Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sarah Palin: A Palinese view of Inflation


Sarah Palin recently told Ben Bernanke to 'Cease And Desist' in what she felt was Bernanke's "Playing around with inflation". Here is part of her remarks:
"All this pump priming will come at a serious price. And I mean that literally: everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher. And it’s not just groceries. Oil recently hit a six month high, at more than $87 a barrel. The weak dollar – a direct result of the Fed’s decision to dump more dollars onto the market – is pushing oil prices upwards. That’s like an extra tax on earnings. And the worst part of it: because the Obama White House refuses to open up our offshore and onshore oil reserves for exploration, most of that money will go directly to foreign regimes who don’t have America’s best interests at heart."
Wall Street Journalist Reporter Sudeep Reddy responded Calling Palin's claims on inflation, nothing more than hyperbole:
Grocery prices haven’t risen all that significantly, in fact. The consumer price index’s measure of food and beverages for the first nine months of this year showed average annual inflation of less than 0.6%, the slowest pace on record (since the Labor Department started keeping this measure in 1968). Even if you pick a single snapshot — say, September’s year-over-year increase in prices — that was just 1.4%, far better than the 6% annual increase for food prices recorded in September 2008.
Rather than admit that she made a mistake, Palin responded in her usual snarky way on facebook:

Ever since 2008, people seem inordinately interested in my reading habits. Among various newspapers, magazines, and local Alaskan papers, I read the Wall Street Journal.

So, imagine my dismay when I read an article by Sudeep Reddy in today’s Wall Street Journal criticizing the fact that I mentioned inflation in my comments about QE2 in a speech this morning before a trade-association. Here’s what I said: “everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher.”

Mr. Reddy takes aim at this. He writes: “Grocery prices haven’t risen all that significantly, in fact.” Really? That’s odd, because just last Thursday, November 4, I read an article in Mr. Reddy’s own Wall Street Journal titled “Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies.”

The article noted that “an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America's supermarkets and restaurants…
Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months.”

Now I realize I’m just a former governor and current housewife from Alaska, but even humble folks like me can read the newspaper. I’m surprised a prestigious reporter for the Wall Street Journal doesn’t.

- Sarah Palin
I'm sure all the Sarah Palin fans read this and said things like, "Right on Sarah", "That's telling Him Sarah". "They'll think twice before they mess with you again, Sarah".

Well like Most Palin stories, this one doesn't end there and there is no happy ending.

It seems, that in Sarah's response, She used selective quoting. She took a quote out of context in the article leaving out the rest of the quote that changed the whole meaning of what she was trying to claim.

As pointed out by the Columbia Journalism Review.The bold print is the part of the quote that Palin left out:
An inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America’s supermarkets and restaurants, threatening to end the tamest year of food pricing in nearly two decades.
So, Palin is hammering the Journal and Reddy for pointing out that she’s flat wrong about grocery prices going up significantly in the past year. What does she do? She quotes a separate Journal story that confirms what Reddy is saying—and cuts out that part with three dots. Nice!


Palin has a journalism degree, so I’m guessing she knows what an ethical no-no it is to misquote somebody like that. It ought to be awfully hard for her to get on her pedestal and condemn the media when she can’t even quote somebody honestly. How about to make it up to Reddy, Palin lets a real reporter like him fly out to Wasilla to interview her for once instead of going to her house folks at Fox News?

To ad insult to injury, The WSJ pointed another flaw in what they call her, Monetary Policy Wonk. Ending their article with a not so complementary line of, If you’re gung-ho on the prospect of Madame President Palin, that’s great. Just be careful about taking investment advice from her. But that's another story.

55 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ouch!

Another Great post Bos!

zeke

Anonymous said...

Bosman, Reddy contradicts himself all over the two pieces...read both articles...contradictions.

JR

kelly said...

How sleazy can you get?

How can anyone want this woman in the White House?

Anonymous said...

kelly, have you read both articles?

JR

Anonymous said...

"Grocery prices haven’t risen all that significantly" Just another example of an out of touch elite. The more important point is that it should not take a rocket scientist to figure out that printing money can and does lead to inflation. Hey, I know the anti-Palinites like to paint Mrs. Palin as a Bimbo. It is what her political opponents must do to to win, I get that. I also understand that some anti-Palinites don't actually believe the non-sense the put forth. It is either said out of anger or to promote their own candidate. However, this takes the buscuit, if certain camp truly believe that what the Fed is doing is not inflationary than they are even more ignorant of our banking system than I thought.

To be blunt, I do not want such character anywhere near our banking system any more than I want them near our health care. If they are truly serious, than I am even more conviced that I will vote Third Party should certain candidate lead the GOP in 2012.

I thought I have seen it all, but apparently there is not limit with some people when it comes to putting their heads in the sand. I guess they do not teach Banking 101 at Harvard. If they did, it is doubtful our country would be in such a bad mess right now.


OHIO JOE

phil said...

Ohio Joe and JR,

Palin Lied or at least was trying to mislead people. This post isn't about Bernanke, it's about Palin and he quest to say anything and expect people to believe it.

NO MORE. She screwed up to many times before.

Anonymous said...

IMO grocery prices have risen. Sellers shrink packages and raise prices in small increments in order to gradually introduce the consumer to a higher prices. I think anyone who shops has seen this happening. For whatever reason, the powers that be subscribe to data that does not reflect inflation but tells the opposite story. So, people like Reddy can use that data to refute any shoppers claim that groceries are going up.

The problem with this situation is that in an attempt to find facts to strengthen Palins assertion that grocery prices are rising and have been rising, Palin did not do so in a responsible, honest way. She only quoted part of the statement from WJS, and then she proceeded to complete that statement with her own thoughts. That is a big no no in journalism and she should have learned that in Journalism 101. Had she reported the statement in a responsible, honest manner, she would have never used that statement to begin with because it would not have strengthened her point.

If Palin really wants to be effective she can't continue to make these kinds of mistakes. She continues to be reckless. Not a good quality for someone seeking to be POTUS.

Ann said...

Thanks for putting all this together Bosman. This certainly points out a very serious character flaw in Ms. Palin. One that in my opinion, that we can't afford to have in a President.

Ann said...

I just noticed the Pinocchio nose. Very clever and Appropriate. LOL

Anonymous said...

Ann,

"This certainly points out a very serious character flaw in Ms. Palin. One that in my opinion, that we can't afford to have in a President."


Amen!

zeke

Revolution 2012 said...

kelly,

"How sleazy can you get?"

------------------

That about sums it up!

Anonymous said...

Ohio Joe & JR,

Who cares if you liked what she said. This post isn't about whether she's right and Bernanke is wrong.

It's about making things up as you go along, to get your point across. Taking half quotes out of articles and adding your own endings to suit your purpose.

zeke

Right Wingnut said...

ZZZZ...ZZZzzzz...ZZZ


Update: This gets more pathetic by the minute. Sudeep Reddy's response to Governor Palin's smackdown? He tweets a link to an article in the far left opinion journal, Columbia Journalism Review. For those who've never heard of the CJR, its pieces are on a par with those at the Daily Kos or Moveon.Org in terms of accuracy and objectivity. The author of the CJR piece, Ryan Chittum, explains that Reddy is correct and Gov. Palin is wrong by using the grass isn't really green and the sky isn't really blue defense. In other words, the article to which Governor Palin refers doesn't really say what it says:


What that WSJ article said—which you can in fact discern even from her selective quoting—is that food prices may be beginning to rise.

May be beginning to rise? Hmmmm. Let's look at a few lines in the article to which Governor Palin refers. First, there's the one Ed Morrissey notes above:


Food prices are rising faster than overall inflation.

But that's not the only one:


Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months.


Stater Bros. has seen the prices it pays for cereal rise 5% in recent months.


Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, a three-unit chain in the Chicago area, said that in the last four months, the price it pays for a New York Strip steak rose to $23 per pound from $19 per pound.

There's more, but you get the point. I think we can safely add the CJR "reporter" to Mr. Reddy's camp of reporters who don't read before they write. The fact that Reddy had to look to the CJR to defend his nonsense tells us everything we need to know about how thin the ice is upon which he stands.


[...]

The Rest

Anonymous said...

Righ Wingnut,

Nice ATTEMPT at SPIN, but no cigar.

We're talking about, "making things up as you go along, to get your point across. Taking half quotes out of articles and adding your own endings to suit your purpose."

She did this. I don't care about the meaning of the content. What's being questioned is. Copying half a quote from an article, adding YOUR OWN ENDING. Then quoting the article with your ending not theirs.

YOU need to read the post above. All the spinning in the world won't change WHAT SHE DID!

zeke

Anonymous said...

"She only quoted part of the statement from WJS," Hello, that what the media does to her all the time. If the Newspaper did not want to be mis-quoted, they should not have been so freaking careless. She beat them at their own game and won. However, the larger point is that once again the Romneyites are caught with their pants down. They wish to change the subject and hide the fact their their fiscal recklessness is causing inflation so they have to play the Bimbo card again. There is no end to their shame and sillyness.

OHIO JOE

Right Wingnut said...

Read the rest of the article. Other quotes in the same article discuss how food prices have risen for months.

I'm still interested in Mitt's take, but he's currently hiding under his desk until the smoke clears on the issues.

Sarah is more than happy to take the slings and arrows for the sake of our future. Rather than repeat the blatherings of the left, you should be thankful.

ellie said...

I seriously doubt Palin has even been in a grocery store since 2008. I have. I was there just a few days ago to to our monthly big shop. I spent just over 600 bucks of my 900 buck budget (big family). Prices in some things are up, but in other things are down. I'll betcha that Palin does not know the price of a gallon of milk, or a loaf of bread. I do. She now has 'people' to do that.

BOSMAN said...

Zeke,

"Right Wingnut

Nice ATTEMPT at SPIN, but no cigar.

We're talking about, "making things up as you go along, to get your point across. Taking half quotes out of articles and adding your own endings to suit your purpose."

She did this. I don't care about the meaning of the content. What's being questioned is. Copying half a quote from an article, adding YOUR OWN ENDING. Then quoting the article with your ending not theirs.

YOU need to read the post above. All the spinning in the world won't change WHAT SHE DID!"

=========

HaHaHaHa!

zeke, YOU NAILED IT!

Anonymous said...

You guys really have not read the articles by Reddy...have you? It doesn't seem you even understand the over blown controversy. She didn't make up the second portion of the quote...she...used...elipses to ignore the portion that goes against her argument but also the portion of Reddy's piece that contradicts itself.

What Wingnut said is absolutely true and you would know that if you read Reddy's article and looked at anything about Palin objectively.

JR

Doug NYC GOP said...

I'm still interested in Mitt's take, but he's currently hiding under his desk until the smoke clears on the issues. --RWN
-----

What a crock of hypocrisy!

This summer when Romney goes it alone on the START Treaty (still waiting for Sarah to FB or Tweet on that) and Palinistas dismiss it.

Now because Sarah is trying to be taken seriously and is branching out, everyone is supposed to be awestruck, drop what they are doing and react. Sorry guys, doesn't work that way.

In fact, this story barely had legs enough to last the 24 news cycle. It never developed into a major on at that, so stop wasting time creating issues when none exist.


Romney's also written a number of Op-Eds addressing the economy, as well as a book. I know the latter may be too much of a hurdle for most Palin supporters, but give the Op-Eds a try.

You guys spin so much your brains are addled.

Anonymous said...

Doug, is that out of your system? The reason this story didn't go anywhere is because it never had legs. Reddy got caught with his pants down by Palin...Palin got caught with her pants down by Columbia. Reddy contradicted his own article. Palin quoted his article and then left out one of his contradictions...unfortunately, for him Columbia and zeke and some other Rombots, there are plenty of other Reddy contradictions to point out.

The Romney crowd holds such contempt for Palin and the only reason could be that they fear her viability...no wait it can't be that because they are always reminding us that she sucks and does horrible in polls...so why hate(fear) her so much?

JR

Doug NYC GOP said...

Sarah is more than happy to take the slings and arrows for the sake of our future. Rather than repeat the blatherings of the left, you should be thankful. -- RWN

------

A little over ripe, wouldn't you say?

Doug NYC GOP said...

JR (Does stand for Judgemental REsponses)

The facts are Inflation, even for food prices have not risen significantly over the past year. They may face upward pressure in the future. These are the facts the WSJ was assereting.

The QE2 policy Palin was speaking may indeed add to that pressure.

The point of contention is she stated prices have risen significantly in the past year, when they have not. She compunded this by selectively using the WSJ/Reddy's words to make them appear ill-informed. Not Kosher as we say in NY.

Anonymous said...

Palin supporters are Delusional.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=131158177

Palin's base marvels at her like the crowd in "The Emperor's New Clothes," oblivious to the fact that she's butt-naked. But everyone else sees right through her, folksy charm and all.

Anonymous said...

Doug, Reddy says in his own articles that prices have risen. He also said this is the tamest year of inflation...which is it? Reddy is just a bad writer who contradicted himself in his own article.

Read the articles...not just the Columbia piece. Read RW's post...it's all right there...you guys are choosing to believe the Columbia rather than read the facts laid out before you.

But I digress, why Palin chose that quote, to separate, when there were plenty of other examples, in the same article, that would've helped her case is beyond me...the only thing I can think of is that quote is more generalized?

JR

Anonymous said...

Not sure where I was judgemental...but okay.

JR

Anonymous said...

It doesn't matter anyway because average Americans notice a $5 or $10 rise in their grocery bills and they will relate to what Palin says.

JR

Doug NYC GOP said...

JR -- Here is exactly what Reddy said. Seems perfectly understandable and non-contradictory to me. in a nutshell, while prices on some individual items may have risen, the overall food price index has not risen. This happens in the economy all the time. A harsh Fla winter can send OJ prices soaring, but if other prices are low, it balances out and keeps inflation in check.


Mr. Sudeep Reddy exact words here:

"Our post on Monday examined the assertion that grocery prices “have risen significantly over the past year or so.” That view is not supported by the facts.

A broad measure of food prices from the Labor Department shows prices rose at an average annual rate of less than 0.6% in the first nine months of the year. September’s increase in food prices — 1.4% for food and beverages at an annual rate — was low by historical standards.(In fact, the lowest average annual inflation rate on record was 1.4%, in 1992.) Commerce Department inflation data show a similarly slow year-over-year increase for food prices, 1.3%.

While some items in the shopping cart have risen in price (ground chuck beef is up 4.8%) and others have decreased (bananas are down 5.3%), overall food price inflation has been historically low for the past year. This is not surprising. Weak demand, high unemployment and thrifty shoppers have led retailers to keep many prices from rising despite the rising cost of some commodities, including coffee and sugar."

Right Wingnut said...

JR, My wife does the shopping. She has noticed.

Right Wingnut said...

Doug,

Rising commodities prices is the first sign of inflationary trouble. As a former oil and gas regulator and Governor of an energy producing state, Palin gets it.

Actually, I suspect that you get it too, but since Mitt's hiding under his desk, you guys are lacking for news to report...other than a few worthless polls in liberal states.:-)

Anonymous said...

But I digress, why Palin chose that quote, to separate, when there were plenty of other examples, in the same article, that would've helped her case is beyond me...the only thing I can think of is that quote is more generalized?

Hey JR,

Maybe Palin chose that quote because she could not understand the rest of the article. Had she understood the article, she would have moved on to a different source.

Doug NYC GOP said...

Seems once again there are two issues here:

1) Have food prices risen in the last year.

and

2) Did Palin manipulate the Reddy's words to bolster her argument and rebuttal.

More than likely Yes on #1 - as indexes usually trail reality.

A Yes on #2? Depends on objectivity of the reader. But if a No - why edit the comment?

Doug NYC GOP said...

RWN - Nobody's hiding under their desk. They just don't feel the need to:

1) Be in the news 24/7

2) Rehabilitate their image in the minds of 70% of Americans and 47% of the GOP

3) Earn credibilty on serious issues.

4) Hype an upcoming reality, er excuse me, travel show, which evidently has a lot of "reality show" aspects to it.

Right Wingnut said...

Palin and her supporters are BATTLE TESTED. These amatuer attacks by liberal hacks are nothing more than child's play. Sad to say, we've probably devoted more time discussing it than she has.

I'm concerned for the sanity of Mittbots when the long knives start to come out for Romney when the campaign heats up. I'll make a prediction. Tim Pawlenty (my Gov.) will eventually be more hated in Romney Land than Sarah Palin. Write it down.

Doug NYC GOP said...

I can't speak for other "Mittbots" but I for one fully expect Romney to have a very robust and engaging campaign. Also fully prepared it may not be in the cards, should that 10% chance become reality. :)

It's you Palinistas who need watching. If any group will ensure Obama for 4 more years it's you guys. Why even on this thread, you see one of the most verbose Palin fans say they'd go 3rd Party if they don't get Sarah.

Seems to me, a little less bellicosity and a little more emotional maturity is in order.

Bill589 said...

Debunked. Sarah’s right. Surprise, surprise. Happens every other day.
Riddle: What’s the difference between this post and that of the LSM?

Anonymous said...

"JR, My wife does the shopping. She has noticed." My wife has noticed too, but I guess she does not count according to the media.


"Why even on this thread, you see one of the most verbose Palin fans say they'd go 3rd Party if they don't get Sarah." Ah, yeah, and why should we vote for a GOP ticket lead by Mr. Romney if he should not even have the economic smarts to understand inflation? If he does not come clean on inflation, he is not fit for the job.


OHIO JOE

Anonymous said...

Romney understands PLENTY of what is going on.

Palin is just grabbing headlines and she demonstrated her lack of smarts this week by trying to mislead her readers into believing that "She was right and everyone else is wrong. What she did is known in Journalism as lying. It is because of Stunts like this, Ms. Palin will never be taken seriously as a Presidential candidate.

Anonymous said...

"Romney understands PLENTY of what is going on." Then he does a rather good job of pretending to appear that he does not know what is going on; especially with regards to banking. He would do well to study Eastern Europe's transition to Capitalism. Those countries who have good banking and monetary policies had a smother ride to capitalism. A man who is supposedly so smart should be able to do the research to figure this out, but hey

OHIO JOE.

Doug NYC GOP said...

OJ,

You are very comical this morning. Please provide examples of how Romney does not understand inflation. I'll save you the time and the brain cells, you won't find any.

Or is it your contention, that by not commenting or reacting to Palin's comments, Romney is proving his ignorance?

It's this type of arrogant thinking, that the world revolves around Palin, which turns off a lot of people.

And should you go Third Party, are you not behaving just like Murkowski in Alaska, whom Palinites hate?

Seems Planet Palin has a very unique and self-serving double standard.

Anonymous said...

If Mr. Romney was an expert on banking and inflation, one would think that he too would chime in and take on the Fed, but of course he cannot do this because it would surely offend many in his camp. BTW, talk about a double standard, the rest of us are suppose to stand up and say 'hooray for Mitt on Foreign policy!' However, what Mrs. Palin puts the Fed in its place, (something Mr. Romney cannot/will not do) all will get from certain quarter is sympathy for the media that caught caught with its pants down.

As for a Third party, baseball only has three strike, why should Mr. Romney get 4? Health care, Banking and NY-23; 3 strikes, he is out. If he cannot address these strikes against him, it is pure folly to allow him to lead us. I for one do not want any part of such utter foolishness.

OHIO JOE.

Anonymous said...

http://www.inflation.us/

Doug NYC GOP said...

NY-23? LOL You are one desperate dude! Way to funny. NY-23 -Ha!

Banking? Based on what?

Well by your own Logic, OJ - Palin is out as well:

Strike One: She Quit her job.
Strike Two: O'Donnell - Miller/Senate Losses
Strike Three: No Foreign Policy plans, ideas or opinions.

Now if you are done playing childish games, let's get back to adult conversation.

BTW, no one way was being sympathetic towards the media. As per usual, the issue is not inflation or Fed's action - I think we all agree on that. The issue is Palin's selective editing of someone's words, to make her point and them look wrong. Everyone was on her side, till she got too cute by half.

Doug NYC GOP said...

Anonymous said... http://www.inflation.us/
-----

I just read that article before you posted. It's very good and bears out what Palin said regarding inflation.

This is the type of response she needs to issue to gain and maintain credibilty. She needs to lay off her trigger finger and fire out responses before they are thought out.

I for one hope she does.

Anonymous said...

OHIO JOE,

Do you really believe that Ms. Palin put the Fed in its place? What has she accomplished? All that anyone is talking about is how Ms. Palin does not know how to properly quote her sources. She looks absolutely foolish. Politicians who favor Palin are probably feeling very sorry for her latest mistake but having to admit to themselves that she is a walking political disaster.

Anonymous said...

"As per usual, the issue is not inflation or Fed's action - I think we all agree on that." No, the issue is inflation. Other than that the issue is that the media was caught with its pants down. And Mrs. Palin was the one who caught them. She absolutely does know how to quote sources. She used their own sloppy words against them.

"NY-23? LOL You are one desperate dude! Way to funny. NY-23 -Ha!" You guys are the ones that are desperate, you went against the will of the Conservative people twice in a row. What is sad is that you guys are content to turn our country into a Banana Republic by giving your Blessing to the Shenanigans of NY-23. Thanks for proving my point that you guys are not mature enough to run the country.


OHIO JOE.

Doug NYC GOP said...

Yeah, she did such a great job, no one's talking about it, except supporters who can't fathom she could ever make a mistake.

That's a nice quality to have in a cult.

Sapwolf said...

I ready both of Sarah's columns.

She's right.

I studied business and economics in college and economics is a hobby.

You can't argue with it. The problem is not liquidity and too little money. The Fed is merely creating more money to devalue the debt of the government and to buy those securities that we and foreigners are not buying as much now.

Macro 101. The Cuda gets it and explains it in a simpler way for your average non-economist. That is what good politicians do.

BOSMAN said...

Zeke,

"Right Wingnut

Nice ATTEMPT at SPIN, but no cigar.

We're talking about, "making things up as you go along, to get your point across. Taking half quotes out of articles and adding your own endings to suit your purpose."

She did this. I don't care about the meaning of the content. What's being questioned is. Copying half a quote from an article, adding YOUR OWN ENDING. Then quoting the article with your ending not theirs.

YOU need to read the post above. All the spinning in the world won't change WHAT SHE DID!"

=========

HaHaHaHa!

zeke, YOU NAILED IT!

Anonymous said...

Actually Bosman...she didn't do that! She never created her own ending...she just left out his contradictory middle. This is what I'm talking about...you guys don't even seem to understand the, "supposed," controversy. It's just easier to pile onto Palin then it is to be intellectually honest.

JR

Anonymous said...

BTW, did I just write the first 50th comment on any post ever at Rightspeak? If so, congrats on the success. I wish the conversations could be a little more civil and maybe more posts but, all in all, you guys already have ROS beat...IMO!!!

JR

BOSMAN said...

Thanks JR!

You're right. You are the first of the 50th comments. Hopefully, they'll be many morw

Anonymous said...

JR
You said "Actually Bosman...she didn't do that! She never created her own ending...she just left out his contradictory middle."

She most certainly did leave off an ending to a statement made in the article and then she had the nerve to attach her thoughts to the first part of that statement. This is a big NO NO in journalism and any body with a journalism degree should no better. It is the equivalent of lying.

Maybe you should watch this video from the LSM to help you understand why they teach you not to do this in journalism 101.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/11/10/ac.palin.vs.wallstreet.cnn

Anonymous said...

Anon 6:47

That is not what she did...she used the beginning and end of his statement and then used ellipses to hide the middle that is in question and went against her argument. The only problem is the middle of his statement contradicted other facts laid out in the article. Pay attention. I don't know why she chose that specific passage, of his article, to quote when there were plenty of other facts laid out, in the same article, that completely solidified her argument.

Read all of the articles in question. Read what RW posted in this thread and follow the links. Then attempt to be honest.

JR

Anonymous said...

JR

Perhaps you don't understand the proper way to quote a source. Palin did it in an improper way and mislead her readers.