Bad Deeds for 3-13-2009

Hannity Spreads Falsehood About Obama Earmarks Promise – Throughout his Fox News show on 3/11/2009, Sean Hannity repeated the falsehood that Barack Obama had promised to eliminate earmarks. In fact, as I previously posted when FOX News’ Ainsley Earhardt put forth that falsehood on Hannity the night before, Obama did not make that promise. He promised to reform the earmark process and cut wasteful spending. Even Politifact, which Earhardt and FOX News relied on so heavily to “prove” that Obama has broken campaign promises, noted, “Obama did not promise to end earmarking, only to ‘reform’ it, and eliminate ‘screwy’ or wasteful earmarks.”

 

Rep. Bachmann Claims To Have Taken No-Pork Pledge, But Actually Requested $3 Million In Earmarks In 2008 – On Fox Business yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) joined the long parade of members of Congress who rail against earmarks while requesting their own. But Bachmann took her hypocrisy a step further, claiming that she has signed an anti-pork pledge:

CLAMAN: How about a no-pork bill? Will that ever be a reality?
BACHMANN: I think it is possible. I took a pledge in my own district. I have not taken earmarks in the last three years that I have been in Congress because the system is so corrupt. It’s possible to make that pledge.

In fact, according to Legistorm, Bachmann has requested 7 earmarks in Fiscal Year 2008 costing tax payers a total of $3,767,600. Some examples:

– $94,000 for Sheriffs Youth Program of MN
– $335,000 for Equipment Acquisition for Northland Medical Center
– $803,000 for Replacement Small Buses, St. Cloud Metro Bus

Bachmann’s name is also curiously absent from the list of lawmakers making the same pledge for 2009.

 

Fox News Distorts Facts Of Employee Free Choice Act – No matter how many times it’s been debunked, the Fox [News] hosts keep repeating the falsehood that workers will no longer have access to a secret ballot under the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The legislation does not eliminate the secret ballot. The bill would simply allow workers to choose whether to have a majority sign-up or a normal election process. And as American Rights At Work points out, a secret ballot is no guarantee to a fair election. Under current rules, union organizers do not have equal access to voters, the right to free speech, funding and resources equal to employers, or the ability to bring about elections in a timely manner. See this.

More than concern for the secret ballot, the Fox hosts make it clear they are simply against unions. When they insist that union bosses — not employers — are intimidating workers, or when they declare that unions that drive up wages and benefits are harmful for Big Business, it’s clear whose side they’re on — and it’s not the American worker’s.

 

O’Reilly’s Latest “No Spin Poll” is All Spin – The latest “No Spin Poll” on the Bill O’Reilly page of FOXNews.com asks whether President Barack Obama will transform the country into a socialist nation. The three choices are, “The folks won’t let him,” “There’s no stopping him,” and “He already has.” All the given choices say, essentially, the same erroneous thing: that Obama is a socialist trying to foist his will on the country. So much for “No Spin” and “Fair and Balanced.”

 

Bank Giants Steered Blacks to Bad Loans According to NAACP – Black homebuyers have been 3 1/2 times more likely to receive a subprime loan than white borrowers, and six times more likely to get a subprime rate when refinancing, Tighe said. Blacks still were disproportionately steered into subprime loans when their credit scores, income and down payment were equal to those of white homebuyers, said Austin Tighe, co-lead counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The NAACP is accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of forcing blacks into subprime mortgages while whites with identical qualifications got lower rates.

 

Limbaugh Calls NBC’s Andrea Mitchell a “Butt Boy” – On MSNBC Wednesday, Andrea Mitchell agreed with Barney Frank that the press contributed to President Obama’s staffing difficulties with “gotcha” journalism. Today, in response, Rush Limbaugh has labeled her a “butt boy” on his radio show. (This is what Conservatives do when they cannot counter the facts.)

 

Conservative Radio Host Laura Ingraham Mocks Meghan McCain as Being ‘Plus-Sized’ – On Wednesday night, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) daughter, Meghan McCain, appeared on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show, where she continued to criticize Ann Coulter. On her radio show Thursday, Laura Ingraham responded to McCain’s critique of far right conservatives, saying that she is “just another Valley Girl gone awry.” In a mocking faux-Valley Girl voice, Ingraham made fun of McCain’s body, joking that she didn’t get a “role in the Real World” because “they don’t like plus-sized models.” (This is what Conservatives do when they cannot counter the facts.)

 

Bill O’Reilly’s Guests Agree: It’s Liberals’ Fault That Gingrich and Limbaugh are Feuding – On Tuesday’s O’Reilly Factor, Mike Gallagher and Lars Larson were on to talk about why right-wingers like Newt Gingrich just can’t help talking about Rush Limbaugh and drawing his ire and thus feeding into the evil liberals’ devious plan to draw attention away from the serious issue of the economy. It was a hoot.

The wankafoolery started really rolling when Gallagher came up with this gem:

Well, I think Newt doesn’t like being part of a phony debate that’s been set up by the left as to whether or not Rush Limbaugh is the face of the Republican Party. … It’s just something that’s been ginned up by the Left to try to fracture the Republican Party even further, and that’s just not what Newt is about.

Regards,

Jim