Wash. Post's Bacon falsely suggested private accounts would address Social Security's projected long-term revenue shortfall
In a Washington Post article, Perry Bacon Jr. listed "allowing younger workers to put money they currently pay for Social Security taxes into personal savings accounts" as one of "an array of ideas" that aides to Sen. John McCain "indicated" he "could support" in "finding a solution to the long-term solvency of" Social Security. But Bacon did not note that the Bush administration has admitted that private accounts themselves would do nothing to address Social Security's projected long-term revenue shortfall. Read More
Author of NY Times Limbaugh profile: "I'm a little bit defensive because I think that the liberal media takes such an unfair view of him"
In an interview on WNYC's On the Media regarding his profile of Rush Limbaugh for The New York Times Magazine, Zev Chafets asserted: "I'm not an apologist for Rush Limbaugh, but I'm a little bit defensive because I think that the liberal media takes such an unfair view of him." Read More
O'Reilly echoed false claim that "unemployment rate now is lower than it was under President Clinton"
On the June 7 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News' Bill O'Reilly claimed that "the unemployment rate now is lower than it was under President [Bill] Clinton." In fact, according to the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in June 2008, which, according to BLS data, is higher than during any month of Clinton's second term. Additionally, as the chart below shows, the current unemployment rate is 1.3 percentage points higher than when President Bush took office in January 2001. Previously, on the June 17 edition of MSNBC Live, MSNBC political analyst Rev. Joe Watkins falsely claimed: "No matter what you think about the current administration, at least unemployment is at an all-time low. It's at 5 percent, and some points, less than 5 percent, which has been the lowest it's been in decades." Read More
NPR's Kelemen reported McCain's response to Maliki's call for withdrawal timetable, but not McCain's 2004 assertion that "it's obvious" the U.S. "would have to leave" if Iraq requested it
NPR's Michele Kelemen reported that Sen. John McCain "suggested in an interview with MSNBC that the Iraqi calls for a troop withdrawal date may be driven by politics in Baghdad," and quoted McCain as saying, "The Iraqis have made it very clear, including the meetings I had with the president and foreign minister of Iraq, that it's based on conditions on the ground. [...] I've always said we will come home with honor and with victory and not through a set timetable." But Kelemen did not note that in 2004, when asked what the United States would do if the "Iraqi government asks us to leave," McCain responded, "I think it's obvious that we would have to leave." Read More
Wash. Post's Shear reported Democrats criticized McCain's budget plan, but not that nonpartisan analysts dispute its projections
In an article on Sen. John McCain's proposed plan to balance the budget by 2013, The Washington Post's Michael Shear reported that "Democrats immediately criticized McCain, asserting that his promise is unrealistic, given his stated goals of tax cuts and other government spending." In fact, several economists and nonpartisan analysts have also criticized McCain's plan, reportedly saying that McCain's proposal for numerous tax cuts would bloat the deficit or require huge spending cuts. Read More
Harwood ignored his own paper's reporting on Obama's work as community organizer as Scarborough mocked community organizing
On Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough mocked Sen. Barack Obama's work as a community organizer, saying, "Most people are like, 'what's a -- what's a -- get a job -- what's a community organizer?' " and later asked The New York Times' John Harwood, "What did you do when you were a young man, John Harwood? Were you a community organizer?" Rather than note that two days earlier, his own newspaper had published a front-page article providing details that answered Scarborough's question about what Obama did as a community organizer, Hardwood responded that he "played Little League baseball" and "saw a Beatles concert." Read More
Wash. Times posted AP article falsely claiming Obama now "calls for a troop drawdown process that could last 16 months"
The Washington Times website posted a version of an Associated Press article falsely asserting that Sen. Barack Obama "has gone from hard-line opposition to the war to more nuanced rhetoric that calls for a troop drawdown process that could last 16 months." In fact, as other versions of the AP article noted, Obama has long advocated withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq in a process that "could last 16 months." Read More
Levin falsely accused Obama of lying about McCain's position on immigration reform
Radio host Mark Levin aired a clip of Sen. Barack Obama saying of Sen. John McCain's position on immigration reform, "[W]hen he started running for his party's nomination, he abandoned his courageous stance and said that he wouldn't even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote." Levin responded: "Actually, that's a lie, and Obama's full of lies. He would support his legislation if it came up for a vote." In fact, during a January 30 Republican presidential debate, McCain said that he wouldn't support his own legislation. Read More
Liasson reported McCain "has begun emphasizing the importance of securing the borders," not that it's a reversal of his position
NPR's Mara Liasson asserted that Sen. John McCain, "while never abandoning his commitment to legalization, has begun emphasizing the importance of securing the borders." In fact, McCain's current position -- that "we've got to secure the borders first" -- is not just a change of "emphasi[s]"; it is at odds with his prior position that border security could not be disaggregated from other aspects of comprehensive immigration reform without being rendered ineffective. Read More
Mitchell didn't challenge McCain adviser's "stimulus package" characterization for gas-tax holiday
On MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell twice failed to challenge claims by McCain economic adviser Carly Fiorina that a summer gas-tax holiday is "the best stimulus package we can have right now." Mitchell did not challenge Fiorina's assertions by noting the assessment by many economists that the relief to consumers would be minimal and that the plan would likely generate increased revenue for oil companies. Read More
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