From my latest article at FreeMarketProject.org:
Continuing her “Eye on the Road” series, CBS’s Sharyn Alfonsi showcased a Washington, D.C.-area teacher who she says can’t afford her commute due to rising gas prices.
But Alfonsi didn’t do her homework. Her featured teacher is a retired Navy lawyer who said in 2003 that she could only afford working as a Catholic school teacher because of her military pension. What Alfonsi didn’t say was that teacher Bonnie McGann made a conscious choice to earn less so she could give back to her church.
“This was the area where I could afford a home,” McGann informed Alfonsi’s viewers on the May 4 “Evening News.” The CBS correspondent added that McGann’s problem was the cost of the commute. “It’s a burden for me now. It’s something that I am unable to absorb,” McGann added.
The picture Alfonsi painted was incomplete. McGann is a retired Navy Judge Advocate who says she went into teaching in Catholic schools for the emotional and spiritual reward of the experience....
It gets better.
While Alfonsi claimed in her report that McGann can’t afford $1,000 more per year in gas costs, in 2003 the then-school principal donated $1,600 to 2004 perennial third-party presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche in two-month time span in 2003, according to CampaignMoney.com.
The Free Market Project this week took a look at how the media hype rising gas prices while downplaying strong economic indicators. MRC's Rich Noyes also has a Media Reality Check on the matter.
