Predicting McCain will attack Obama over public financing, CNN's Crowley did not report that McCain may be breaking the law
On CNN's American Morning, reporting on Sen. Barack Obama's decision to opt out of public financing for the general election, Candy Crowley asserted that "you can expect that [Sen. John McCain] will hit Obama on two scores: One, you went back on what you said you would do; and two, this is not how to reform Washington." But Crowley did not report that McCain may actually be breaking campaign finance law. Read More
Ignoring attacks, Politico's Smith claimed "well-funded attacks from independent groups on behalf of John McCain" have "so far [been] absent"
In a blog post, the Politico's Ben Smith asserted that "well-funded attacks from independent groups on behalf of [Sen.] John McCain" have "so far [been] absent" during the presidential campaign. However, the Vets for Freedom political action committee has run television ads attacking Sen. Barack Obama over issues related to the Iraq war, and independent group Freedom's Watch has put out ads attacking Obama over tax and health care issues. Read More
Detroit Free Press, Toledo Blade uncritically report false assertion that Obama would raise taxes on 21 million small businesses
The Detroit Free Press and Toledo Blade uncritically reported the false assertion by Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Sen. John McCain, that Sen. Barack Obama would increase taxes on 21 million small businesses. In fact, Obama has proposed rolling back President Bush's tax cuts only on "people who are making 250,000 dollars a year or more," and according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center's table of 2007 tax returns that reported small-business income, only 481,000 of those returns are from filers with taxable incomes of more than $250,000. Read More
NY Times, WSJ reported McCain "has been a champion of public financing," but not that he may be breaking the law
In online articles discussing Sen. Barack Obama's decision to opt out of public financing for the general election, both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Sen. John McCain "has been a champion of public financing." But neither article noted that McCain claims to have opted out of public financing -- and has exceeded spending limits under the public financing system -- during the primary season or that the FEC chairman has taken the position that McCain cannot legally opt out without FEC approval. Read More
Hasselbeck on Obama: "[H]e seemed for a while more willing to give the fist bump to Ahmadinejad than our own General Petraeus"
On Hannity & Colmes, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of ABC's The View, asserted of Sen. Barack Obama: "[I]t bothered me that he seemed for a while more willing to give the fist bump to [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad than our own General [David] Petraeus." Read More
Borger baselessly claimed "recent polls" show that "suburban women ... don't like Barack Obama very much"
CNN's Gloria Borger asserted, "[Sen. John] McCain really believes that he has an opportunity to win over these suburban women who, in recent polls, have shown that they don't like [Sen.] Barack Obama very much." But of the two recent polls identified by Media Matters that reported results for the subcategory of suburban women, one found that Obama led McCain, while the other, providing results specifically for "white suburban women," gave McCain the lead, but reportedly within the margin of error; in neither case were results reported for likability of the two candidates among suburban women. Read More
Boortz again referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "parasite[s]"
On his radio show, Neal Boortz asked: "[W]hy is it that the people who are being affected by the floods in Iowa and the upper Midwest, why is it that they seem to be so much more capable of taking care of themselves and handling this disaster than were the people of Katrina in New Orleans?" Boortz continued, "I think the answer's pretty clear, is that up there in that part of the country, you find a great deal of self-sufficiency. Down there in New Orleans, it was basically a parasite class totally dependent on government for their existence." Read More
Savage: "I'd hang every lawyer who went down to Guantánamo"
While discussing the case of two students on trial on charges that they provided material aid to terrorists, Michael Savage told a caller, "If I ran this country, I'd hang the lawyer. I would try her for aiding and abetting terrorism -- I'd hang her and I'd hang every lawyer who went down to Guantánamo to defend those murderers." Read More
Blasting Franken's "vulgarity," Wash. Post's Gerson touted McCain's "civility," ignoring McCain's "vulgarity" and tolerance of it
Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson criticized senatorial candidate Al Franken for what he called Franken's "offensive vulgarity" and wrote: "At its best, politics can offer examples of civility and generosity that challenge selfishness and prejudice -- the tradition so far embraced by both John McCain and Barack Obama." However, Gerson ignored McCain's previous personal attacks on Sen. Hillary Clinton, including McCain's reported telling of this joke at a 1998 fundraiser: "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Read More
Hume claimed Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent," ignored Gore's response that it's all "green power"
On Special Report, citing purported findings by the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, Brit Hume claimed that Al Gore's "energy use has surged more than 10 percent" since environmentally friendly renovations were completed on his home. Hume offered no response from Gore. Responding to the charge, a Gore spokeswoman stated that "[w]hen [the Gores] do use power, it's green power." According to the Tennessee Valley Authority, green power "create[s] less waste and pollution" than standard electricity. Read More
AP's Sidoti falsely asserted "the only outside groups running ads in earnest so far are those aligned with Obama"
In an AP news analysis discussing Sen. Barack Obama's decision to opt out of public financing, Liz Sidoti claimed that "the only outside groups running ads in earnest so far are those aligned with Obama." However, independent group Freedom's Watch has put out ads attacking Obama over tax and health care issues, and the Vets for Freedom political action committee has run television ads attacking Obama over issues related to the Iraq war. Read More
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