AP Headline on House's Unanimous Rejection of Obama Budget: 'GOP-run House Easily Rejects'

March 29th, 2012 12:44 PM

Every Congressman who voted on President Obama's budget on Wednesday voted against it -- every Democrat and every Republican.

The headline writer for Andrew Taylor's related story at the Associated Press nonetheless felt it necessary to remind readers that Republicans have a majority in the House of Representatives, and only told readers that Dear Leader's budget was "easily" rejected. The report itself by Taylor was just as bad, if not worse (shown in full because of its brevity, and for fair use and discussion purposes).


APonHouseRejectsBudget032812at11pm

Points:

  • First paragraph, "overwhelmingly" -- Again, the vote was unanimous. Use of the word "overwhelmingly" communicates that there were some "yes" votes. There were none.
  • First paragraph, "$3.6 trillion" -- That's not the right number, Andrew, and for heaven's sake you should know that. It's $3.8 trillion, both this year and next year. That's an error requiring a correction. I'll be we never see one.
  • First paragraph, "embarrass Democrats" -- I don't understand why such a vote should embarrass them. They supposedly support Obama and his priorities. What's "embarrassing" about trying to get them to merely confirm it?
  • Second paragraph, "tax increases on the wealthy" -- For the umpteenth time, the taxes the administration wants to increase are predominantly against income, and though they may largely affect wealthy people, they would affect high-income earners with little or negative net worths just about as much.
  • Second paragraph, "lacks sufficient spending cuts" -- Look at the graphic, Andrew:

    WhiteHouse10YrBudget2013to2022

    Every year presented has increased spending.

    The correct description is that the Obama budget lacks any overall spending cuts.

  • Third paragraph, "Democrats .. largely voted 'no'" -- They unanimously voted "no." No one voted "present." Everyone who voted, voted "no." The word "largely" falsely and indefensibly communicates that someone voted yes. No one did.

The AP continues to earn its nickname as the Administration's Propagandists on an almost daily basis.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.