'Nation's Newspaper' USA Today Devotes Just Nine Paragraphs to Tea Parties

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USA Today, which touts itself as the "The Nation's Newspaper," devoted just nine paragraphs on page 3A of the April 16 paper to the roughly 800 Tea Parties held nationwide yesterday.

By contrast, on Tax Day morning, readers of April 15 USA Today, some of whom probably reading USA Today over breakfast, were greeted with a front page story that was six times longer and insisted that "Most Americans OK with Big Government, at least for now."

WASHINGTON — Most Americans say they're glad Big Government is back to help through hard times. But they aren't sure they want it to stay.

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The Obama administration, trying to reverse the economy's meltdown and prevent it from happening again, is redefining the role of the federal government in the economy — spending trillions of dollars, building new regulatory systems for financial institutions and effectively taking over a major part of the automobile industry.

USA Today staffer Susan Page noted the evolution of public sentiment about big government over time, quoting Reagan from his 1981 inaugural address and even conceding that a majority of Americans are concerned about the size and scope of the federal government (emphasis mine):

"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem," he said in his 1981 inaugural address, delivered during a time of economic upheaval.

That year, Americans by more than 2-to-1 said "Big Government," not "big business," was the larger threat. Anti-government sentiment helped sweep Republicans into control of Congress in 1995. In his State of the Union address in 1996, Democrat President Clinton declared, "The era of Big Government is over."

By the time George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, Big Government was seen as a larger threat than big business by nearly 3-to-1.

Now the tide has turned, at least a bit. Reports of corporate excess and malfeasance have fueled suspicion of corporate America, and eagerness to have government turn around the economy has reduced the number who view it as a threat.

Even so, by 55% to 32% Americans still say they worry more about Big Government, a concern that Republicans have tapped in opposing Obama's programs as too costly and wrongheaded, even dangerous. Rep. Spencer Bachus told a hometown audience in Alabama on Thursday that 17 members of Congress were "socialists" who were pushing Obama to the left.

Page went on to note that many Americans don't favor big government all the time. Many Americans are simply trusting that growing the government can be a short-term fix to jumpstart the economy.

That's where another Reagan quote may have come in handy:

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No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. So, governments' programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters


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Ken, I always have to laugh...

...when 1,007 people are said to accurately represent the views of 300,000,000 people.

I understand the theory behind it, but even the best polling research only goes so far.  And in this case, it doesn't go far at all.

--Mike 

www.thebrattonreport.com

Why do they put the 30% of

Why do they put the 30% of the "Don't Know's"  in the pro-big government column?

"DumbAssity of Dope"

Simple.

The don't-know-don't-care folks are the easiest prey for an encroaching government.

--Mike 

www.thebrattonreport.com

Like they say...You can put lipstick on a pig...

It's Susan Page...you can't expect any less than her spin on this...she is a leftist...through and through...trying to cram down the throats of all Americans that we must be so happy with cradle to grave socialism...to put it politely... ...after-all her and her ilk, including her partner in life have an allegiance to Prez O/Soros...plus the want their bonuses from their leftist bosses along with a pat on the head and other awards they receive from their bosom leftist buddies in the industry to-boot.

Good little leftist foot-soldiers all...my friends. 

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart

  USSA Today, as well as

 
USSA Today, as well as NYT-Jazeera won't have a choice come July 4th. More protest's are planned for that day including a massive one in D.C. Much to their chagrin, this thing ain't goin' away no time soon.

 The silent majority ain't so silent anymore.

 

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "

- Ben Kenobi on  Liberals, and the MSM.

" The Cake is a lie."   

Some one help me out

Some one help me out here. It seems to me that Old Media has been mischaracterizing these protests in various ways - anti- high taxes, big spending, etc. These all may be true, but as I understand it - and I may be wrong - the overarching sentiment is exasperation with the politicians and the government who only seem to care about and respond to the loud voices on the left, who agitate for bigger government, more spending, open borders, etc. As I was unable to participate in the local protest, I'm not sure. Am I right?

The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.

Gomer Pyle sez ...

Surprise, surprise!  Tea party protests didn’t get the press coverage its participants and promoters hoped for, but today’s Drudge banner headline?  FOXNEWS RATINGS SURGE ON PROTEST COVERAGE

Now, who woulda’ thunk it?  Who said that this was a Fox “News” “War On Christmas” ratings booster event?  The Flying Dutchman, that’s who!

 

  Of course their rating's

 
Of course their rating's surged. They were the only network who would give it accurate coverage. But if I were you, I would be concerned about this big surge in rating's.

Where exactly does this surge come from, since Fox has a fairly loyal and steady audience. Couldn't be because more than a few Democrat voter's out there may be a little pissed off right now too, huh ? Hmmmmm........

 

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "

- Ben Kenobi on  Liberals, and the MSM.

" The Cake is a lie."   

Carny scam

Blazer, 

My beef with Faux “News” is that they helped create and fund a “news” event, promoted it very heavily for weeks, sent their top anchors out to lead the “news” event (with a supporting cast of clowns) and now sit back and watch the ratings pile up. Now I have no problem with the business model, I say make lots of money any legitimate way you can; but don’t call it news. What they did was a hi-tech version of one of the oldest tricks in the book.  I, like you, enjoyed this carnival but I suspect from very different perspectives.

P. T. Barnum put it best; "There's a sucker born every minute."  Nowadays, they call that phenomenon the Fox "News" audience.  Which is why, by the way, the audience goes up when the circus comes to town.

Dude

'The thing about a box of chocolates is you never know what you are getting next' 

JDW

DAILY WAVE

The government works for me, not the other way around

  Dutchman, I gaurantee

Dutchman, I gaurantee you would have no problem with any of the lefty outfit's doing it, if it were a cause you supported.

Sorry but this ain't going away my friend. You guy's can bleat all you want that this is not grass root's and that it's all funded by the GOP and right-wing billionaires, doesn't matter, the people are showing up, that's what count's. Meanwhile Congress and the lefties in the MSM are quaking in their shoe's hoping it will go away. It won't.

What you saw yesterday was just the beginning.

These were son's and daughter's, mother's and father's , grandpa's and gramma's not right wing extremist's and neo-nazi's. These were the regular folk's. Ma', Pa', baseball and apple pie were speaking.

These weren't the proffesional leftist antagonizer's being bussed in on command by the DNC, like the Acorn, MoveOn, and the Code Pink sort's

Get over yourself allready. Yesterday a match was lit. Come 2010 the bum's are getting thrown out, all of em', even the ones with (R)'s in front of their names.

The adult's have spoken, time for the kid's to listen or some hides are gonna get tanned.

 

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "

- Ben Kenobi on  Liberals, and the MSM.

" The Cake is a lie."   

All power to you, and the old-style thinking you profer

Blazer,

I agree with you on several points.  If Ben and Jerry’s was selling ice-cream at an ‘illegal invasion of Iraq’ rally, and it was hot, I probably would have bought one.  The problem was, all of that took place in the winter and the rallies were street corner candlelight vigils with no TV cameras, gun-toting musicians, right-wing talk show hosts, or Mega Republican PR firms in sight.  It was, as they say, grass roots; Sponsored mostly by the Quakers.

As for “sons and daughters, mothers and fathers,” I concede the point again.  One reporter who attended the Louisville tea party (I used to live there) noted that many of the people he saw and met were the sons and daughters of the people he grew up with who actively and noisily opposed desegregation.  From that standpoint, it may well be a grassroots movement. 

I suspect you and I have more in common than you think, except we are polar opposites.

As for “sons and

As for “sons and daughters, mothers and fathers,” I concede the point
again.  One reporter who attended the Louisville tea party (I used to
live there) noted that many of the people he saw and met were the sons
and daughters of the people he grew up with who actively and noisily
opposed desegregation.

 

Of course they were against de-segregation and I'm sure you have all of the proof in the world to back that inflammatory statement up and your not just firing off your MoveOn.gov talking point's.

As a matter of fact, at the rally I attended in Richmond, you know the heart of the old Confederacy, we put up a whites only sign to keep the colored's out. Didn't seem to work though because there were quite a few African, Asian and Hispanic American's in attendance also, and they were treated with utmost respect, as equal's. Of course our cherry picking media, won't report on that, because if you can make this appear as vanilla as possible, than all of these folk's have to be racist's and neo-nazi's.

You don't have to just be a conservative to be sick at what is taking place right now. I ran into several admitted Obama supporter's yesterday who now have buyer's remorse.

Your simply furthering the leftist and MSM meme that anyone who opposes communist Change is a racist. Joseph Stalin would be very proud of you.

With that said, why don't you get your head out yer' a$$ and actually attend an event, so you actually know what your talking about, instead of letting CNN or MSNBC do your thinking for you.

 

 

"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "

- Ben Kenobi on  Liberals, and the MSM.

" The Cake is a lie."   

America's Newspaper?

'America's Newspaper'? I thought it was a free paper for passengers in the little buses that take you from airport parking to the airport. You mean some folks actually pay money for it?

Newsmedia

Obama is considering a radical plan to keep 'public media' alive. Still researching this.

JDW

DAILY WAVE

The government works for me, not the other way around

I am beginning to worry

I am beginning to worry about our forrests being over-crowded with trees, which are not being cut down for newspapers.

USA Today has reporters all across the nation and only devoted 9 paragraphs to the many Tea Parties while running a front page story celebrating big government... BIAS. BIAS. BIAS.

It's USA Today's loss (of revenue) Fox's coverage generated millions of viewers.

yup

The far left Obama State Media went out of its way to dismiss the national protests. I think they were frightened. 

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