Vargas omitted unanimous Dem "no" vote on increasing national debt limit

Summary: ABC's Elizabeth Vargas reported that "Congress voted to raise the national debt limit to nearly $9 trillion," but omitted the fact that all Senate Democrats voted against the increase, along with three Republicans.

On the March 16 broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight, co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas reported that "Congress voted to raise the national debt limit to nearly $9 trillion," but omitted the fact that all Senate Democrats voted against the increase, along with three Republicans. The Senate's March 16 vote was 52-48.

By contrast, on the March 16 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams reported both the vote and Senate Democrats' unanimous opposition:

WILLIAMS: And one more note on all this from Capitol Hill in Washington tonight where the Senate agreed to let the federal government borrow another $781 billion, and the House then promptly passed $91 billion in new spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for hurricane relief. The 52-to-48 vote in the Senate on that debt was along party lines, with three Republicans joining all the Democrats in opposing the bill that raised the ceiling on our national debt to nearly $9 trillion. That level, by the way, that level of debt, represents $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in the United States.

The bill raising the debt limit had previously passed the House on April 28, 2005, under an automatic House budget rule (page 48) triggered by the passage of the fiscal year 2006 congressional budget -- which sets the parameters for the coming year's budget. The 2006 budget also passed the House without any Democratic support.

From the March 16 broadcast of ABC's World News Tonight:

VARGAS: And on Capitol Hill, Congress voted to raise the national debt limit to nearly $9 trillion, or $30,000 for every man, woman, and child in America. President Bush is expected to approve the increase, which will allow the government to pay for the war in Iraq and other federal programs without raising taxes. The debt has increased by $3 trillion since President Bush took office.

—R.S.K.