I don’t expect a whole lot from my local newspaper, I’ve pretty much gotten used to their bias when it comes to political reporting. But the story that appeared on the front page Sunday, below the fold, was especially egregious. It is not an opinion piece, it’s an article that unsuspecting readers would believe isn’t tainted by bias. The reporter, Mark Weiner, obviously has it in for Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle. While the headline is somewhat innocuous, the first few paragraphs pretty much set the agenda. [Emphasis mine.]
When four days and nights of debate finally ended in the early morning hours Saturday and it was time to vote, U.S. Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle had no trouble making up her mind.
Buerkle had to choose between protecting Central New York from some of the deepest federal spending cuts in years, or supporting a Republican plan to slash $61 billion from the federal government’s budget through Sept. 30.
In an early test of her campaign promises to shrink government while also creating jobs in Central New York, Buerkle said the clear answer was to support the massive budget cuts – even if it means some short-term local suffering.
Oh, the suffering! What about the suffering our children and grandchildren will be subjected to thanks to Washington’s reckless spending for the past few years? There was no mention of how President Obama increased spending to unprecendented levels during his short tenure in the White House. Gee whiz, how on earth did we ever survive before he came along?
The article goes on to cite Democrats as if their word is gospel. Several paragraphs were devoted to the end of the “Just Say Yes” education program in Syracuse. Unless you continued reading, you wouldn’t know that the program has not been cut.
Matt Canter, Gillibrand’s spokesman, said the Say Yes grant was not specifically eliminated in a line item in the Republican spending plan. But he added, “The slash and burn proposal they put forward puts all programmatic funding into jeopardy.”
Okay then, why were seven paragraphs devoted to Buerkle wanting to end funding for “Just Say Yes” when it’s a total non-issue? Oh yeah, I forgot, they want people to believe that the children won’t be educated with Ann Marie Buerkle holding office.
The article also talked about the votes of Reps. Bill Owens and Richard Hanna. Owens is a Democrat who’s against any spending cuts. Hanna, another freshman, is a Republican who voted for the spending cuts, but cynically tried to cover his butt by saying he didn’t think they’d pass the Senate. That’s some way to stand up for principles, but hey, I’m sure he scored a point or two with the local rag.
Here’s the funniest, or at least the most ironic part of the hit piece on Ms. Buerkle, who said spending must be cut to get the economy on a more sound footing.
House Democratic leaders disagreed, and cited an independent study that found the spending cuts approved Saturday would likely result in the loss of 800,000 jobs across the nation.
Isn’t that interesting? It’s the exact same number of jobs the CBO director testified would be eliminated once ObamaCare is implemented. I could be wrong, but I certainly don’t recall Mark Weiner or the Post Standard covering that story.
In contrast, the Auburn Pub published Rep. Buerkle’s statement on her vote, without a whole lot of commentary accusing her of causing her constituents to suffer.
“I am proud of the work this Congress has done in passing the Continuing Resolution. Congress came together in an open and transparent effort to cut spending, save American taxpayers money in order to grow the economy and to set the climate for job growth. We are shrinking Washington to grow Central New York. No doubt about it, we are saving money for the American taxpayer.
The Continuing Resolution begins to shrink the federal government so that American families and business will not need to shrink their budgets any further to pay for excessive government spending. It is no coincidence that federal spending, federal debt, federal regulatory costs and unemployment reached record highs at the same time. By passing a leaner Continuing Resolution, we took the first step in cutting spending to create jobs.”
Note to Mark Weiner and the Post Standard: We’re broke! What part of that don’t you understand? Are you hoping we turn into Greece so you have a big story to cover? I’m beginning to wonder.
Update: The Other McCain linked – thanks!
Update 2: Da TechGuy linked – thanks!
“With just one impressive speech, Chris Christie put three full days of CPAC speakers to shame.
“That’s the bottom line from a bipartisan panel of experts, who watched the New Jersey governor’s address on Wednesday at the American Enterprise Institute for POLITICO – and drew a sharp contrast between Christie and the cattle call of potential GOP hopefuls at the just-concluded conservative gathering…
“‘He hit precisely the right notes people are looking for,’ Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons said of the Republican, citing the governor’s focus on getting the states and nation’s fiscal house in order…
“‘He looked presidential in the kind of Hollywood sense,’ Simmons said. ‘The Bulworth, straight-talking politician. John Goodman on The West Wing. Republican guy from the heartland. He looked that part but it’s a long way to go from there to the White House.’”
***
“The way to understand Christie, says Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for New Jersey politics at Rider University, ‘is he has the leadership skills of a powerful prosecutor who happens to be governor. He argues his case in the press, and he stays on the attack constantly.’ As a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Christie never lost a corruption case, and there were plenty in a state best known for The Sopranos. His favorite phrase: ‘Heads I win, tails you lose.’ Yet he’s declined to join other Republican governors and attorneys general in challenging Obama’s health care reform. He says he doesn’t have the money to fool around with that stuff right now, and if the law is found unconstitutional, New Jersey will benefit without having to kick in legal fees.
“His refusal to join in suggests a degree of pragmatism that is attractive to non-true believers. This is a guy who has focused his message of change, and is clear about what he stands for. This is distinct from Obama’s message of change, which meant different things to different people in 2008 and left almost everybody disappointed…
“Christie’s tough-guy approach is working, making him a national figure after just 13 months in office. ‘He commands the bully pulpit more effectively than any other governor we have seen in modern history,’ says Dworkin, who predicts Christie will deliver the keynote address at the GOP convention in 2012.”
***
DYLAN RATIGAN, HOST: Go ahead, Jonathan. Set all of that aside, just your evaluation of [New Jersey Governor Chris] Christie, period, as a politician and his rhetoric.
JONATHAN CAPEHART, WASHINGTON POST: I think Chris Christie is terrific. Here’s a guy whose tough talk is matched up by tough action. All those things he’s talking about, he talked about at AEI today, those are all things he’s done with the exception of dealing with entitlements and things like that which he doesn’t really have to deal with because he’s a governor. But because he’s a governor in a state with deep financial problems and is forced every day, day in and day out, to make decisions, you know, he’s, he’s making them and he’s not sugar-coating them. He’s not trying to be anybody’s friend. He, you know, President Obama talks about adult conversations. Speaker Boehner talks about adult conversations surrounding the big, tough issues that face the country. Chris Christie is the one who’s actually having the adult conversation and making the tough decisions. And when people get in his face and try to yell back at him, he yells back. He actually yells back, which is why I think is driving his popularity.
***
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
***
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