Cavuto defends Wal-Mart, criticizes Gates and Buffett

Fox News business anchor Neil Cavuto seems to be spending a lot of time defending Wal-Mart, while he is criticizing billionaire executives Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, notes the NewsHounds blog.

NewHounds writes, “Cavuto again used his “business” show “Cavuto on Business” on Saturday (July 1, 2006) to score political points when he opened with a segment asking whether Wal-Mart shoppers will determine the outcome of the November election. It was a typical convoluted Cavuto story peg, allowing him to remind the audience of how great things are under the GOP regime that now runs every aspect of American government.

Cavuto’s Republican guests (the majority, of course, since this is Fox News, after all) agreed that Wal-Mart voters love the flag and God and Democrats do not, so therefore Wal-Mart voters will continue to vote for Republicans. Tracy Byrnes, New York Post reporter, suggested low-to-middle income Wal-Mart shoppers may be beaten down by stagnant wages, high gas prices, and the strain of having a family member in the military during time of war and might be ready for a change.

“But the real burden of defending Democrats’ chances with Wal-Mart voters fell to Bruce Raynor, president of a union called Unite Here. Cavuto never identified what group the union represents, leaving the impression that it might represent Wal-Mart workers and that therefore Raynor’s views could be discounted, but its website says it represents hotel workers and textile workers.”

Later, when the discussion turned to Gates and Buffett, NewsHounds noted, “Cavuto claimed that it wasn’t fair for Buffett to give the money to charity and not have to pay taxes on it, while if he left it to his heirs, the government would tax it. Buffett and Gates, of course, oppose eliminating the inheritance tax, as does Cavuto guest Ben Stein. But Cavuto’s spin was that if Buffett and Gates “love the government so much” they should turn their fortunes over to the government instead of charities. (As Byrnes pointed out, for the average person, the inheritance tax is not an issue since the first $3.5 million is exempt from taxes.)

“He asked the question of a guy named ‘Morris.’ Cavuto did not introduce him further, leaving that to the chyron, which unfortunately displayed the Fox News email address. Not until the segment with ‘Morris’ was almost done did the screen identify him as Morris Reid, Democratic strategist. Sloppy piece of work there. Might Cavuto and his gang be some of those who are failing to display the ‘launch intensity’ that Roger Ailes is looking for?”

Read more here.