Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Media Matters Daily Summary 04-27-10

Babbin claims CIA climate program diverts "valuable assets," CIA disagrees
Washington Examiner contributor Jed Babbin claimed that the administration is "reassigning some of [the CIA's] most valuable assets to study global warming." In fact, the CIA has said the climate data sharing program "draws on imagery and other information that is collected in any event." Read More

Dick Morris uses Fox News cred to shill for Newsmax financial schemes
Over the past year, Dick Morris has repeatedly used anti-Obama rhetoric and stoked fears about the economy on Fox News, in his latest book, and in videos for the right-wing website Newsmax. Newsmax has used those videos to the promote financial-services products it sells, which the website has pushed by playing on similar anti-Obama fears. Morris has been paid by Newsmax to use his email list to plug such products; he builds his email list through his website, which he often promotes on Fox News.
Read More

The Prowler strikes again: Right-wing media run with dubious claim that HHS "hid damning health care report"
The right-wing media have seized on a dubious, anonymously sourced post on The American Spectator's Washington Prowler blog which claimed that the Department of Health and Human Services kept a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) report on health care reform a secret until after the health care vote. However, this claim is undermined by the fact that one day before the House voted on the legislation, the chief actuary of CMS, Richard S. Foster, said that CMS would be unable to issue an updated analysis before the House vote; in addition, the Washington Prowler has a history of printing dubious, anonymously sourced claims. Read More

Lowry, Examiner blame Obama for AZ law by pointing to defunding of failed virtual border fence
New York Post columnist Rich Lowry and The Washington Examiner defended the controversial new Arizona immigration law by suggesting the state was forced to act because the Obama administration was not enforcing immigration policies; specifically, citing frozen funding for a virtual border fence. However, the administration reportedly stopped funding the virtual fence because it was over-budget, behind schedule, and a "complete failure," and the administration has redirected money to "other tested, commercially available security technology along the Southwest border." Read More

Do conservatives really think new AZ immigration law is just like federal law?
Conservative media have claimed that parts of Arizona's new immigration law are similar to federal law and that, therefore, the law should not be controversial. In fact, the immigration enforcement powers given to local law enforcement under the legislation represent a dramatic departure from current policies and would, according to many experts, lead to racial profiling, strained police resources, and distrust of law enforcement within the immigrant community.
Read More

Media still distorting Kagan's record on military recruiting at Harvard
Peter Beinart claimed that Republicans are "right" to "beat the hell out of" Solicitor General Elena Kagan for "[b]arring the military from campus." In fact, while Kagan briefly applied Harvard's anti-discrimination policy to military recruiters following an appellate court ruling, recruiters still had access to Harvard students, and Kagan has testified that she would enforce the law as solicitor general. Read More

Fox Fiction: "FOXfact[s]" perpetuate "bailout fund" falsehood
During Fox News host Gregg Jarrett's interview with Sen. Jim DeMint, on-screen text displayed two "FOXfact[s]" that falsely referred to a "$50 bil[lion] bailout fund" contained in financial regulatory reform legislation. Jarrett then asked DeMint if President Obama and others were "deliberately trying to mislead the American public" about the nature of the fund. In fact, the fund would provide for the orderly liquidation of failing firms, not bail them out. Read More

Fox News burned by dubious Prowler report they failed to "independently confirm"
Fox News' Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier seized on a dubious, anonymously sourced post on The American Spectator's Washington Prowler blog that claimed that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) withheld a report on health care reform until after the health care vote. Kelly acknowledged during the report that Fox had not "independently confirmed this"; in a later segment, Baier stated that the report's author called the Prowler's claims "completely false." Read More

No comments: