On Newsweek’s going out of print
I suspect many of you could imagine this morning’s news that Newsweek plans to end its print edition after 80 years hitting close to home for a dead-trees journalist like myself. It doesn’t, and here’s why.
I graduated from college in 2001. Although that was right when a lot of print media outlets were making Internet-related mistakes, I was under no illusions that hard-copy newspapers would be around for my entire career. Two more decades of papers hitting driveways seemed about right to me.
About a decade later, I’m not yet prepared to give printed media no more than 10 years to live. But a couple of things have become clear:
1. Digital is not a death sentence: On the contrary, the era of online journalism has seen a proliferation of media outlets. Some are better than others, some have lasted longer than others. Which leads me to …
2. Quality, not the medium, is what matters: Good, relevant, unique content will attract readers whether it’s delivered in print or online. We may still be at a stage where the transition of a longstanding print outlet to online-only says something about whether that publication was producing good, relevant, unique content. (I can’t really offer an opinion about how Newsweek was doing on that front, other than to say I haven’t picked up a copy in a long time …) But at some point — probably not too far in the future — such a change won’t signal desperation.
Media outlets that don’t produce that kind of content won’t save themselves for long in any medium. That will mean the death of some one-time household names (Newsweek?), even as some new players become mainstays (Slate, Politico). That’s capitalism, or at least how it’s supposed to work.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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172 comments Add your comment
One perspective....
October 18th, 2012
2:22 pm
Who cares? I haven’t read a Newsweek in years.
Kyle Wingfield
October 18th, 2012
2:23 pm
One @ 2:22: My point exactly.
southpaw
October 18th, 2012
2:30 pm
My Government teacher in high school tried teaching from Newsweek instead of from the textbook for a few weeks. After a good bit of side talk and other misbehavior from some of my classmates, she abandoned her experiment and went back to the book. Even though I couldn’t condone the misbehavior, I was glad for the result of it. Newsweek already had the reuptation for biased coverage, and I wasn’t interested in being indoctrinated. My brother had taken the same class (but from a different teacher, I think) three years earlier, and he suggested that U.S. News and World Report would have been a better magazine for the class to read.
Rush
October 18th, 2012
2:30 pm
Only question is who is next? Time? USA Today?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
2:38 pm
Wouldn’t mind seeing the NY Times fold.
That rag hasn’t told the truth in decades when it comes to politics.
cc
October 18th, 2012
2:38 pm
In my college days (mid-60’s), profs encouraged the reading of Newsweek. Having been sufficiently exposed to their liberal thinking, I immediately dismissed their recommendation. It isn’t difficult to distinguish between education and indoctrination.
Dusty
October 18th, 2012
2:41 pm
Oh my! What in the world will they have to read at the doctor’s office if our magazines are going ?
cc
October 18th, 2012
2:45 pm
Dusty:
ObamaCare rules and regs?
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
2:45 pm
Not only costly to print and distribute, but it is amazing that with current technology the printed info is outdated for the most part by the time it hits the driveway. I can remember when the Braves played on the west coast and there was no cable/ESPN, I would have to wait until the 6 PM TV sports/news to find out if they won the previous night or hang by the radio, hoping against hope they might mention the score. Now, we blog in real time and criticize the manager for the decisions he makes. As Barry says “we ain’t going back” to old news in print.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
2:51 pm
cc: 2:45 funny!!!
ByteMe - Got ilk?
October 18th, 2012
2:55 pm
I’ve had a Newsweek subscription for 30 years. Until today. I cancelled my subscription on the news. The change to digital-only was coming; that topic was discussed in the board meeting a month or two back. I didn’t really want a digital magazine, so they’re not fulfilling my need.
Since it’s merger/take-over by the Daily Beast, it reads more like People magazine than the Newsweek I wanted to read. Turns out all their great writers moved over to Time… and so have I.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
October 18th, 2012
3:01 pm
when will the AJC go out of print?
Georgia
October 18th, 2012
3:02 pm
Newsweek is written by third graders for second graders. Also, anyone else noticed how they’ve dumbed down the New York Times in recent years? I’ve read more sophistication in a Macy’s One Day Sale ad. You know who started this global mediocritizing? Yanni.
jeffrey
October 18th, 2012
3:04 pm
I haven’t read Newsweek in forever and never thought they were ever good. I still like my ajc and wsj on the drive every morning though.
cc
October 18th, 2012
3:09 pm
Full Head of Hair . . . but no brain.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
3:10 pm
If only Full Head of Hair had a full head of brains . . .
Kyle Wingfield
October 18th, 2012
3:11 pm
cc, Tib: If he had a brain, he’d realize he’s the only one laughing.
Kyle Wingfield
October 18th, 2012
3:13 pm
UNCLE @ 3:01: Actually, our circulation is doing quite well. There’s been a significant turnaround since we put more of a focus on investigative/watchdog reporting.
Road Scholar
October 18th, 2012
3:14 pm
Kyle, good review. This goes for newspapers also. And the AJC should start with changing articles and placing the old in an archive after one week of posting. (ie the article on copper wire theft in Alpharetta in N Fulton on the City State page has been there for over 3 weeks.) Date all articles. Eliminate multi postings of the same article within the paper. Provide links to articles /new/other papers/medias alluded to in the AJC piece. Give the reader more by providing the links to read deeper into a subject, if they desire.
America is too superficial- if you cannot get it in a 30 sec sound bite, forget about it…that is one of our present problems as a nation.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
3:15 pm
Well apparently he’s laughing by himself now, Kyle!
cc
October 18th, 2012
3:17 pm
Kyle, I really hated it when the AJC cut their circulation to many parts of the state. I really miss being able to get a Sunday print edition!
Kyle Wingfield
October 18th, 2012
3:19 pm
cc @ 3:17: So do my parents.
sailfish
October 18th, 2012
3:22 pm
I love when people tag something a “lib” magazine or newspaper. You kind of have the freedom to choose what article to read. Newsweek/time never cared for either, liked us news and world report for a long time but nothing beats the value of the morning paper with a cup of coffee..now that’s good reading, support your local newspaper – best value of your day.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 18th, 2012
3:23 pm
People magazine said it is doing just fine, thank you very much.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 18th, 2012
3:26 pm
Bytme, you can easily switch your subscription over to Biker Babes or Biguns from Newsweek.
td
October 18th, 2012
3:28 pm
When these mags and papers realize that following the far left agenda to a tee is damaging to the bottom line then they will change or they will go out of business. The AJC is trying to be fair and balanced, at least in what they say, and they are doing better. Newsweek has drifted farther and farther to the left and they will suffer mass layoffs.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
3:32 pm
People Magazine
Pictures of reportedly important pop culture figures, that no one. but an Obama voter, has ever heard of.
Lambeau
October 18th, 2012
3:41 pm
Wow. Any of that necessary Fox?
Edward
October 18th, 2012
3:43 pm
You know what you call a country where only one ideology rules and is allowed? Iran. Or North Korea. Or China. Or Syria. Or Saudi Arabia. They’re very conservative, too.
@@
October 18th, 2012
3:44 pm
Oh no! What will the trees do now?
cc
October 18th, 2012
3:48 pm
You’re not really as crafty as a fox. You’re much more like a possum, or should I say ‘possum gravy’?
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 18th, 2012
3:49 pm
Kyle – Does anyone actually read the Huffington Post?
@@
October 18th, 2012
3:52 pm
Does anyone actually read the Huffington Post?
Left-wingers do.
I drop by occasionally to see wherein their interests lie. It’s a strange place.
lex
October 18th, 2012
3:55 pm
Haven’t been a fan of Newsweek for many years, but I remember when its columnists were world class. The debates between Paul Samuelson and Milton Friedman on its pages were the high water mark of news weeklies.
As I recollect, Newsweek sold not long ago for $1. Seems to have been overpriced for an atrophied organ of liberal propaganda.
JDW
October 18th, 2012
3:58 pm
@Tom…number 6 on the list…right above Faux News
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/news-websites
JDW
October 18th, 2012
4:00 pm
I agree with the quality bit Kyle, Newsweek has been going downhill for 10 years. I switched to Time 3 years ago. I read 20 or so mags a month and not a one of them is the print version…all ipad.
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 18th, 2012
4:01 pm
JDW – Not nice my man, you forget Fox News is #1 in ratings past 12 years! Gotcha!! If you don’t believe me, just ask Mr Bill O’Reilly!
Tom(Independent Viet Vet-USAF)
October 18th, 2012
4:03 pm
JDW – I almost forgot, FAIR AND BALANCED not Hope and Change!
southpaw
October 18th, 2012
4:10 pm
Oh no! What will the trees do now?
—————————————————–
Breathe a sigh of relief. BUT we’d better step up our production of carbon dioxide for them to breathe in.
Matz
October 18th, 2012
4:11 pm
Ahhh, now, this really warms my heart. It’s so nice that the anti-intellectual crowd has their very own playgroup, and a place to gather where they know they’ll be surrounded by others just like them who truly know their struggles in life, railing against the losers in society who choose to inform themselves. You know, everybody fits in somewhere. God IS good, isn’t He?
Bill Hicks has some keen comments on this silly “readin’” thing. Bless your hearts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZs9557NCAM
mike
October 18th, 2012
4:13 pm
Is this our future?
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct12/exhaustion-consumerism10-12.html
Interesting reading if you have a few minutes.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 18th, 2012
4:20 pm
Mittens afraid to go on The View?
hehehe
jconservative
October 18th, 2012
4:22 pm
And looking toward the future, the PC that I an sitting at is also going the way of the printed newspaper.
Palm held is the future.
td
October 18th, 2012
4:24 pm
conservative
October 18th, 2012
4:22 pm
And looking toward the future, the PC that I an sitting at is also going the way of the printed newspaper.
Palm held is the future.
Until you go blind.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
4:52 pm
Mittens afraid to go on The View?
Finn
He is more than eye candy, so why bother!
Don Abernethy
October 18th, 2012
4:53 pm
Great news!!!
MrLiberty
October 18th, 2012
4:58 pm
Just another mouthpiece of the establishment and the ruling elite. Won’t miss them a bit. Plenty of great places on the Internet to find out the real truth.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
October 18th, 2012
5:07 pm
Romney won’t connect to his target voting constituency, which is decent and normal people, by going on the view.
He already lost the mouthbreather vote, why bother?
Jerry Fawell
October 18th, 2012
5:08 pm
“He already lost the mouthbreather vote, why bother?”
You switched your vote? Wow
Increased circulation
October 18th, 2012
5:10 pm
I actually partially agree with Kyle – The AJC’s investigative reports have been top notch, but I don’t know how much they’ve helped with print circulation. Agressive marketing to dropped subscribers and, of course, the Publix 1cent coupon have probably contributed far more to any stabilization the AJC has seen in its numbers. For national and international news, there’s still no newspaper that comes close to being as good as the NY Times. Plus, they have Maureen Dowd’s and Paul Krugman’s columns.
Hillbilly D
October 18th, 2012
5:12 pm
As long as the doctor’s office has copies of “Smithsonian”, I’m cool.
getalife
October 18th, 2012
5:19 pm
After all the lies and bad behavior from the right there is zero trust in media and government.
Congrats cons.
Halftrack
October 18th, 2012
5:27 pm
News media is just like music. If you get confined to one kind of category you lose readers. Example: Liberace was an expert concert pianist but his show on TV was about music the common Joe or Jane enjoyed.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
5:30 pm
Getalife, Finn, and especially AmVet
I hate to go off topic, but you three get all wet down below, looking at the projected Electoral Map and salivate about how, the Electoral Map still favors Barry. It has always been fluid, but you three always love to point out how there in no way, electorally speaking that Romney has a chance.
Well guess what, they changed it. Please enjoy! As the conservatives have said all along, polls and projections change too frequently to get as excited as you guys get.
Karma:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/2012_elections_electoral_college_map.html
hsn
October 18th, 2012
5:32 pm
Kyle,
Your rightwing nutcase friend, Dinesh D’zousa, the phony Christian who published lies about the prez has been fired by King’s College for cheating on his wife. Oh, he was also the “director” and “main character” in the “2016″ so-called “movie.”
So much for family values…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/18/dinesh-dsouza-resigns-kings-college_n_1980614.html
markie mark
October 18th, 2012
5:53 pm
have any of you guys on the left noticed that to survive, that papers or magazines seem to have moved to the right? You may not like Fox, but it is the only channel with any growth, while the others have dwindled…..perhaps, JUST PERHAPS, Newsweek may have survived with a change of view….or at least made an attempt not to just be a shill for the left…
cc
October 18th, 2012
6:36 pm
Rafe, thanks for the link to the map. I hadn’t seen it and took great delight in it!
mike
October 18th, 2012
6:40 pm
Uh oh! New polls show Obama opening up new leads in Ohio and Iowa. Elizabeth Warren is pulling away from Scott Brown in Mass. Looks like Mitt’s “bounce” was fleeting.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
6:41 pm
markie mark
Regarding your question about moving to the right, wonder how the Weekly Standard is doing financially? Surface observations seem to indicate they are doing well, but I’m not sure how you research their readership.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
6:43 pm
mike
You declared the race over in Sept, what are you worried about?
mike
October 18th, 2012
6:50 pm
I enjoy how the right casts this issue (Newsweek’s shuttering their print edition) as some sort of political mandate. One needs only to looks at the Yellow Pages for a real world analogy. Most people don’t even use the Yellow Pages any more. If they want to buy something the go online.
Bruno
October 18th, 2012
6:53 pm
For an interesting read, I recommend that you guys check out The Philadelphia Trumpet sometime. Here is a link to their online version.
http://www.thetrumpet.com/
mike
October 18th, 2012
6:54 pm
Rafe: it’s still over.
Will someone — anyone — on the right please explain Mitt’s tax plan to me. What’s that? You don’t know? OK, then, how about his “replacement” for the Affordable Care Act? Still don’t know? Tell me: what do you know about Mitt except that he’s the un-Obama? How many wars have we started in the last 4 years? How many financial collapses have we had in the last 4 years? Just step right up and sing it out, I’m waiting.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:03 pm
“Will someone — anyone — on the right please explain Mitt’s tax plan to me.”
Apparently you are a bit slow, mike.
His plan is to lower the rates for everyone, offsetting the cost of those lower rates with eliminating many deductions that the wealthy (and businesses) currently enjoy.
Why is that so difficult for you to comprehend?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:04 pm
“what do you know about Mitt except that he’s the un-Obama?”
Lots.
What would you like to know, mike?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:06 pm
“How many wars have we started in the last 4 years?”
None. It has taken your Messiah this long to end one.
“How many financial collapses have we had in the last 4 years?”
None. However, we’ve also not created a single net job in the last 4 years, either.
Your point, mike?
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:07 pm
OK, Tiberius, I’ll bite. What deductions will Romney eliminate? And, for whom? Please be specific. Also, please explain in specifics what the new rates will be.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:11 pm
“What deductions will Romney eliminate? And, for whom? Please be specific.”
OK. Ask Congress when they get into session next year, because unlike Obama, Mitt Romney actually HAS worked successfully with the Legislative branch of government to get things done. Mitt Romney doesn’t dictate unsuccessfully; he accomplishes.
“Also, please explain in specifics what the new rates will be.”
I believe he has stated a 20% reduction in the rates. Your point?
cc
October 18th, 2012
7:14 pm
mike:
You simply don’t ‘get it’. To the mass of voters it simply doesn’t matter WHAT Romney’s tax plan, is or what the replacement for ObamaCare is. What the voters know is that the recession is NOT over, the deficits far exceed $1 trillion annually, the national debt has been increased by $6 trillion, there are more people living below the poverty level, food stamp recipients have been increased by 17 million, welfare now accounts for the largest single government expenditure, our enemies neither fear nor respect us, our allies no longer trust us, our president is an object of scorn and ridicule internationally, the president and his administration lies to us, our Attorney General selectively enforces laws, the president usurps congressional authority and ignores the Constitution via executive orders and he is a TOTAL FAILURE. We tried his “change”, and now we NEED a change.
Other than the few things I’ve mentioned, Obama’s doing a great job!
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:15 pm
“OK. Ask Congress when they get into session next year, because unlike Obama, Mitt Romney actually HAS worked successfully with the Legislative branch of government to get things done. Mitt Romney doesn’t dictate unsuccessfully; he accomplishes.”
Short version: I don’t know. Just like the rest of the American people don’t know.
“I believe he has stated a 20% reduction in the rates.”
Again: I don’t know. I just know he’s not Obama.
cc
October 18th, 2012
7:20 pm
Replacing an abject failure with an unknown quantity would be preferable to the majority of voters.
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:20 pm
Questions like those I have raised and the lack of any coherent answers thereto accentuate the fact that you on the right have allowed yourselves to be brainwashed and mass-indoctrinated by the right wing media to support a candidate whose only interest is in the tiny minority — the 1/10th of 1% — who surreptitiously rule this country.
Conservative Republican
October 18th, 2012
7:22 pm
Kyle,
Figure out how much the AJC makes on its online subscriptions and divide that by the number of reporters you have there.
Think you can live on that?
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:25 pm
“welfare now accounts for the largest single government expenditure”
This is a lie. Please post a link to back this statement up.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:25 pm
mike, at some point you’re going to have to go back to English 101 to learn the language of success in this nation.
I don’t NEED to know which ones; only that most of them will be on the table, and that they will be revenue-neutral. I also don’t need to know which ones, because I know Mitt Romney (and obviously you don’t). I KNOW he’ll actually work to get this economy moving again, and he won’t dictate to Congress that which he cannot do. Why? Because he knows how to get things done, because he’s done it all his life.
And I stated a very specific figure of the reduced rate. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it isn’t true.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:25 pm
Mike
What is Obama’s plan for a second term. What legislation does he have planned. What has he said about how he is now going to work with the GOP House. What plan does he have for closing the deficit? Raising taxes on the wealthy raises 80B per year, that leaves a deficit of 1.3T, how is he going to make this up? What is he going to do with immigration?
Most importantly, how soon after 6 Nov will the girls start looking for a new school in Chicago?
cc
October 18th, 2012
7:25 pm
Conservative Republican, I imagine they generate revenue from advertisers, too.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:27 pm
“Questions like those I have raised . . . .”
Are merely talking points for unintelligent people who can’t fathom that someone might actually know how to get us out of this mess, and it isn’t the incumbent.
cc
October 18th, 2012
7:29 pm
mike, NEVER call me a liar again, you simple minded twit. You can Google, can’t you? Multiple links, but here is one, you twit:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/government/2012/10/18/trillion-dollar-cost-welfare/
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:30 pm
If you don’t have any answers, insult and obfuscate.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
7:34 pm
“If you don’t have any answers, insult and obfuscate.”
Oh, you mean like calling people “brainwashed” and “mass-indoctrinated”?
Just because you don’t like the answers, mike, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:35 pm
Mike
So, you are supporting a guy who has accomplished little, lied, deceived, and tried to delude his supporters into believing that he accomplished things he did not and blamed others for his failureS, and has no plans for a second term other than stay the course and Hope things get better.
As Clinton said today, things are not “fixed” and he understood that question, from the guy at the debate, who said he previously supported Obama but had been disappointed..
cc
October 18th, 2012
7:37 pm
“insult and obfuscate”
Yes, that’s you, mike. If you choose not to believe someone, say that it is a lie inferring that the person making the comment is a liar. I won’t wait for your apology because I frankly doubt that you’re enough of a man to offer one.
Are you familiar with the phrase persona non grata, mike?
As far as I am concerned, that’s you . . .
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:42 pm
cc
Facts are such an inconvenient nuisance at times, it seems. The whole Obama fairy tale depends on having the admirers and sycophants stay on message.
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:43 pm
“If you total up the direct and non-direct spending categories which are all the programs that are meant to help the poor, you will see that the federal government only spent 191$ billion on “welfare” for the poor. That would be 5.5% of the unified budget. I counted off-budget programs since the pie graphs in the beginning counted social security and other “off-budget” accounts. If you only want to go with on-budget expenditures it’s 6.4%, still a far cry from the 12% that most internet graphs will show you. Just for fun I decided to graph those numbers. Feel free to copy these graphs to show anyone who thinks we actually spend 12% of the federal budget helping the poor.”
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/07/20/885549/-How-much-do-we-REALLY-spend-on-Welfare
How can these numbers be so different?
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:44 pm
Eye Candy don’t need no stinking facts, we make it up as it needs to be!
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:46 pm
Clue for Mike
Jul 2010 vs Oct 2012
Every entitlement program has grown under the Mistake.
iggy
October 18th, 2012
7:50 pm
Newsweek…good bye and good riddance. Lets just hope the same doesnt happen to Chubby Chasers.
mike
October 18th, 2012
7:50 pm
“Every entitlement program has grown under the Mistake.”
Well I guess he was just unlucky. What he inherited was nothing like what his predecessor inherited from Bill Clinton.
By the way, what did George W. (what was his last name?) do with what he inherited from his predecessor?
What did he do with that $250,000,000,000.00 budget surplus he inherited?
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
7:53 pm
Welfare spending has grown substantially over the past four years, reaching $746 billion in 2011 — or more than Social Security, basic defense spending or any other single chunk of the federal government — according to a new memo by the Congressional Research Service. [Full Story]
Read more on Newsmax.com: News & Current Events, Breaking News, Analysis, Political Commentary – Newsmax.com
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama’s Re-Election? Vote Here Now!
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:00 pm
Mike, GWB also inherited a recession from Clinton, Mar 2001-Nov 2001, only 8 months, but he wasn’t Obama, he used American solutions, and quickly got it turned around.
When you add the Soc Sec IOU’s to Clinton’s budget, he left a deficit as well. He had a smoke and mirrors surplus.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:00 pm
From the link you apparently won’t read, mike:
“The Senate Budget Committee is out with a new report today that shows there are 83 overlapping government welfare programs that together represent $1.03 trillion in fiscal 2011 spending by federal and state governments, based on data from the Congressional Research Service (CRS). The report says “total means-tested welfare spending is currently the single-largest category of spending in the federal budget.”
Now, are we going to believe a two year-old blog post by someone named “maddog” on the dailykos, or are we going to believe an article written today using actual government statistics by Elizabeth MacDonald, an award-winning business journalist who used to work for Forbes and the Wall Street Journal?
cc
October 18th, 2012
8:00 pm
“That means that welfare costs in this country have reached a point where they account for more than the sums the nation spends on Social Security, Medicare, or national defense — the amounts spent on welfare equal the budget for defense and Medicare combined.”
“The staff report notes that “the federal share of spending on these federal programs is up 32% since 2008, and now comprises 21% of federal outlays.” That compares to 4% under the Administration of John F. Kennedy.”
“Moreover, the Senate staffers found this growth is by design. “Existing federal policy has explicitly encouraged growth in welfare enrollment — combined with a weakening of welfare standards and rules,” says the report.”
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:01 pm
Well, it’s obvious you right wingers smell blood and think you’ve found some real “red meat.” Unfortunately, you’re wrong.
https://chart.googleapis.com/chart?cht=p3&chs=600×200&chf=bg,s,e8e8ff&chd=t:22,23,3,25,12,2,3,1,4,6&chl=Pensions%2022%|Health%20Care%2023%|Education%203%|Defense%2025%|Welfare%2012%|Protection%202%|Transportation%203%|General%20Government%201%|Other%20Spending%204%|Interest%206%&chtt=Budgeted%20Federal%20Spending%20for%20%20-%20FY%202012
Please, for those of you who can “cipher” multiply 12% times our federal budget of $300+ trillion and let me know what you come up with.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:02 pm
“What did he do with that $250,000,000,000.00 budget surplus he inherited?”
Technically, he never had one. That was just smoke and mirrors accounting by Clinton and the GOP Congress at that time to make themselves look good.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:02 pm
So, Clinton left us a $250T surplus, don’t think so, where did all that money go? Even Obama would have trouble spending all that money.
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:03 pm
OK, that link was a little too long. Try this one.
http://www.usfederalbudget.us/welfare_budget_2012_4.html
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:04 pm
Disregard the T, my old eyes added some zeros that were not there Mike.
@@
October 18th, 2012
8:04 pm
What did he do with that $250,000,000,000.00 budget surplus he inherited
There was no surplus.
The government can have a surplus even if it has trillions in debt, but it cannot have a surplus if that debt increased every year.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 18th, 2012
8:05 pm
If Clinton “left a surplus”, why did the national debt go up each and every year of his regime?
Because he spent the Social Security and Medicare surpluses instead of saving them for future retirees.
The Clinton Surplus: A big lie.
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:06 pm
“Clinton left us a $250T surplus, don’t think so, where did all that money go? Even Obama would have trouble spending all that money.”
But George W. (what was his name again?) wouldn’t. Try 2 enormous tax cuts for the richest Americans. Try 2 unfunded wars. Try a ridiculous Medicare Part D big pharma giveaway. Try blowing out the economy causing tax revenues to fall off the cliff. Any questions?
cc
October 18th, 2012
8:11 pm
Rafe, your 7:42 is absolutely accurate. Obama has been dependent on the people willing to be misled, who continue to buy into his lies and refuse to accept facts which do not support their cause. It is truly a sad state of affairs, but not unpredictable.
blah blah blah
October 18th, 2012
8:13 pm
“only 8 months, but he wasn’t Obama, he used American solutions, and quickly got it turned around. ”
Actually interest rates that were kept low played as big a part as anything. If it were not so, why did the economy tank when the housing bubble burst?
Not blaming Bush, Republicans, Democrats, etc. However I am saying that Bush was the recipient of the housing bubble as Clinton was the internet bubble. The vast majority of supporters on either-side wish to acknowledge these facts. It is alright because it doesn’t change anything just because people wish to bark at the other side and say how right they are and how wrong the other side is……..
If it wasn’t for these bubbles, we would have been in trouble for sometime now. Problem is that when the bubble bursts it causes as much or more negative impact as the positive impact that was incurred on the way up.
blah, blah, blah
blah blah blah
October 18th, 2012
8:15 pm
Lil Barry
That is so true. You might also want to mention that to the Newt supporters. He runs around bragging about it and taking credit as much as Bill Clinton does
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:15 pm
The wars did not cost as much as you think. Libs always trot out the wars. I haven’t looked them up lately but it was on/about 1T under Bush, about what we spent on the Stimulus. As far as the Medicare Part D, Obama doubled down on it and closed the donut hole, increasing its cost greatly. Most of the tax cuts went to the middle class and you can imagine what trouble we would be in today, if they were paying $3500 more in taxes for the last ten years. Obama approves of the tax cuts for the middle class, so if you want them repealed better find another candidate.
Obama’s campaign is down to talking about binders and big bird, hopeless.
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:16 pm
It’s just ridiculous. Your on the right’s entire argument boils down to one premise. Obama has not been able to fix the mess left to him by George W. (what was his name again?) fast enough. Your saviour Mitt Romney will come in a completely change the way Republicans have done things for decades and miraculously cut your taxes and revive the economy. And, how is he going to do all this? Don’t ask me because he won’t tell us until after the election. I’m in. How about you?
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:19 pm
Blah3
I generally agree with what you said. Clinton got a tremendous boost from the dot com and I hadn’t thought about it but housing was booming under Bush. Now we have “poverty boom” that is not helping anyone.
blah blah blah
October 18th, 2012
8:20 pm
Rafe
That war in Iraq sure cost more than the 50B number that Wolfowitz trotted out, along with the Iraqi oil revenue would pay for most of it, right?
And the majority in both parties kept on spending and spending
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:21 pm
“But George W. (what was his name again?) wouldn’t.”
mike, for the life of me, I can’t find anyone on my ballot with the name George W. Bush.
Seems to me you’re arguing about the past, not the future.
Just like Obama.
blah blah blah
October 18th, 2012
8:21 pm
Rafe
Agreed. I am again not thrilled with my choices.
But we will see how it goes. Romney closing the gap and leading in some polls, can he close the deal?
We will know in a few weeks.
Later
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 18th, 2012
8:21 pm
Obama couldn’t fix the mess caused by Sasha, he would have to call Michelle in to do it, and she would be smart enough to get help from the staff.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:23 pm
“Your saviour Mitt Romney will come in a completely change the way Republicans have done things for decades”
Yes. Because he’s successful at virtually everything else he’s tried.
“and miraculously cut your taxes and revive the economy.”
No, he actually has a plan. Cutting tax RATES is not cutting taxes. And reviving the economy takes more than just a sound bite.
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:23 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/much-wars-cost-report-says-4-trillion-130934180.html
“The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, has assessed the federal price tag for the wars at $1.8 trillion through 2021. The report says that is a gross underestimate, predicting that the government has already paid $2.3 trillion to $2.7 trillion.”
What did WE get?
blah blah blah
October 18th, 2012
8:28 pm
Tiberius
Did you vote for Perot? Serious question, not being smart behind.
mike
October 18th, 2012
8:30 pm
Tiberius: please post an outline of Mitt Romney and the Republican’s tax plan. I would be delighted to review it. Take your time. I’ll check back in tomorrow morning. That should give you plenty of time to find it. Otherwise, good night.
iggy
October 18th, 2012
8:31 pm
The clinton surplus was also at the expense of gutting the military, cia, etc…
Hillbilly D
October 18th, 2012
8:35 pm
Only one President ever paid off the national debt and that was a long time ago.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:35 pm
“Did you vote for Perot? Serious question, not being smart behind.”
I believe I did. I can’t remember.
But then, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast on any given day, either.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
8:36 pm
“Tiberius: please post an outline of Mitt Romney and the Republican’s tax plan.”
Already did. I try not to repeat myself in the same conversation, mike.
Hillbilly D
October 18th, 2012
8:53 pm
I can’t remember what I had for breakfast on any given day, either.
Do like I do; eat the same thing everyday. Problem solved.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 18th, 2012
9:01 pm
Matz
October 18th, 2012
9:27 pm
“Clinton left us a $250T surplus…”
AND, he kept his binders full of women shut and discreetly tucked away! You know, until those PERVO Repugs in Congress demanded details and trotted them out all over the how-er media. Sheesh.
Dusty
October 18th, 2012
9:42 pm
Hey, I know what I had for breakfast (she said with pride!)… Cornflakes and bananas. When the bananas are gone, we have oatmeal and apples cooked together.
I suggest Mike try my diet since he can’t even remember the president who brought us back from 9/11. Yeah, George W. Bush. And Mike already seems to forget debt in the trillions raised by Obama. Yeah, I know. It was either Bush, Reagan or the tooth fairy.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 18th, 2012
9:47 pm
mike: 2 enormous tax cuts for the richest Americans.
——————
Tax revenue went UP after Our President Bush cut tax rates for all tax payers. Unemployment went down. Growth went up.
Don’t fear facts.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 18th, 2012
9:50 pm
Oh, and the tax burden shifted more to the highest earners after Our President Bush’s tax cuts.
Dusty
October 18th, 2012
9:53 pm
:Lil Barry,
Your memory is good. I think you are eating right.
cc
October 18th, 2012
10:00 pm
Dusty, let’s not forget that the meltdown was caused by Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd’s Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and that despite repeated attempts by President Bush to have the impending crisis dealt with by Congress, they and their cohorts played an obstructionist role. The leftists seem to forget this little fact and they must be reminded.
cc
October 18th, 2012
10:04 pm
Well, it has been a day, and now it is night! Good evening to all. It’s time to visit my pillow . . .
Dusty
October 18th, 2012
10:16 pm
Good night, cc
Pleasant dreams. I’m leaving too. ..
Steve From Dalton
October 19th, 2012
3:00 am
I wish we could still get the AJC print edition in Dalton. I always enjoyed eatting breakfast and reading the AJC. Unlike a tablet, It was not a big deal to get Jelly on the AJC.
lex
October 19th, 2012
4:23 am
Mike @ 8:01 p.m.
Speaking of “ciphering,” it’s easier if we start out with correct figures: Our federal budget is not 300+ TRILLION dollars–yet.
Our deficit under the chosen one has reached over 100% of GDP (which is about 15 trillion), http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/US_Debt.htm,
and, as cited above, means tested welfare spending now exceeds one trillion dollars per year. Now that’s growing an economy, socialist style.
Last, Clinton was the beneficiary of the economic boom created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, and, his spending was constrained by a republican congress, swept into office after he and his wife sought to socialize medicine for us fortunate souls in the 1990’s. Back then, a few people still had sense.
ragnar danneskjold
October 19th, 2012
6:43 am
I remember back when Time was the conservative magazine, Newsweek the preferred organ of leftist, and US News was middle of the road. All now in decay, and all with leftist orientation. Nevertheless, I cannot affirm the ideology is causation, as Kyle correctly cites Politico as a thriving online leftist site.
Why does the print WSJ thrive in a world where all of the leftist newspapers are in sharp decline? Maybe they have identified the last holdouts who want to hold a newspaper, my conservatives. Yet WSJ is also the largest subscription news source today.
ragnar danneskjold
October 19th, 2012
6:44 am
errata, omitted “online” in my last sentence @ 6:43
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 19th, 2012
6:59 am
Btw, Romney slayed them at the Al Smith dinner last night. Not only is he more accomplished than Obama, he’s funnier!
Absolute perfect comedic timing.
alex
October 19th, 2012
7:37 am
growing up in the 60’s and 70’s there were 3 popular weeklies:
1> U.S. news and world report: objective, literate
2>Time.Fun, interesting, more entertaining
3>newsweek,bird cage material;should have died lond ago, many trees destroyed, need congressional hearing……
JDW
October 19th, 2012
8:18 am
@Tom…”Not nice my man, you forget Fox News is #1 in ratings past 12 years! ”
If you say so…however, the web traffic numbers I reported are not subjective.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
October 19th, 2012
8:19 am
Can you imagine if Obama had a black son and he had said something like this ?
Tagg Romney was asked how it felt when he heard “the president of the United States call your dad a liar.”
“Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the stage and take a swing at him,” Tagg answered
The outrage from the right would have been enormous.
Kyle, Fox News, Drudge. This would have been a huge story.
But because its the other way around its really not a big deal.
Very interesting isn’t it.
JDW
October 19th, 2012
8:22 am
@Tiberius…”Why is that so difficult for you to comprehend?”
Because there aren’t enough deductions that he has not “protected” to offset the cost. Its just math. Mittens plan is the same as Reagan’s and Duhbya’s…both led to deficit EXPLOSIONS and MItt’s will too.
I demand to see Cheesy Grits Birth Certificate- Long Form Please
October 19th, 2012
8:24 am
@Tom…”Not nice my man, you forget Fox News is #1 in ratings past 12 years! ”
They are. But if you add MSNBC and CNN together they beat Fox.
JKL2
October 19th, 2012
8:32 am
Kyle- 2. Quality, not the medium, is what matters
Marshall McLuhan is my hero.
Can we have a stylebook party?
JKL2
October 19th, 2012
8:41 am
Tiberius- Seems to me you’re arguing about the past, not the future.
Just like Obama.
Bingo! obama is still running the same as he did when he was candidate obama, not as the president. It’s like the last four years didn’t mean anything to him. Instead of pointing to all the great things he’s done, all obama can do is try to character assassinate Romney.
Vote obama: You were dumb enough to fall for it last time!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
9:01 am
“But if you add MSNBC and CNN together they beat Fox.”
Not if you do that in the real world.
Fox dusts them both – together.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
9:04 am
“Because there aren’t enough deductions that he has not “protected” to offset the cost. Its just math. Mittens plan is the same as Reagan’s and Duhbya’s…both led to deficit EXPLOSIONS and MItt’s will too.”
JDW, you forget that neither Bush nor Reagan are on the ballot. This is a whole new cat running, and neither you nor your fellow myrmidons are bothering to listen to what he says.
Fortunately, it appears that the majority of the country is wising up, and not listening to how you libs paint Romney, but what he’s saying as well. It’s nice to see an electorate becoming informed, rather than wallowing in spoon-fed ignorance as Obama has done for 4 years.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
9:10 am
“The outrage from the right would have been enormous.
Kyle, Fox News, Drudge. This would have been a huge story.”
Actually, Cheesy, this wouldn’t have been a big thing for conservatives, because we don’t fixate on the silly.
That’s the purview of the left.
Which is why you’re so outraged about it.
See, for normal people, when someone lies about their father, they get upset. Maybe it’s because many libs probably don’t even know who their fathers are that you can’t understand this concept; I don’t know.
But in the normal world, we get upset when people lie about Dad.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 19th, 2012
9:16 am
Thanks to Billy Graham for removing “cult status” from the Mormon church and getting “cult” and “mormon” onto the front page of every newspaper in America!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 19th, 2012
9:18 am
Fox dusts them both – together.
And how does Fox News stand up to the ratings for ABC, NBC, and CBS for news?
cc
October 19th, 2012
9:25 am
“And how does Fox News stand up to the ratings for ABC, NBC, and CBS for news?”
Depends on what you call “news”. ABC, NBC and CBS “news’ is nothing more than the ‘Reelect Obama Committee’.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
9:53 am
“And how does Fox News stand up to the ratings for ABC, NBC, and CBS for news?”
Doesn’t matter, Finn. That wasn’t the issue.
Nice attempt at deflection, however.
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:12 am
Sarah Palin/Glen Rice anyone?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:15 am
Uh, MC?
Exactly where did THAT come from?
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:18 am
With the same tactics he used as CEO of Bain Capital, Tiberius? But wait he was CEO…he wasn’t CEO…I was I wasn’t. I wonder if that will work for him as president. I’m for it but I’m not. I’m against it but I’m for it…..HELP somebody hand him his binders full of women.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:20 am
MC?
Seek professional help.
Still haven’t justified the Sarah Palin / Glen Rice thing.
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:22 am
Where have you been Tiberius? Glen Rice has confirmed that he and Palin bumped uglies back in 87 while he was playing basketball in the Alaska Shootout and she was a sports reporter in Anchorage.
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:23 am
Google it Tiberius….Google Glen Rice confirms. You’ll find it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:32 am
And what has this to do with either Newsweek going out of print or this year’s Presidential election?
You’re not only pretty random, but you kinda have a Jerry Springer quality to your posts.
WOW
October 19th, 2012
10:34 am
“You’re not only pretty random, but you kinda have a Jerry Springer quality to your posts.”
Exactly. It should remind everyone of the earlier post of liberals not knowing their dads.
No that was distasteful post from a lonely man. Probably no wife, gf or dates.
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Well you took the bait hook line and sinker Tiberius so I guess that makes you part of the Jerry Springer demographic.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Oh, and I did Google it, and all the stories were dated back in 2011 (a year and 1/2 ago), and she was unmarried at the time.
So what’s your point?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:38 am
Ooooooo-kay, MC. If you say so . . . .
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:38 am
WOW you just wish you had woman issues I have. lol Got a beautiful Mexican wife and a 25 year old Guatemalan GF. But yeah it can be a difficult life at times.
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:40 am
And btw WOW. What is distasteful about that post? Rice confirms it. 2 of her friends confirm it, and she’s being dead silent about it.
WOW
October 19th, 2012
10:41 am
MC
Wasn’t referring to you. Read back several posts.
Hint: it is the other blogger you are discussing Glenn Rice and Sarah Palin with………..
However I was just agreeing your post was Jerry Springeresce, just like his earlier post regarding liberals and dads.
His was trashy and so was yours.
Maybe you are two peas in a pod
MC
October 19th, 2012
10:46 am
Who’s Jerry Springer anyway WOW?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:46 am
So according to MC’s “logic”, every unmarried woman should speak out about every sexual encounter they had before marriage to the media.
Got it.
Once again, MC, seek professional help.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:48 am
“No that was distasteful post from a lonely man. Probably no wife, gf or dates.”
Happily married to the same woman for over 28 years, WOW. Just celebrated our anniversary last week, in fact.
Anything else you’d like to be wrong about today?
GimmeBackMyBullets
October 19th, 2012
10:48 am
Jerry Springer and Rush Limbaugh share a demographic MC. If that tells you anything.
GimmeBackMyBullets
October 19th, 2012
10:50 am
Obviously Sarah Palin doesn’t have the same color barrier that rightwingers do.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
October 19th, 2012
10:57 am
Rightwingers don’t have a color barrier.
Just a competency one.
Most of us know crap when we see it.
Rafe Hollister, suffering through Oblamer's ineptocracy
October 19th, 2012
10:58 am
Palin derangement syndrome (PDS) is obviously a chronic disease among the left, just hope for their benefit it is covered by Obamacare. If it is terminal, what will the death panels say about the benefits of treatment and the cost.
JKL2
October 19th, 2012
11:36 am
gimme- Jerry Springer and Rush Limbaugh share a demographic MC. If that tells you anything
Not even close. The only thing they share is that Jerry has said he wishes he could be doing a show like Rush. He’s fully aware of the mindless drivel he puts out and who his audience is. He’s also smart enough to understand what his meal ticket is and laughs all the way to the back.
As a firm Democrat, I doubt Rush and Jerry agree on very much…
Anne
October 19th, 2012
11:46 am
I was a Newsweek subscriber for years and years. I’m concerned about the trend away from shared sources of reliable information – some common source of verifiable facts from which we can all form our opinions.
Jack
October 19th, 2012
12:30 pm
I cancelled my subscription to Newsweek years ago; it was so far Left that it lacked any credibility.