The Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, had an interesting pair of headlines near the top of its raw feed yesterday.
The first headline used the typical "Republicans attack" approach any time President Obama does something objectionable, which has been quite often. The headline was "Issa Rails Against Obama's 'Imperial Presidency.'" Of course, reporter Steve Peoples didn't let readers see the exact statement Issa made, perhaps because it would have shown that he wasn't "railing" (uttering a "bitter complaint" or a "vehement denunciation") at all. The current headline at the story at AP's national site doesn't have quote marks around "imperial presidency." Clearly, Peoples doesn't think much of Issa's claim, which makes the raw feed's next headline about Obama all the more ironic:
Apparently, someone at AP didn't like the "Obama orders" headline, because it has been sanitized, and a variation on the word "order" doesn't show up until the fifth paragraph of Stacy A. Anderson's report (bolds are mine throughout this post):
OBAMA WANTS MORE FUEL-EFFICIENT TRUCKS ON US ROADS
Drawing a link between reduced fuel consumption and climate change, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that his administration will issue tougher fuel-efficiency standards for delivery trucks by March 2016.
Obama said helping these vehicles use less fuel would have the triple benefit of making the U.S. less dependent on imported oil, keeping more money in consumer pockets and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
"It's not just a win win. It's a win, win, win," Obama said at a Maryland distribution center for Safeway, where he was flanked by two delivery trucks. "You got three wins."
Heavy-duty trucks make up just 4 percent of the vehicles on the nation's roadways, he said, but are responsible for about 20 percent of the climate-changing gases that are spewed into the atmosphere by the transportation sector.
Obama said ordering the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop new standards for the 2018 vehicle model year, and beyond, is an example of the kind of steps he intends to take on his own to bolster the economy when he thinks Congress isn't doing its job.
The new fuel-efficiency rules would come on top of standards in place for the 2014-2018 model years.
Obama specifically said the following yesterday:
Today, I’m directing the Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx, who is right here -- former mayor of Charlotte -- (applause) -- and Gina McCarthy, the Administrator of EPA -- (applause) -- two outstanding public servants -- their charge, their goal is to develop fuel economy standards for heavy-duty trucks that will take us well into the next decade, just like our cars. And they’re going to partner with manufacturers and autoworkers and states and other stakeholders, truckers, to come up with a proposal by March of next year, and they’ll complete the rule a year after that.
In other words, he's turning loose the bureacracy to develop standards which haven't been legislated under what is apparently now only nominally our form of government.
The last the AP wants to do is make what is an imperial presidency in reality look like one to low-information readers, viewers, and subscribers.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
