United Nations has now estimated that Pakistan will need billions of dollars to recover from its worst floods in 80 years - further straining a country already dependent on foreign aid to prop up its economy and back its war against Islamist militants. Over 60,000 troops are involved in flood relief operations trying to assist nearly 14 million people who are now affected by the flooding. The U.N. has just launched an appeal for $459 million in immediate aid.

A man marooned by flood waters, alongside his livestock, waves towards an Army helicopter for relief handouts in the Rajanpur district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer)

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Pakistani city Mehmud Kot is submerged in floodwater near Multan, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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Nadia, who do not know her age, sits alongside siblings after they were rescued from rising floodwaters in Baseera, a village located in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province, August 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Pakistani villagers stand on the remains of a bridge washed away by heavy flooding in Bannu in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad) #

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Pictures taken from US rescue helicopter shows the flooded area of Kallam valley on August 9, 2010. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A girl floats her brother across flood waters whilst salvaging valuables from their flood ravaged home on August 7, 2010 in the village of Bux Seelro near to Sukkur, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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A Pakistan Army soldier rests between air rescue operations on August 9, 2010 in the Muzaffargarh district in Punjab, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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Flood victims awaiting rescue wave down a helicopter from a top a roof in Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province August 7, 2010. Pakistanis desperate to get out of flooded villages threw themselves at helicopters on Saturday as more heavy rain was expected to intensify both suffering and anger with the government. The disaster killed more than 1,600 people and disrupted the lives of 12 million. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Pakistani villagers raise hands to get food dropped from an army helicopter at a flood-hit area of Kot Addu, in central Pakistan on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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Pakistani flood survivors climb on army helicopter as it distributes food bags in Lal Pir on August 7, 2010. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man wades through flood waters towards a naval boat while evacuating his children in Sukkur, located in Pakistan's Sindh province August 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro) #

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Stranded truck drivers, waiting for their tea, watch lightning strike within developing monsoon clouds over Pakistan's Muzaffargarh district in Punjab province August 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Villagers wade through flood waters with their livestock while looking for higher grounds in Sukkur, Pakistan on August 8, 2010. Pakistani navy boats sped across miles of flood waters on Sunday as the military took a lead role in rescuing survivors from a devastating disaster that has killed 1,600 people and left two million homeless. (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro) #

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Residents stand near the path of flowing flood waters the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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US Army Staff Sargeant Matthew Kingsbury (right) from Bravo Company 2/3 Aviation and Pakistani soldiers sit on the cargo bay ramp of a CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter while looking down at a flooded area while in flight over Pakistan's Swat Valley on August 10, 2010. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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An aerial view from a Pakistan army rescue helicopter shows personnel distributing water to flood-affected residents in Ghouspur, some 100 kilometers from Sukkur on on August 9, 2010. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Pakistani flood survivor climbs onto an army rescue helicopter in Ghouspur, Pakistan on August 9, 2010. (ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A flood victim looks out from the window of an Army helicopter after being eavacuated from the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A ray of light shines past monsoon clouds as villagers wade through rising floodwaters in Baseera, in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province, August 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A boy waits for food handouts with other flood victims as they take refuge at a makeshift camp in Sukkur, in Pakistan's Sindh province August 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro) #

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A man walks through a flooded house in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province August 7, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A man pushes his motorbike through flood waters in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan on August 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Newborn twin boys lay covered up in a blanket on the floor of a Pakistani Army helicopter, as mother Zada Perveen (unseen) rests after being rescued by Pakistan Army soldiers during air rescue operations on August 9, 2010 over the village of Sanawan in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan. Of the twin boys, un-named at the time, the first was born 15 minutes before mid day and the other twin was born as the Army rescue helicopter was circling above to find a safe landing position on a road surrounded by flood waters. The mother was then carried on a makeshift bed through chest deep flood waters to the awaiting Pakistan Army helicopter. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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A Pakistani crosses a canal with the help of cable wire on a damaged bridge, which was washed away by heave flood in Ghazi Gat in central Pakistan on Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary) #

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Pakistani villagers chase after relief supplies dropped from an army helicopter in a heavy flood-hit area of Mithan Kot, in central Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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Pakistani volunteers unload sacks of flour provided by the U.S. government in Kalam in Pakistan's Swat valley on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/B.K.Bangash) #

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An aerial view, from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter en route to delivering humanitarian assistance supplies, shows the flood-damaged countryside in Ghazi, Pakistan ON August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Horace Murray/U.S. Army) #

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People hunt a stray wild boar which escaped from a jungle during the heavy floods to Sukkur city, Pakistan, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) #

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A Pakistan police officer use a baton to control flood effected people who are trying to loot donated food from a bus at a roadside in Azakhel near Nowshera, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) #

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An aerial view from a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter shows a damaged bridge washed out by the floods in Ghazi, Pakistan August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Horace Murray/U.S. Army) #

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Pakistani flood survivors walk in the flooded area of Bssera village, 60 km south west of Multan, on August 10, 2010. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A Pakistani flood survivor who lost her home to heavy flooding, cries upon her arrival in Muzaffargarh, Pakistan, on Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary) #

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Flood victims are rescued by boat in Baseera, a village located in the Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 10, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

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Youths affected by floods walk outside the ruins of their home which was washed away by heavy floods in Charsadda, northwest Pakistan, Monday, Aug. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash) #

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Pakistani flood victim Mohammed Nawaz hangs onto a moving raft as he is rescued by the Pakistan Navy August 10, 2010 in Sukkur, Pakistan. (Paula

http://www.boston. com/bigpicture/ 2010/08/severe_ flooding_ in_pakistan. html

Wait for the pictures to be downloaded.

Severe flooding in Pakistan

It is only the start of the monsoon season, but already Pakistan is experiencing some of the worst flooding it has seen in over 80 years. Entire villages have been washed away, an early estimate of over 1,600 deaths so far and over 2 million displaced or otherwise affected. Not only is the immediate water damage causing havoc, the floods have inundated crop-producing areas, dealing a crippling blow to the agricultural- based economy and threatening a food crisis. The Pakistani government now struggles to rescue and provide aid to millions - while still fighting with militant Islamist forces in many of the hardest-hit regions. With even more heavy rains predicted in the coming days, here are a handful of recent photographs of Pakistanis as they cope with this latest disaster. (41 photos total)

A boy hangs on to the front of a cargo truck while passing through a flooded road in Risalpur, located in Nowshera District in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier Province July 30, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)

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Men take refuge on a boat during heavy rain in Pakistan's Nowshera District on July 29, 2010. (REUTERS/K. Parvez) #

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Residents watch water pour through a street on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan on July 28, 2010. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Pakistani villagers move to high ground escaping a flood-hit village near Nowshera, Pakistan on Thursday, July 29, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

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Nimra, a three-year-old girl, who was rescued along with her family from Kaalam in the northern area, kisses the window glass of an army helicopter after their arrival at Khuazakhela in Swat district located in Pakistan's northwest Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province on August 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood) #

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Residents watch from a nearby hill as army helicopters rescued trapped residents from Nowshera, Pakistan on July 31, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Residents stand by flood water that entered a residential area of Muzaffarabad, Pakistan on July 30, 2010. (SAJJAD QAYYUM/AFP/Getty Images) #

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An aerial view of a man and his animals surrounded by floodwater in Taunsa near Multan, Pakistan, flooded on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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A Pakistani villager struggles to reach his village through a fast-moving flood water caused by heavy monsoon rain in Bakhtiarabad, 250 km (155 mi) north of Quetta, Pakistan on Friday, July 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Fida Hussain) #

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An aerial view shows Nowshera city submerged in flooding caused by heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

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A Pakistani volunteer uses a small boat to evacuate locals in a flood-hit area of Nowshera on July 30, 2010. (A. MAJEED/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Pakistani flood survivors cross a bridge near a damaged home in Medain, a town of Swat valley on August 2, 2010. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Pakistan army soldiers pass a baby across a channel in the floodwater as they help people flee from their flooded village following heavy monsoon rains in Taunsa, Pakistan on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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Villagers try to catch trees floating in the flooded Nelum river in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir on Friday, July 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Aftab Ahmed) #

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Residents help a man untie a chicken from his neck after he evacuated his flooded home with the fowl by swimming to higher grounds in Nowshera, Pakistan on August 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A family being rescued by army soldiers passes a cargo truck with men on top taking shelter from heavy floods in Nowshera, Pakistan on July 31, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A soldier evacuating residents carries a flood victim to a helicopter in Sanawa, Pakistan's on August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

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A Pakistani boy named Jeeshan stands outside his tent in a camp set up by the Pakistani army inside a college on the outskirts of Nowshera on August 2, 2010. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Pakistani flood survivors line up beside a damaged bridge in Medain, a town of Swat Valley on August 2, 2010. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A boy is flung back by the force of a Pakistan Air Force helicopter rotors as it drops water supplies to residents on August 2, 2010 in Nowshera, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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Evacuees wade through a flooded area following heavy monsoon rains in Peshawar on Saturday, July 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Saeed Ahmad) #

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People wait to cross a flooded road in Bannu, northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Ijaz Mohammad) #

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A boy walks through flood destroyed homes on August 4, 2010 in Pabbi, near Nowshera, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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A family portrait is seen, attached to a bookcase buried in mud on August 4, 2010 in Pabbi, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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An aerial view of floodwater covering the land as far as the eye can see, around Taunsa near Multan, Pakistan, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer) #

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A flood survivor carries a soaked mat in a flooded area of Nowshera on August 3, 2010. (A Majeed/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man gathers up some of his belongings outside his flooded house in Nowshera, Pakistan on August 2, 2010. (BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Pakistani women pray at sunset by the Ravi river in Lahore on August 2, 2010. (Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A boy sits on a bed as his family members salvage belongings from their destroyed house in Pabbi, Pakistan on August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Faisal Mahmood) #

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Flood victims line up to collect relief supplies from the Army in Nowshera, Pakistan on August 2, 2010. Islamist charities, some with suspected ties to militants, stepped in on Monday to provide aid for Pakistanis hit by the worst flooding in memory, piling pressure on a government criticized for its response to the disaster that has so far killed more than 1,000 people. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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Flood-affected people jostle for food relief in Nowshera in northwest Pakistan on Friday, Aug. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

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A Pakistani worker pushes back flood-stricken women who are trying to enter a relief center to get food supplies on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

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Families set in for the evening in their makeshift tent homes located on a median strip after having abandoned their flood-destroyed homes, on August 3, 2010 in Pabi, Pakistan. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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Children, whose families have declined to be rescued, wade in rising flood waters on August 6, 2010 in the village of Panu Akil, near Sukkur, Pakistan. Rescue workers and armed forces continued rescue operations evacuating thousands in Pakistan's heartland province of Sindh. (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images) #

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Residents evacuate to safety in a flood-hit area of Nowshera, Pakistan on July 30, 2010. (A. MAJEED/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Onlookers perched on a damaged bridge watch a flood survivor use a rope to cross the river in Chakdara in Pakistan's Swat Valley on August 3, 2010. (STRDEL/AFP/ Getty Images) #

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A young flood survivor cools herself with water at a makeshift camp in Nowshera, Pakistan on August 5, 2010. (FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images) #

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A man tries to cross a makeshift bridge to escape his flooded home in Nowshera, Pakistan on July 31, 2010. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif) #

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A Pakistan army helicopter evacuates stranded villagers in Nowshera, Pakistan on Friday, July 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad) #

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A family takes refuge on top of a mosque while awaiting rescue from flood waters in Sanawa, a town located in the Muzaffar Ghar district of Pakistan's Punjab province on August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

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A woman yells as her child is evacuated from the roof of a mosque where residents were taking refuge from flood waters in Sanawa, Pakistan on August 5, 2010. (REUTERS/Stringer) #

http://www.boston. com/bigpicture/ 2010/08/continui ng_pakistani_ floods.html