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.
This is not a surprise. Vargas, hired for being attractive and articulate, just reads off a teleprompter.
Here is one of the key components of a Democrat party platform for this November and it has been handed to them on a silver platter.
"The debt has increased by $3 trillion since President Bush took office."
He had a surplus when he got in. He put in huge tax cuts that were targeted mainly for the rich and the results were predictable. Huge defecits follow.
Vargas is an empty shell. She was hired because she looks good, not because of her perceptive mind. Like another poster mentioned, she just reads what appears on the teleprompter.
Of course they wouldn't report that little detail. If they did, it might make the pResident look bad. And hey, he sure doesn't need any help from the "librul media" for that! He's doin' a heckuva job all by himself.
She is no Peter Jennings.
She was hired because she is pretty.
She is as bright as Katie Couric and Ann Curry.
or has Vargas spouted conservative propagand for so long her mouth is slowly morphing into Dick Cheney's?
Were is Gingrich now?? Remember "Tax & Spend Liberals" over and over, again and again.
It took Democrats 40 years to raise the Debt to what Reagan complained would go 64 miles into the atmosphere if stacked in one dollar bills. (1st State of the Union Address)
Reagan left the stack 250 miles into the outer reaches. It was a Democrat whom left a Republican President & Congress a surpluss.
Now I wonder how far that stack of ones will go now??
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
...expected to approve the increase, which will allow the government to pay for the war in Iraq and other federal programs without raising taxes. That's a funny definition of "pay for"