Despite Big Agency Spending Increases, Treasury Reports YTD Reduction

February 18th, 2010 2:31 PM
In his report ("Federal deficit at $430.69 billion through January") following yesterday's snow-delayed release of Uncle Sam's most recent Monthly Treasury Statement, the Associated Press's Martin Crutsinger informed readers that through the first four months of the fiscal year, "outlays total $1.12 trillion, down 3.9 percent from the spending through the same period in 2009." He further…

CNN's Lavandera Misrepresents Illegal 'Lost & Stolen' Gun Ordinances

February 17th, 2010 4:01 PM
CNN's Ed Lavandera misrepresented "lost and stolen" gun ordinances passed by municipalities in Pennsylvania as "straw purchase ordinances" on Wednesday's American Morning, and hinted that gun rights supporters were somehow extreme. Lavandera also omitted that county and local governments in Pennsylvania cannot pass gun laws due to the state legislature preempting this area of regulation.The…

Breaking: Evan Bayh Won't Seek Re-election In November

February 15th, 2010 11:22 AM
Indiana Senator Evan Bayh (D) apparently won't seek re-election in November. FoxNews.com reported moments ago:

Name That Congressman: AP Coverage of Ala. Prof's Prior Killing Ignore

February 14th, 2010 11:22 AM
UPDATE, 6:15 P.M.: An unbylined 11:57 a.m. AP report (i.e., 54 minutes after the time stamp of the original post at BizzyBlog) contains two paragraphs about Delahunt's involvement. Based on a search on Delahunt's last name at about 6:15 p.m., this version of AP's report is either still not at its main site, or has not been indexed by its search engine.Democratic Congressman Bill Delahunt's far…

Labor Protest and Campaign Against Toyota Get Kid Gloves from AP, Fair

February 13th, 2010 11:12 AM
In late August 2009, Toyota announced that it would close its New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. (NUMMI) factory in Fremont, California at the end of March. The plant had been a joint venture of the company and General Motors until June, when GM withdrew. Almost six months later, in the wake of a series of Toyota product recalls, and roughly seven weeks before the plant's scheduled shutdown,…

AP ClimateGate Apologist/Participant Borenstein Can't Keep Global Warm

February 12th, 2010 11:54 PM
Poor Seth Borenstein of the Associated Press. Since the AP science reporter wrote his December 12, 2009 defense of the alleged scientists who have promoted the alleged perils of human-caused global warming, the scandal known as ClimateGate has inexorably widened. It has deeply tarnished never-deserved reputations; revealed the entire premise to be based on fraudulent, corrupted, manipulated and…

CNN: President Made 'Pants on Fire' Claim on Health Care; AP: 'Hyperbo

February 12th, 2010 7:22 PM
CNN refreshingly called out President Obama on Friday's Newsroom concerning his false claim that "for the first time...you saw more people getting health care from government than you did from the private sector." CNN's Suzanne Simons and anchor Tony Harris both used the "pants on fire" expression to describe the President's statement. The AP, on the other hand, merely labeled it "hyperbole."…

Lowered Bar: Obama's 95K/Month Jobs Promise Would Trail Other Recoveri

February 12th, 2010 12:35 PM
Press reports about the prediction by President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers that the economy would add an average of 95,000 jobs per month during calendar 2010 weren't exactly overflowing with praise, but were lacking in something one would have expected: historical context. Philip Elliott's Associated Press report provided none. Sewell Chan's New York Times coverage at least pointed…

Apparatchik Assistance: AP's Latest Chrysler Ad Repeats Free Favor Don

February 11th, 2010 1:19 PM
On January 27, in the wake of Toyota's gas-pedal recall, the Associated Press ran what might as well have been a free advertisement for a marketing effort by government-controlled General Motors: Is there any substantive difference between the three paragraphs above and the text of a paid ad? Today, they just did it again, this time for government-controlled Chrysler (what follows is most of…

Think Tanks Do Journalism: Obama Admin's 'Budget Baseline' Incorporate

February 11th, 2010 12:28 PM
Two think tanks, the Tax Policy Center and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), have done something the New York Times, the Associated Press, and other supposed leading lights of establishment media journalism should have done days ago. As described in a Wall Street Journal editorial today, those two organizations have caught the Obama administration playing with the federal…

AP Error: Writer Suggests Tebow Ad Had Abortion Talk

February 8th, 2010 9:18 AM
The sharp eyes at Powerline caught AP writer Emily Fredrix really messing up on the Tebow ads for Focus on the Family that aired on the Super Bowl last night, which did not discuss abortion: And a commercial by conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, perhaps the most anticipated ad of the night, hinted at a serious subject although it took a humorous tone too. Heisman winner Tim Tebow…

AP Bashes Sarah 'Short On Ideas' Palin With Horrible Photo

February 7th, 2010 10:41 AM
It was a metaphysical certitude the liberal media would bash Sarah Palin's marvelous keynote speech to the National Tea Party convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Saturday, but what the Associated Press did is inexcusable.First, it attached to its Sunday piece a tremendously unflattering photo of the former Alaska governor.Then, it ripped her with the very first sentence (emphasis added, h/t NB…

AP Throws Pity Party for Dems In Illinois Lt. Gov. Nominee Stories

February 6th, 2010 10:14 AM
In stories currently carrying Friday afternoon and early Saturday time stamps, the Associated Press weighed in with supportive articles about Illinois Democrats who are desperately trying to convince Scott Lee Cohen (pictured at right; image is captured from his web site), who won the party's nomination for Lieutenant Governor, to step aside. In the Friday afternoon's report ("Embattled Dem Ill…

AFP Asks: 'Is US Bullying Toyota on Recall?' Rest of Media Indifferent

February 6th, 2010 2:11 AM
In a post late Thursday afternoon (at NewBusters; at BizzyBlog), I noted that the half of the teases (6 of 12) for the Associated Press's short videos in business stories at its web site were about Toyota, specifically its recent product quality issues and falling sales.In that post, I noted a conflict of interest in the relationship between the U.S. government and Toyota, and wondered when…