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May 11, 2006 One needs to look no further than current events to realize we still live in a world dominated by a left wing media which continues to hold a significant impact over public perception and, therefore, public opinion. There is a belief that with the onset of the "alternative media" and internet bloggers the age of the one-sided partisan presentation of the news is over. There is no doubt the "blogosphere" has had an impact by helping to identify the holes and bias evident in the stories presented by the mainstream media. In 2004, CBS News' (Dan Rather and Mary Mapes) use of fraudulent documents, in an effort to nail President Bush with a scandal and influence a presidential election, was largely revealed through the blogosphere. The documents in question were immediately identified as phony by bloggers based upon obvious problems which should have been evident to the CBS experts. Of course, Dan Rather, Mary Mapes and CBS were warned by multiple experts that the documents included red flags as to their legitimacy from top to bottom. Nailing the president, however, was more important than getting the facts straight. Yes, the alternative media can have an impact, but it is still not powerful enough to fully counter a media presence that is overwhelmingly liberal and fairly openly rooting for one party over the other. The most recent example of this media bias is a story which surfaced yesterday: the U.S. Treasury in April collected the second highest monthly tax revenue in history ($315.1B). While this story was picked up on the wire services, it did not warrant a mention on any of the major network news shows and was pretty much relegated to back burner status in most newspapers. Most U.S. citizens probably do not even know it to be true based on how it was treated. Yet, this is a huge development. Democrats and liberals through history have erroneously claimed that tax cuts lead to budget deficits. This charge was repeated when Bush proposed his across the board tax cuts. The conservative response has always been that tax cuts stimulate economic activity which, ultimately, results in an increase in federal tax revenue. The latest Treasury report is solid proof that the Bush tax cuts did indeed work, and that these cuts in no way have led to the budget deficit. The U.S. Treasury is collecting more money now than it did prior to Bush's tax cuts! In fact, it's collecting revenue at near record rates. And this holds true even if the revenue is discounted for inflation. The conclusion is that tax cuts do not cause deficits. Out of control spending causes deficits. Control spending and deficits will be reduced proportionately. A fair-minded media would have jumped on this story immediately, pointed out the facts and drawn a similar conclusion. This story is even more important given that portions of the Bush tax cuts are set to expire, potentially having a negative impact on our economy. We, however, do not enjoy the benefits of an impartial media. Instead, we have agenda-driven stories, reported only to the extent they fit with the pre-conceived template. In this instance, the template is that tax cuts are bad and that's it. Even in the broader context the economy in the U.S. is going like gangbusters and there is solid evidence that this is due significantly to Bush's tax policy. In May, 2003 President Bush signed into law the 15% tax rate on dividends and capital gains, which is currently up for renewal in the legislature. Since that time, all of the stock market indexes are up significantly. The Dow is up 32%, S&P is up 39% and the Nasdaq is up just about 50%. In fact, the stock market is near its all-time high reached during the bubble of the late 1990's--prior to 9/11, Katrina, corporate scandals such as Enron and the conflict in Iraq. Yet, this story receives muted treatment at best from the bulk of the mainstream press. In the same period of time, unemployment in this country has dropped from 6.3% to 4.7% (even in the aftermath of Katrina). The current unemployment rate is lower than the average for the previous decades, going back to the 1960's. Again, this fact is hardly reported if at all. In the past twelve quarters, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has increased an average of 3.9% and the economy since May, 2003 has added 5.2 million jobs. There is barely a whimper from the media about any of this. The template is that people are suffering and the economy is lousy. The good times it is reported have not impacted everyone and so the press concentrates only on those it perceives as not doing well. Yet, since when do economic good times include everyone? Suffering and hardship were not eliminated during the Clinton Administration, yet we read and saw very little of it in newspapers and on tv in those years. In the current reporting philosophy, those who are struggling are treated more as the rule than the exception. Even when good economic news is reported it is virtually always tempered with a "however" along with some prediction of bad times to come. "The economy is growing strongly; however, oil prices could end that at any moment." "Unemployment is low, but that's because people have stopped looking for work." The media goes out of its way to cast developments in as negative a light as possible. The press, during the Bush Administration, appears to feel it has the mission of warning us of potential oncoming economic disaster. But it felt no such compunction during the late 90's when the economy and stock market were both overheating causing a bubble which even someone with rudimentary knowledge of economics could see was going to burst at some point. There were no dire predictions or warnings from reporters back then. When Bush pointed out the problem during his campaign for president, he was scoffed at by Democrats and their media friends. Those who continue to doubt the existence of a leftward media bias do so because they see only what they want to see. Liberal media bias is quite evident for those who have their eyes and minds open. And there is no doubt that this bias still has a significant impact. The fact that public opinion polls show a lack of confidence in President Bush's handling of the economy, even in the face of overwhelming data which shows solid economic growth, low unemployment and significant increase in tax collections to the U.S. Treasury, is strong evidence of the media's power. As the old line goes, "Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth." This philosophy is, unfortunately for all of us, alive and well within the realm of the modern American media. ------------ About the author: Ed Abraham is a concerned citizen living in flyover country, U.S.A., who happens to be truly disgusted by the loss of common sense in our society and is doing all he can to try to reinstall it. Email: eabra@myway.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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