July 09, 2009 8:49 pm ET
Equal weight? Wash. Post provides Heritage cap-and-trade cost estimate with EPA's, CBO's
The Washington Post answered a question about the cost of the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill by providing estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, as well as a much higher estimate from the Heritage Foundation. The Post did not explain why it gave equal weight to the Heritage estimate.
July 09, 2009 7:02 pm ET
Grief-giver Scarborough says his "friend" Pelosi "caught a lot of grief" for accusing CIA of lying
Joe Scarborough said that Nancy Pelosi "caught a lot of grief" over saying the CIA misled her about its use of enhanced interrogation techniques. However, in May, Scarborough had himself accused Pelosi of lying about the issue, calling her allegations a "joke."
July 09, 2009 5:18 pm ET
Fox's Varney, Napolitano blame affordable housing programs for mortgage crisis
Stuart Varney and Andrew Napolitano advanced the discredited claim that efforts to expand affordable housing were responsible for the housing market crash.
July 09, 2009 3:27 pm ET
Wash. Post reports criticism of Sotomayor for citing "policy considerations" in lawsuit -- but that's what appellate courts do
The Washington Post reported that Sonia Sotomayor "pointed to 'powerful policy considerations' in allowing a lawsuit against Visa and MasterCard." But numerous legal experts have noted that appellate judges have policymaking roles. Indeed, the Supreme Court has cited "policy" considerations in interpreting the provision at issue in the appeal.
July 09, 2009 2:35 pm ET
Echoing Boehner, WSJ editorial falsely claimed public plan would cost $1 trillion
A Wall Street Journal editorial echoed House Minority Leader John Boehner's (R-OH) false claim that the public insurance option would cost a trillion dollars. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office found that the public option as outlined by the Senate health committee's bill "did not have a substantial effect on the cost ... projections" for health care reform.
July 09, 2009 9:12 am ET
Hannity makes a habit of distorting quotes to smear progressives
Sean Hannity has repeatedly smeared progressives and Democrats by cropping their comments in ways that misrepresented them. Most recently, he cropped President Obama's answer to a question about the Cold War to falsely suggest he wasn't acknowledging the achievements of past presidents in freeing Eastern Europe.
July 09, 2009 8:16 am ET
Hannity superglued to health-care misinformation
Referring to a British man who "superglued his tooth together," Sean Hannity stated: "The Democrats have their way [on health-care reform], get your superglue ready." However, a U.S. woman reportedly has also glued in her teeth because of the costs of dental care.
July 09, 2009 7:51 am ET
Hume advances falsehood that tax cuts are "Republican ideas"
Brit Hume asserted that Democrats "could turn [the stimulus] into business-friendly tax cuts or personal income tax rate cuts," but that "those are Republican ideas." In fact, the recovery act included tax incentives for businesses estimated to total $75.9 billion in 2009 and 2010.
July 08, 2009 3:05 pm ET
MSNBC fails to ID "former California state budget director" Campbell as former GOP congressman
MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan interviewed former Rep. Tom Campbell about the California budget crisis, but at no point disclosed that Campbell is a Republican.
July 08, 2009 12:47 pm ET
Wash. Times falsely claims Sotomayor "assert[ed] that there are 'inherent physiological' differences between the races"
The Washington Times claimed that Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor "assert[ed]" in three speeches "that there are 'inherent physiological' differences between the races." In fact, Sotomayor made no such claim.
July 08, 2009 10:30 am ET
Hannity again crops Obama's comments abroad in order to smear him
Sean Hannity deceptively cropped President Obama's answer to a question about the Cold War to suggest that Obama did not acknowledge the actions of past U.S. presidents in freeing Eastern Europe.
July 08, 2009 8:44 am ET
Fox's Napolitano falsely claimed "[t]here was no testimony whatsoever in court" in GM bankruptcy
Andrew Napolitano falsely claimed that in the GM bankruptcy proceedings, "[t]here was no testimony whatsoever in court." In fact, the judge overseeing the case stated that there was in-court testimony.
July 08, 2009 7:48 am ET
Moore falsely claimed Obama "won't ... cut taxes"; but he already has
On Fox News, Stephen Moore said of the Obama administration's plans for dealing with the economic situation: "The one thing this administration won't do is cut taxes." In fact, the recovery act included $288 billion in tax relief.
July 07, 2009 7:41 pm ET
After just four months, media figures ignore economists to declare stimulus a failure
Media figures have used a recent comment by Vice President Biden -- that the Obama administration "misread how bad the economy was" -- to suggest that the economic recovery package is a complete failure, rather than noting the assessment by economists then and now that the legislation does not go far enough and that further stimulus spending may be necessary.
July 07, 2009 6:21 pm ET
CNN.com joins Republican fear-mongering about Canadian-style health care
CNN.com reported that Republicans are using "accounts from Canada to warn against government involvement in the health care system" without noting that Democrats have ruled out moving toward a Canadian-style system.
July 07, 2009 5:50 pm ET
To New York-centric Hannity, a cool June in Central Park means Gore is wrong about global warming
Sean Hannity claimed, "This is the coolest June on record, the eighth coolest, and they're going back to the 1800s." But Hannity appeared to be referring to a National Weather Service statement about the weather in June in New York's Central Park -- not about the entire planet.
July 07, 2009 5:43 pm ET
REPORT: Cable news largely ignores new CBO health care score
CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC aired at least 15 segments to discussing the Congressional Budget Office's preliminary analysis of an incomplete version of the Senate health committee's draft health reform bill, but they have aired only one segment to the CBO's analysis of the updated bill.
July 07, 2009 2:18 pm ET
Scarborough, Bartiromo falsely inflate WH economic growth assumptions
Joe Scarborough and Maria Bartiromo falsely claimed that the Obama administration is predicting that the economy will grow at a rate of 4 percent in 2010 and, Scarborough added, "over the next decade." In fact, the administration predicted a 3.2 percent growth rate in 2010 and 2.6 percent from 2015 through 2019.
July 07, 2009 12:40 pm ET
Wash. Post column cites inapplicable CBO assessment to claim public plan option has "huge cost, minor benefit"
Geoff Colvin falsely suggested that a CBO estimate of the Senate HELP Committee's health care bill demonstrated that a public option would come at a "huge cost" for a "minor benefit" in the number insured.
July 07, 2009 9:01 am ET
CQ ignores Sessions' previous call for speedy Supreme Court confirmation process
CQ Today reported that Sen. Jeff Sessions said Republicans "might throw up procedural roadblocks to delay" Judge Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearing, but did not note that Sessions reportedly called for fast action on Justice Samuel Alito's confirmation process.
