One of the many stories that are off-limits to mainstream reporters who cover politics:
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman questioned the budget math of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) in an appearance on Current TV Wednesday, saying he had duped conservatives and members of the media into thinking he has a serious budget plan when he really doesn’t.
Krugman noted, as he often has in his columns and blog posts, that the tax cuts and spending changes in Ryan’s budget do not add up, saying that he is simply “faking it” on the numbers. Specifically when it comes to Medicaid, he said, Ryan’s budget would essentially take money from the poor and give it to the rich.
“If you look at this, you say, ‘How can he get away with this? The world’s greatest nation falls for this flimflam?” Krugman said.
Ryan gets away with it, he said, because few people take the time to do the math, and because the media and Republicans are so eager to have a so-called serious conservative to fit their narrative…
The story is not that Ryan made a speech on his budget plan at the Republican convention. The story is that his plan is a fraud, and that doing the math proves this. Reporters at major media outlets are not “duped.” They are enablers of Ryan’s fraud, and their “he said/she said” approach to journalism is another fraud. How about a column that addresses this reality, Paul?
Footnote: Top five fibs in Ryan’s convention speech.
An exhausted BostonBoomer, who’s been doing yeoman’s work partially filling in for Dakinikat who’s been without electricity due to Isaac hitting New Orleans, has put up a list of articles covering the Lying Liars Who Lie in Their Reporting to Cover for Policiticans Who Lie (NOT her title).
Even Mara Liasson of NPR/FOX, on NPR this morning, opened her report on Ryan’s speech by mentioning several huge whoppers (mostly of omission and misleading time lines), but does not touch the Big Lie underlying (pun intended) his entire economic plan and famous budget.
That Mara commented on the lies tells me they’re getting way too big to ignore. Except the main one, which would bring down Ryan and Romney as their numbers just do not add up. It’s like Supply Side from Bush I (which even he called Voodoo Economics) and Bush/Cheney: There’s the proposition tax cuts, magic happens, and then the budget is balanced and everyone has jobs. So, as of now, R&R are still getting away with saying either the numbers haven’t been run yet or naming a few, small cost items to cut, along with Obamacare.
However, most who are commenting on the media enabling pols’ lies, right now at least, are mostly on the leftish of center sites and publications. Will the broadcast news dare go there, really spell it out? Only if their corporate masters want them to do so.
(Best line I heard today: Obama supports Obamacare; Romney goes with RomneyDoesn’tCare.)
I thought I’d posted about Romney’s budget cut plans, but i can’t find the comment:
Hhhmmm…Romney in an interview with Scott Pelley this evening on CBS News said that his first cuts to the Federal budget will be “Obamacare, PBS, Amtrak, support for the arts.”
Maybe PBS and NPR won’t be covering conventions in 4 years if Romney and Ryan have their way.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57502927/romney-id-cut-pbs-obamacare-arts-subsidies/?tag=showDoorFlexGridRight;flexGridModule
QUOTE
“The right way to balance a budget really has two prongs,” Romney said during a wide-raning interview with Pelley last week. “One is to do those things that encourage the growth of the economy. So, you do things to get small businesses growing and adding– adding jobs. But you also go through and say which of those things that you should take out of the budget that are no longer essential. The easiest for me to knock out is Obamacare. It’s about $100 billion a year. We simply can’t afford it. But there are other subsidies that I think you’re going to find that we take out.”
Asked for specifics, Romney listed “the subsidy for PBS, the subsidy for Amtrak, the subsidy for the National Endowment for the Arts” and “the subsidy for the National Endowment for the Humanities.”
Pressed by Pelley to expand on his answer, Romney also noted changes to how the nation funds Medicaid.
“Let’s keep going,” he said. “$100 billion a year comes by taking Medicaid</b?, which is the health care program for the poor as well as food stamps, and housing vouchers, and sending those back to the states, and growing them at the rate of inflation, or inflation plus 1 percent in the case of Medicaid,” said Romney. “And I think states can do a better job managing those – those efforts – than can the federal government.”
END QUOTE
So, if parents don’t have the wherewithal to take their children to arts productions, let them watch junk TV. Like, who needs quality children’s programming?
BTW, I’m pretty sure for Romney PBS covers both TV and radio. Off with their funding!
What will hurt more? Cuts to public TV and radio? These will affect children and their parents, most of us. There will be cutbacks on news coverage, arts broadcasting.
But the transfer of SNAP (aka food stamps) and Medicaid funds to the states? Probably will be the death knell of these programs, as states will find ways to use those monies for general budgets and, gradually, defund the actual programs. Bad times might be closer than we ever thought.
And these are just the first things Romney could think of — or thought might turn on some voters, enough voters. Third World nationhood coming soon to a location near you.
Actual racists don’t think that they are racists. Every person who calls him or her self a Republican is either a racist or an enabler of racism. Why? Becuase without the racist vote the Republican Party would lose ‘every’ election. It’s a party which caters to and applauds racism and racists. If you know someone or even worse have a Republican as a family member our condolences.
Paul: Put the math out there, we can handle it!