New York Times reporter Jennifer Steinhauer showed typical Times labeling slant in her Saturday update on Congress’s so-far-failed attempts to keep the government open after the end of the month.
After House approval of its stopgap bill after midnight on Friday, the Senate voted 59 to 36 to set aside the House bill, with a handful of conservative Republicans joining with Democrats to deliver a quick and decisive rejection. Democrats opposed the measure because the disaster relief effort was offset by spending cuts to other programs dear to them. Conservatives appeared to feel their House colleagues had failed to cut short-term spending deeply enough.
The House bill, which had passed on the second attempt after cuts were added to appeal to conservatives, provided $3.65 billion in disaster relief. The money was offset by cuts to an Energy Department loan program for energy-efficient cars and another department program that was used to guarantee a loan for Solyndra, the solar equipment manufacturer that filed recently for bankruptcy protection.
Are there no liberals in Congress?
Such labeling slant is a habit; a Steinhauer story from April accused Republican Rep. Allan West of “incendiary remarks” and “hard-right” stands. Meanwhile, far-left Rep. Dennis Kucinich is simply a "Democrat of Ohio."
