Is This A Joke Headline? 'Obama to Order $100 Million in Budget Cuts'

What happens when the White House publicity points collide with hard fiscal facts? Which side will win, the spin or the facts? See this Washington Post headline: "Obama to Order $100 Million in Budget Cuts." Is this a joke headline? Isn't this "order" totally swamped by all of the spending Obama and the Democrats in Congress have approved? The deficit for March just set a monthly record of $192.3 billion, with a B. How is $100 million more than a rounding error, or a day of interest on the Obama stimulus? Post White House correspondent Michael Fletcher acknowledged the hard facts in paragraph 4:

Earlier this month, both chambers of Congress passed Obama's $3.5 trillion budget outline for 2010, which includes unprecedented new investments in health care, education and energy. But the huge budget, which contemplates a $1.2 trillion deficit, has drawn the ire of small-government conservatives, who say that such high deficits jeopardize the nation's economic future.

Fletcher left out the record deficit for March, even though it's the result of what the Post stylebook insists are "unprecedented new investments." His larger piece barely fleshes out the reality (or unreality) of Obama's orders barked at Cabinet officials. It simply goes on to a roundup of Sunday TV chat shows and other Monday flotsam.

But Fletcher is not alone. Many outlets passed along this White House spin without any bow to the hard facts in the headline. At least AP's account did some deficit math:

The federal deficit for March alone was $192.3 billion, and $100 million would represent about one-twentieth of 1 percent of that.