Media Matters Daily Summary 03-27-09

LA Times touts McCain as a "key Republican" in immigration debate, but ignores campaign flip-flop
The Los Angeles Times dubbed Sen. John McCain a "key Republican[]" in the immigration debate, but ignored his flip-flop on immigration during the 2008 presidential campaign. Read More

Hannity falsely claimed Obama has proposed UK-style nationalized health care
Sean Hannity claimed that President Obama has proposed "nationalized health care," similar to programs in Great Britain and Canada. In fact, earlier that day, Obama explicitly rejected scrapping the U.S. health-care system in favor of the British or Canadian model. Read More

AP ignores GOP contradiction in criticizing Dem plan similar to its own
The AP reported on Republican opposition to Tim Geithner's proposal to allow the government to take over failing nonbank financial institutions, without noting that House Republicans themselves proposed giving the federal government authority to take over financial institutions. Read More

Michael Reagan falsely claimed Dems' law told AIG to "pay the bonuses"
Michael Reagan falsely claimed that in paying retention bonuses, AIG was following a law "that was written by the Democrats" that said "pay the bonuses." In fact, the stimulus bill did not create the right for AIG -- or any company -- to pay bonuses, much less require them to do so. Read More

CNN ignores GOP contradiction in criticizing Geithner's proposal as "power grab"
In reports on the budget blueprint offered by House Republicans, CNN did not note that the plan includes a proposal to give the federal government authority to take over failing nonbank financial institutions -- a proposal similar to one presented by Tim Geithner, for which he was sharply criticized by those same House Republicans. Read More

Media use announcement of new Afghanistan strategy to revive "Obama's war" label
Since President Obama's announcement of a new strategy in Afghanistan, the media have revived the label "Obama's war," despite Obama's having inherited the 7-year-old conflict. Read More

Wash. Post, LA Times reported Boehner criticism of Geithner plan, but not his support for similar GOP plan
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times both reported House Minority Leader John Boehner's criticism of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's proposal for Congress to pass legislation allowing the federal government to take over failing non-bank financial institutions while failing to report that House Republicans -- including Boehner -- have proposed a similar plan. Read More

Ignoring ATF data, Fox's Bream advanced "gun advocates" claim that "vast majority" of Mexican cartel weapons not from US
Fox News' Trace Gallagher and Shannon Bream advanced the claim, touted by "gun advocates," that the "vast majority" of weapons used in Mexican drug cartels "are not coming from the United States." In fact, according to ATF's National Tracing Center, 90 percent of these weapons that could be traced originated from within the U.S. Read More

Hill piece, touted by Drudge, advanced Gregg's false comparison between "debt levels" of U.S., EU members
A blog post at The Hill -- linked to by the Drudge Report -- reported that Sen. Judd Gregg argued President Obama's budget would lead to a higher national debt and annual deficits than the EU allows its member states. But The Hill did not mention that the U.S. national debt had already exceeded the EU threshold before Obama even took office, that some EU member states currently have deficits or national debts that exceed EU threshold levels, or that EU rules governing deficits include exemptions for circumstances such as "a severe economic downturn." Read More

CNN's Keilar, caption falsely claimed Geithner's financial takeover request was "unprecedented"
CNN correspondent Brianna Keilar, along with several other CNN correspondents and hosts and instances of CNN on-screen text, described Timothy Geithner's proposal for Congress to pass legislation allowing the federal government to take over failing nonbank financial institutions as "unprecedented." In fact, former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and FDIC chairman Sheila Bair -- both Bush appointees -- stated in 2008 that the federal government needed and should have such power. Read More