Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Media Matters Daily Summary 08-09-11

Rush Limbaugh's Downgraded Economic Literacy
Rush Limbaugh responded to Standard & Poor's (S&P) decision to "downgrade" the U.S. credit rating by unleashing a litany of economic falsehoods. Limbaugh used these falsehoods to argue that the economy was suffering what he called "Obamageddon." Read More

Right-Wing Media Use S&P "Downgrade" To Rehabilitate Bush Economy
Right-wing media figures are using Standard & Poor's decision to "downgrade" the U.S. credit rating to rehabilitate former President Bush's economic record. However, the economy inherited from Bush was hemorrhaging jobs and contracting at a rate not seen in more than 50 years. Read More

Fox's Bolling Clings To Economic Falsehoods
Fox Business host Eric Bolling claimed that nearly half of American households do not pay "a dime in tax" and suggested that tax cuts have had nothing to do with the current fiscal situation. In fact, while the bottom 50 percent of wage earners pay little federal income tax, they still pay payroll and sales taxes, and the Bush-era tax cuts have largely contributed to the current deficit. Read More

Fox News: Trump For Treasury!
After relentlessly hyping his potential presidential campaign -- as well as his birther claims -- Fox figures are now promoting Donald Trump as a replacement for Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary, despite the fact that Trump's companies have reportedly filed for bankruptcy on four occasions. Read More

Dittoheads: Fox News Turns To Rush Limbaugh For Talking Points
Fox News personalities including Greg Gutfeld and Eric Bolling are turning to Rush Limbaugh for what they have called "important" points and the "right" point of view during the debate over avoiding a default crisis and while assessing Standard & Poor's (S&P) decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating. Read More

Fox's Last-Ditch Campaign Against Wisconsin Unions
A few hours before polls close in some of the recall elections of Wisconsin state senators, Fox News' Andrea Tantaros and Greg Gutfeld claimed that Wisconsin union leaders had been "greed[y]" and had put "their survival before the survival of the state" during the debate over the state's union-busting legislation earlier this year. In fact, unions and their members were willing to accept a cut in their pension and health care benefits but fought against the legislation because it stripped them of their collective bargaining rights. Read More

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