FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation.
Let’s say you’re best known for coming up with a federal budget blueprint that slashed tax rates for the wealthy and proposed big cuts to anti-poverty safety net programs, but now you want to be known as a guy who really cares about fighting poverty. Lucky for you, the Washington Post is here to help.
It’s been said (by me!) that the big spending cuts set to hit the federal budget next year—so-called “sequestration”—are not created equal, at least in the eyes of the corporate media. The cuts, as designed, hit the military budget and non-military spending in roughly equal measure. The political calculation was that Republicans would object to […]
The general line in corporate media coverage of the so-called “Supercommittee” tasked with coming up with a long-term budget plan is that both sides aren’t willing to budge: Republicans won’t agree to raise taxes, and Democrats want to protect “entitlements” like Social Security and Medicare. While some might find the idea of Democrats standing up […]
Lori Montgomery has a piece today in the Washington Post (5/20/11) noting that Senate Democrats have yet to unveil a budget planthat would”counter the budget blueprint approved last month by House Republicans.”Some Democrats dosay that they will soon unveil a plan that “would offer a sharp contrast to the GOP budget.” Such a contrast exists […]
The Washington Post‘s Lori Montgomery has what sounds like a pretty important story in today’s paper (3/25/11). The headline: Democrats Splinter Over Strategy for Reducing Deficit Battle Lines Drawn as More Are Willing to Put Entitlements on Table The piece leads off: Democrats are sharply divided over whether to tackle popular but increasingly expensive safety-net […]
In journalistic parlance, a “beat sweetener” is a story that lavishes praise on a powerful figure the reporter is assigned to cover on a regular basis–a great way for that reporter to get in good with an important source. That may have been what was happening with Lori Montgomery‘s February 26 Washington Post piece touting […]
In today’s Washington Post (12/2/10), in the news article “Deficit Commission Sets Ideology Aside,” reporters Lori Montgomery and Brady Dennis explain why the commission is not ideological: Confronted with a deficit-reduction plan loaded with political dynamite, members from both parties set aside ideological orthodoxy at least briefly, sparking hope that their work could ignite a […]
Rep. Paul Ryan is the Republican leader most often touted as a seriouspolicy wonk.His plan to “fix” Social Security was recently evaluated by the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration. As the Washington Post notes inan article today (10/21/10), Ryan’s plan”would slice initial benefits by about a quarter for middle-income Americans who turn 65 […]
The New York Times‘ Sheryl Gay Stolberg (9/22/10), writing about “brusque and brilliant economist” Lawrence Summers stepping down as President Obama’s chief economic adviser, cited House minority leader John Boehner’s charge that “Mr. Obama’s team lacked ‘real-world, hands on experience,’ a direct shot at Mr. Summers’ career as an academic.” She followed this by writing, […]
In a June 8 piece about a liberal summit in D.C. this week,the New York Times notes thatthe left’s support forprograms like Medicare and Social Security areoutof touch with fiscal reality, and that budget cuts elsewhere aren’t going to matter much: In truth, none of the cuts in annual appropriations will significantly reduce the long-term […]
Last week the Washington Post informed us that voters are “up in arms over the mounting federal debt”—and thus politicians were being forced to scale back a new bill that would, among other things, extend unemployment benefits and send money to state governments facing serious budget shortfalls. This made little sense, since polls do not […]
Today the Washington Post devoted front-page real estate to an examination of how some wealthy people who don’t think of themselves as wealthy will suffer under Obama’s proposed tax plans. Their primary example is Gail Johnson, who, along with her husband, earns about $515,000 in a typical year from the chain of preschools and after-school […]
