Today CNN's Politics Web site carries the story "Republicans name fiscal conservatives to debt committee," written by Deirdre Walsh and Tom Cohen. The piece begins:
"Republican leaders on Wednesday named fiscal conservatives for their six picks for a new congressional "super" committee charged with crafting a plan to cut the country's deficit."
OK, the GOP's selections would be seen by most as fiscally conservative. Senator Jon Kyle (R-AZ), for example, has received an A in the most recent rankings of the National Taxpayers Union and a 97 percent rating for 2009 from Citizens Against Government Waste, as reported by Project Vote Smart.
Yesterday, Walsh wrote an article titled "Reid taps Sen. Murray to co-chair debt committee" on CNN's Politics Web site It started:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Tuesday that he would appoint Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana and Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts to the congressional "super committee," charged with crafting a plan to cut the country's deficit.
No mention was made of the fact that all the Democrats selected by Reid are fiscal liberals. All received an F in the most recent rankings of the National Taxpayers Union. From Citizens Against Government Waste, Baucus was rated at 5 percent, with Murray and Kerry each assigned 3 percent.
The self-described mainstream media are usually quite quick to identify politicians they deem conservative. But does their lexicon not include the word liberal?
