Media Matters: On health care reform, the Fox News noise machine is cranked to 11
You know those special amps used by Spinal Tap that go to 11, in order to provide "that extra push over the cliff"? It appears Fox News has gotten a hold of some and hooked them up to its coverage of health care reform.
As the reform bill moved closer to a vote in the House, the Fox News noise machine went into overdrive, hurling every false and misleading claim it could muster.
The week in Fox News health care hysteria began with an oldie-but-goodie -- Steve Doocy, Bill Hemmer, and Bill O'Reilly all claimed or suggested that the bill will, in O'Reilly's words, "require American taxpayers to fund abortion." But it doesn't, at least not beyond what is currently permitted under current law. Fox News, unfortunately, is not alone in repeating this falsehood.
Then, Doocy and Hemmer, joined by Neil Cavuto and several other hosts, jumped on the idea that a legislative procedure the House is reportedly considering to pass the Senate's version of health care reform would allow them to do so without a vote. Wrong again -- the House would need to vote to implement that procedure.
Carl Cameron, however, broke through the noise on this issue, pointing out that the process would simply pass the bill "in one vote instead of two" and that the process "has been used, literally, for centuries" -- indeed, Republicans made copious use of the "self-executing rule" when they controlled Congress. Even Charles Krauthammer conceded that it's constitutional. Still, that didn't keep Alisyn Camerota from scoffing that the rule "might as well be a self-immolating rule."
Fox News then pounced on a survey claiming to have found that 46 percent of primary care physicians would consider leaving their profession if health care reform passes. O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and contributor Dr. Marc Siegel all portrayed the survey as having been published by the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.
Except it wasn't. The article was written by the physician-recruiting firm that conducted the survey, and it actually appeared in an employment newsletter produced by the publisher of the New England Journal of Medicine, not the Journal itself. Further, the survey itself was not all that scientific -- done via email contacts taken from the recruiting firm's database -- so any claim that the survey's results accurately reflect the view of the American medical community is dubious at best.
Fox News' Megyn Kelly did eventually note that the survey was "not a scientific poll." But that didn't keep Glenn Beck from insisting -- hours after Kelly corrected the record -- that "The New England Journal of Medicine says that if this bill is passed nearly one-third of doctors will quit practice medicine."
(Beck, meanwhile, is keeping up the long tradition of Fox News hosts pushing partisan political agendas by joining with Republican Rep. Steve King to promote an anti-reform rally in Washington.)
Fox News contributor and serial misleader Dana Perino made her own non-contribution to the health care debate, asserting that the reform bill's Medicare investment tax on those making over $200,000 a year is "so disturbing ... because the people who make that money are the small business owners." In fact, fewer than 1.3 percent of small business owners would be affected by the tax.
When the Congressional Budget Office released new numbers detailing how the reform bill would reduce the deficit by $130 billion over 10 years, Fox News didn't want to talk about that -- it spent far more time highlighting how much the bill would cost instead of how much it would save. And when that didn't seem to work, it tried to discredit the CBO as untrustworthy and unreliable. Never mind that when the CBO issued "favorable" numbers last fall on a Republican health care reform plan, Fox News praised the CBO as "nonpartisan."
The Fox News spin is even confusing its own hosts. Brian Kilmeade can't quite comprehend how a bill can cost money yet reduce the deficit, and Kelly admitted, "I don't understand anything they're talking about when it comes to this potential law."
Fox News' inept war against health care reform, while in keeping with its function as the communications arm of the Republican Party in exile, is making itself look like the Spinal Tap of news. It doesn't really need that "extra push over the cliff" -- after all, that's what it's been speeding toward for years.
At this rate, it probably won't be too long before a Fox anchor spontaneously combusts.
Other stories this week
A whole lot of shaky earthquake claims goin' on at Fox
How much does Fox News oppose health care reform? It's pretending natural disasters didn't happen if they're inconvenient to the anti-reform agenda.
On March 18, Doocy took exception to President Obama's statement that a provision in the health care reform that would help Louisiana cope with Medicaid shortfalls resulting from Hurricane Katrina might also help Hawaii because it "went through an earthquake. "Hold it. What Hawaiian earthquake?" Doocy asked. "There was an earthquake in 1868 that killed 77. There was an earthquake in 1975 that killed two." After noting that the provision applies to states that have suffered a natural disaster "within the last seven fiscal years," Doocy added: "Essentially it boils down to just one state, and that is Louisiana."
Doocy seems to have forgotten that there was an earthquake in Hawaii in 2006. Not only did it cause tens of millions of dollars in damage, the Bush administration "declared a major disaster exists in the State of Hawaii and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery efforts" as a result of the quake.
But Doocy didn't need to rely on federal agencies for information on the quake -- Fox News reported on it at the time. (Investor's Business Daily similarly ignored its own reporting to suggest there was no recent Hawaii quake.)
It seems that rather than trust the federal government or his own news organization, Doocy chose instead to trust right-wing bloggers, who were spreading the misinformation. That runs counter to a 2007 memo -- issued after Doocy and other Fox hosts falsely claimed that Obama was educated in a madrassa -- in which Fox News vice president John Moody reportedly wrote, "For the record: seeing an item on a website does not mean it is right. Nor does it mean it is ready for air on FNC."
Media Matters has written Fox News requesting that Doocy correct the record. We shouldn't have to, since Fox News is supposed to have a "zero tolerance" policy toward on-air mistakes, but then, these are the same folks that ludicrously insisted that a Fox & Friends graphic in which poll numbers added up to 120 percent contained no errors.
The latest right-wing witch-hunt target: Jim Wallis
Fox News has long been a leader in witch hunts against Obama and his administration (or, really, anyone who can be remotely tagged as liberal). Now Glenn Beck, as an extension of his repeated attacks on the idea of social justice, has drawn a bead on the latest witch-hunt target: Rev. Jim Wallis of Sojourners.
After Wallis challenged Beck to a debate over social justice, Beck demurred, his vaguely threatening statements making it clear his witch hunt was more important than reasoned debate: "In my time, I will respond. ... Just know the hammer's coming. ... And when the hammer comes, it's going to be hammering hard and all through the night, over and over."
Right-wing website WorldNetDaily, meanwhile, blundered into the breach with a poorly written article that attempted to put words in Wallis' mouth. WND claimed that Wallis was a "champion of communism," even though Wallis has declared communism to be a "failed" system; asserted that Sojourners has published "a slew of radicals" while ignoring that it has also published a slew of conservatives; and alleged that "Sojourners' official 'statement of faith' urges readers to 'refuse to accept [capitalist] structures and assumptions that normalize poverty and segregate the world by class,' " even though the word "capitalist" -- inserted by WND -- actually appears nowhere in the statement. WND even falsely claimed that Wallis "labeled the U.S. 'the great captor and destroyer of human life.' "
Somehow, we suspect that Beck's upcoming assault on Wallis will be just as divorced from reality as WorldNetDaily's.
Erick Erickson joins the "scumbags" at CNN
Should a blogger who once called a retiring Supreme Court justice a "goat f---ing child molester" be rewarded with a regular commentary gig on CNN? Doesn't matter -- the deal's been done.
CNN announced this week that RedState editor Erick Erickson has joined the network as a political contributor, mainly appearing on John King's new show. The network claimed that Erickson is "a perfect fit" for King's show, adding that "Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach."
Media Matters has detailed Erickson's history of outrageous statements, of which the aforementioned is but one.
Predictably, conservatives defended Erickson's new job, his fellow RedStaters among them. One of Erickson's RedState defenders, however, went a tad off-message: "From Non-Conservatives, to Academics and Liberal Elitists, to self-soiling and unprincipled Professional Politicians and firmly-entrenched good ole boys inside the M(ostly) S(cumbags) M(edia), each of these clowns has a tale of doom about the hell we're headed for compliments of CNN's hand basket."
We have to wonder: Does Erickson consider his new CNN colleagues to be "scumbags"?
This week's media columns
This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert examines the media myth of Obama's "falling poll numbers," and Karl Frisch tells you how to annoy Glenn Beck in five minutes or less.
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I swear, seeing any one of these nonsensical stories on its own isn't too hard to take, but I swear, reading a couple of paragraphs all at one time, full of examples of the dishonest, the misinformation and the omission of relevant information just about tears me up.
They are toxic to our nation. This nonsense that poisons our national discourse is so terrible for one of the two major parties to do to the country that they should all be ashamed.
Kind of like my favorite moment on FOX News a few years ago, when they were covering an Orange County brush fire, the day after daylight savings time went into effect.
The announcer kept referring to the fact that "it's really good that we have daylight savings time today, because it gives the firemen that extra hour of daylight to fight the fire."
True story. My all-time favorite FOX moment.
For example, there are many honest questions to be asked about the claim that the "reform" bill will reduce the deficit by $130 billion over ten years, but the author isn't interested in asking them or finding out the answers.
The Senate bill, as I understand it, doesn't start to pay significant benefits until 2014, even though the tax increases that are supposed to pay for the bill begin immediately. Over the first ten years of the bill's implementation (vs. the first ten years after enactment), costs will be higher than the costs being touted to support the claim of $130 billion in deficit reduction. How much higher? Seems like a reasonable question, doesn't it? I've seen estimates that the full cost will be $2.5 trillion over the first ten years of implementation. That's something we should figure out before we pass the bill into law, but hardly anyone on the Left will even acknowledge the issue.
We do know that the CBO has said that the added cost of the House's reconcilliation bill and the Medicare Physicians Reform Act will increase the deficit by $59 billion from 2010-2019. The $130 billion "savings" is already gone.
So Fox and a bunch of conservative pundits are tendentious, but I can't see how anyone can say with a straight face that the media outlets and pundits on the Left are any better. That's human nature. There are very few on either side that don't let their biases seriously affect their reporting. Media Matters, in my opinion, is one of the worst.
LOL. That's funny.
Anything more complex than opening a packet of Cornflakes and they're stonkered!
Everyone has free healthcare, but there are no doctors. Just those who play them on TV. Its all good though because the occasional trip to the doctor will break the boredom of unemployment and time spent watching the earth fry from that genious Gore's "planet has a fever" global warming hoax. The US will be bankrupt from Obama and his wealth redistribution to the parasite class as the rest of the world will have stopped funding this insanity.
Good news though: Those social security checks (oop's, those are IOU's now) are in the mail. They are just waiting for the ink to dry from the last FED money printing session. Good thing, cause i need a truckload of cash to buy bread now if you can find it. Government workers (and yes they will still bethere complaining that they work so selflessly and hard for the peoiple) will be busy stapling and shuffling paper from one side of the desk to the other, while the unionites will be trying to get 8 people together to change a lightbulb. The mercury ones, for sure. And that will take years to accomplish because well they areen't paid enough, their pensions require they work some unforgivable vesting period and of course free healthcare is still not enough.
Its gonna be great.
But I'm sure all you proponents will be offering your apologizes for being so wrong when it affects your personal health issues and decreases the take home money from your paychecks (assuming any of you actually work).
Yep, that's me for sure. The guy with the shi--y attitude and insulting as well. While you, obviously, based on your post, are not insulting at all!
Must be nice to be a leftist without the ability to ever see much less admit to self-hypocrisy. Tell us what it feels like dirtylittleman.
And please refrain from quoting Einstein. You don't belong on the same post/page/web site/computer/planet as a genius. I recommend you stay with Mickey Mouse for example since your brain size is obviously the size of a his. Better yet, quote Larry Flint or Hugh Hefner, based on your natural ability to cuss.
Now remember dirtylittleman, try to post without the use of cussing so normal people might take you somewhat seriously.
BTW, I’ll be looking for your personal apology on Obamacare in a few years after the wheels have completely fallen off the socialist Obama wagon. As of now only half have fallen, but soon they will all be off - once people stop giving him a free ride because of race.
Do I smell the stench of moral superiority? I think so...
Hmm, perhaps your right about seeing no hypocrisy, as I see very little in me in this particular post (there are occasions where I have plenty during my life). Maybe the swearing could be considered insulting, but find no hypocriciy in the words themselves, as you confirm them with every post you make.
You begin with a blanket statement suggesting that everyone here at MMFA doesn't work. You then go on to pretend what? That you ARE a genius? What kind of pretentious pr!ck would tell someone that they couldn't quote Einstein? How about YOU don't quote Einstein, because you obviously don't share his views on Socialism. You even suggest ("don't belong...same...planet") that I should be killed...for what? Quoting Einstein? Cussing? Insulting YOU? And yes, I get it, it's just a "joke"...or maybe not, I can't be sure. You then put a little snip in about how I'm not "normal" because I swear. Then top it all off with requiring a personal apology. Personal apology? What? Who do you think you are to deserve such?
I vaguely remember your other posts, and they were full of the same air of superiority that these show. Along with the bitterness, pretentiousness, and general sh!ttyness that I mentioned before.
I choose to, for the most part, talk as I speak. I grew up in intercity Detroit during the 70's and 80's. If I mildly concentrate, I can lose both my "cityboy" accent and cease swearing, which I used to do for my mother, and will still do if I happen to meet certain dignitaries. If you believe you have a monopoly on morality because you don't swear, I got news for you: don't fcukin' count on it. Life's too short. In fact I think Hefner might have something to say on that, as per your request.
He also had this one:
Not as dazzling as Einstein's insights, but even a "morally bankrupt pornographer" can have a cognizant point. Stop painting the barn with a wide brush, get out your fine ones and paint an intricate mural instead.
Oh and to your elitism let me just say: Fcuk off.
It's almost as bad as your lack of common sense and lack of decency.
As for the rest of that last paragraph . . . your racism is showing, you phony conservative. Just because Beck and the rest of the Fox/hate talk radio folks have decided to pain Obama as a socialist, doesn't mean it's true. Was he my choice? No, but he's neither a socialist, an Marxist, a Fascist or any other "ist" that the faux conservative hate talkers have painted him.
I knew you weren't a conservative, but until this post, I really didn't have you pegged as a racist.
“I wish that I had been there when Thomas Edison made the remark that I think applies here: ‘There ain’t no rules around here — we’re trying to accomplish something.’ And therefore, when the deal goes down, all this talk about rules, we make ‘em up as we go along, and I’m here now 18 years, and a significant amount of that time here on this committee under the leadership of the Republicans…”
Thomas Edison was talking about using his own talent and ingenuity to create something out of nothing whereas Hasting is talking about House Rules.
One can appreciate Representative Hastings’ “nose-to-the-grindstone” work ethic, when you remember that he was indicted for accepting a $150K bribe in 1981 (back when $150K was a lot of money) as a federal judge. Being the 6th federal judge in history to be removed from the bench by the Senate gives him a keen understanding of the flexibility of rules for the purpose of governing. In 2008, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal, he spent $24,000 in taxpayer funds to lease a luxury Lexus hybrid car for himself. Another interesting little fact about “the honorable” Representative Hastings: one of his staffers is his long-time girlfriend (also a disbarred lawyer), whom he pays a salary of $160K annually — with taxpayer money, of course. House rules prohibit hiring spouses or relatives for staff positions, but there is no provision barring unmarried significant others. Think he’ll ever make an honest woman out of her?”
http://www.postonpolitics.com/2010/03/rep-alcee-hastings-invokes-thomas-edison-no-rules-around-here-were-trying-to-accomplish-something/
Some MMFA regular will probably delete this post since it is true so therefore not allowed on this site. But I saved it and will post it many places on MMFA if necessary.
If I remember correctly, that is why your other posts were deleted. If you take notice, conversations with conservative posters go on here all the time without deletion of posts. When you start spamming this sh!t all over multiple threads, most of which are off topic, then yes, they will probably be flagged as spam and deleted by a moderator.
I don't vote for Hasting . . . his constituents do. If they have a problem with him, it's up to them not to vote for him.
You have no credibility on this site, so why bother?
He's already had several quotes provided to him that crucify him as a desperate liar!
Draconian actions will need to be taken if we wish to Save America. Corporate News will destroy our Nation. News for $$Profit$$ is not News. But you can't tell that to the average American. Also these right wing radio shows national syndication must be broken up. MediaConsolidation has led to National Stagnation. Corporate News is a clear and present danger to the National Security of America.