Monday, January 18, 2010

Media Matters Daily Summary 01-18-10

"I want to be fair here": Fox anchor Jarrett distorts Coakley remarks to portray her as "out of step"
On the January 17 edition of America's News HQ, anchor Gregg Jarrett said that Massachusetts Attorney General and Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley might be "out of step when she says things like terrorists are no longer in Afghanistan, or in the debate saying, quote, 'We need to get taxes up.' " Both attacks are distortions: The context of Coakley's Afghanistan comments makes clear that she was referring to Al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan -- echoing numerous military experts' statements regarding Al Qaeda's diminished presence in Afghanistan, and the context of Coakley's tax comments indicates that she was referring to increasing tax revenues by getting people back to work. Read More

Wash. Times claims Obama is "killing the economy" by falsely attributing entire FY09 deficit to "his ruinous policies"
In a January 18 editorial entitled "Obama is Killing the Economy," The Washington Times claimed that "Barack Obama has the worst budget record of any president in American history" by comparing the Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) projections of the FY 2009 deficit to the smaller FY 2008 deficit. In fact, only a small portion of the fiscal year 2009 deficit is due to Obama's policies; in January, before he took office or signed any legislation, CBO projected that, based on policies set under President Bush and economic conditions at the time, the deficit for fiscal year 2009 would reach $1.2 trillion. Read More

Newsmax cites Franken-Coleman race to baselessly hype fears of a "stolen election" in MA
In a January 18 Newsmax.com article, managing editor David A. Patten raises the prospect of a "stolen election" in the race for Massachusetts' open Senate seat by citing "fears that a close election could trigger the same type of recount process that saw former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's lead over then-challenger Al Franken steadily evaporate in Minnesota." However, the Minnesota Supreme Court stated that "[n]o claim of fraud in the election or during the recount was made by either" Franken or Coleman, and experts reportedly said that there was a "lack of crookedness in" Minnesota that debunks claims that the Minnesota election was stolen. Read More

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