From DC’s Deficit Panic to Flint’s Poisoned Water
In Dana Milbank’s worldview, which is widely shared in Washington policy circles, it doesn’t matter what you do to the country as long as you keep the deficit down.
‘Who’s Developing What for Who?’
“We need to be very much present in all these dialogues about where our money is being spent and what kind of city we wish to live in, what kind of country we wish to live in.”
Tom Tresser and the Deficit Mirage, Ben Bagdikian and Media Monopoly
Is Chicago broke because experts say it is, or is there another way to look at it? We hear about the “mirage” of deficits. Plus a classic interview with author, journalist and media critic Ben Bagdikian, who died March 11 at age 96,
Rubio’s Welfare Idea Seems Newer If You’re Unaware It Was Implemented 20 Years Ago
it wasn’t surprising to see David Brooks praise Marco Rubio, his favored candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, for a welfare reform proposal that was put in place almost 20 years ago.
Yes, Wall Street Journal, It's Possible to Be Not Generous Enough
Clearly there are judges who are too lenient and accept claims that probably should be denied; however, there are also judges who are too harsh and reject claims that should probably be approved.
We Could Keep Government Small if Only the Old Weren’t Getting So Much Healthcare
McClatchy wants us to be alarmed that Obama’s budget plan would move the federal government’s share of the economy from 20.9 percent today to 22.2 percent in 2024–a trivial redistribution of what is expected to be a much larger economic pie.
Cutting Pensions and ‘Responsible’ Politics
Anything that hurts labor unions, workers and moves Democrats to the right must be something to cheer about.
WaPo’s Twisted Take on Poor People Eating
The Washington Post describes state efforts to make sure poor recipients remain eligible for food stamp benefits as a “loophole…potentially wiping out billions of dollars in savings Congress agreed to last month.”
FAIR TV: Progressive Budget, Wash Post’s NSA Omission, Sundays With CEOs
On the show this week: The Progressive Caucus budget is greeted with the usual corporate media silence, the Washington Post withholds vital information from its recent NSA scoop, and Maria Bartiromo sticks up for the voiceless CEOs.
Once Again: Progressive Budget’s Media Blackout
What if lawmakers put forward a federal budget plan to tax big financial institutions, enact a healthcare public option and increase spending to put millions of Americans to work on badly needed infrastructure projects? They did. You just didn’t read or hear much about it.
WaPo on Paul Ryan’s Poverty Plan: News Article or Press Release?
Paul Ryan apparently has some big, bold ideas about how to fight poverty–mostly what the government is doing is all wrong. But why does the Washington Post fail to cite any critics of Ryan, and spend so much time quoting him and other Republicans?
ABC on Food Stamp Cuts: Hey, It Could Be Worse
Are cuts in food stamp benefits really good news to those receiving them?
The State of AP’s Factchecking Is Sad—as Usual
Why does AP still let Calvin Woodward “factcheck” political speeches? Does no one at the news service know what actual factchecking looks like? (If you’re coming in late, see FAIR Blog, 10/30/08, 2/25/09, 4/30/09, 1/28/10, 8/31/12.) Woodward’s latest venture (1/29/14) into the factcheck genre, following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech, produced […]
FAIR TV: Shutdown Blame Game, CBS Misleads on Climate, and Brian Williams on Iran–Then and Now
This week on FAIR TV: Media should take a side on who’s causing the government shutdown. CBS Evening News wonders what happened to global warming. And Brian Williams can’t believe the stunning shift from Iran on nuclear weapons–so who was this Brian Williams guy who was was reporting on the “new line” from Iran years […]
Shutdown: Media SHOULD Play the Blame Game
Media like to dismiss the partisan “blame game,” but in cases like this placing blame is something that journalism ought to do.
Should Poor People Eat? Let’s Hear From Both Sides!
OK, so maybe this headline is slightly unfair, but it seemed like a good way to capture the essence of a USA Today story (9/18/13) about the fight over food stamps. As you may already know, House Republicans are looking to cut some $40 billion from the SNAP program, otherwise known as food stamps, over […]
Washington Post: Big Government…Isn’t That Big
The Washington Post wanted to show that big government was still big–but they wound up showing readers mostly the opposite.
Student Loan Rates Drop—or Maybe They Rise?
The new student loan law lowers rates–and then, almost certainly, raises them in the near future. But hey–at least it’s bipartisan.
Time Sends Simpson and Norquist to the Zoo
Policy debates are only as broad as the establishment media allow them to be. And on this particular issue–fiscal policy, or what decisions the government should make about spending and revenues–the media tend to prefer staying within what you might call a center-right spectrum of opinion,
What Tea Party Did Tom Friedman Go To?
Friedman’s garbled recollection of a major U.S. political movement is a reminder that someone who doesn’t understand the politics of his own country is probably not going to give you a lot of help understanding the politics of other people’s countries.
