Comes another miserable excuse of a so-called "news report" from AP "reporter" (and I use the term very loosely) Jim Abrams.
This right-wing/Republican propaganda shill has written one negative report after another about Democrats (especially focusing on Sen. Harry Reid for some reason), that are so filled with thinly vieled accusations and negative propaganda, as to qualify for RNC hit pieces.
More after the fold....
***UPDATE: AP has completely re-written this story to take out all appearances of bias. It's actually a readable article now. I sent a copy of the original articles to Harry Reid's D.C. office, as well as wrote AP, in addition to publishing this diary. Perhaps it had some effect? Check out the new version of this story, here, http://news.yahoo.com/... after you've read what they first did, below:
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Today's little propaganda special from Abrams, is about some of the holdings and income of people in our Congress. The report appeared in two different versions, a short one, and a longer one.
The short version, had only one mention of a Republican (Hassert), and that to say his income went down, while the rest of the report was about Democrats. The framing Abrams used, was to try and make it sound like the Dems are all crooks (OMFG, Harry Reid owns a gold mine!!! Gawd forbid!! The evil bastard!!).
Here's some excerpts from the short version:
Lawmakers Profit From Gold Mines, Books
Associated Press/AP Online - Story from AP / JIM ABRAMS
WASHINGTON - Sen. Harry Reid, whose leadership post depends on holding onto a fragile majority in the Senate, can always fall back on his gold mining claims in Nevada. Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd pads his income with rent from a cottage in County Galway, Ireland.
House and Senate lawmakers filed their annual financial disclosure forms Thursday, revealing a variety of income sources well beyond their salaries.
Rank-and-file House and Senate members last year received $165,200 in pay. Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., both got $183,500 for their previous roles of minority leaders in the Senate and House.
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., now a regular member, will take a pay cut of almost $47,000 this year after earning $212,100 last year as speaker.
But senators in particular tend to come from the upper echelons of wealth, with many claiming incomes and assets reaching well into the millions.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who is running for president, reported that her husband, former President Clinton, made more than $10 million in paid speeches last year. The couple held two accounts - a regular bank account and a blind trust, each valued at between $5 million and $25 million. The forms don't require Congress members to report exact figures, only to note the ranges their holdings fall within.
Senate Majority Leader Reid, who drew questions about his disclosure form last year over a Las Vegas land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned in three years, owns portions of more than 200 acres of mining claims, including old claims around his hometown of Searchlight.
Go here to read the rest of the short version, er, hit piece: http://www.newsvantage.com/...
Now here's a few snips from the longer version, which, while it mentions a few more Republicans, it does so in a manner that more or less downgrades their income sources, while highlighting the Dems. Different propaganda, same effect, to wit;
(snip) The Republican leaders also reported healthy incomes and assets.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record), R-Ky, said he held property in the District of Columbia worth $1 million-$5 million. But a large portion of the family assets is held by his wife, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. She had investments, mostly in index and mutual funds, totaling between roughly $850,000 and $1.9 million, plus retirement accounts valued at between $265,000 and $600,000.
House GOP leader John Boehner (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, reported assets of $1 million to $5 million in the retirement plan of a plastics company he previously headed.(snip)
The disclosure forms provide only traces of the legal clouds overhanging several lawmakers.
Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record), D-La., facing a 16-count indictment on charges he received more than $500,000 in bribes, said his major sources of unearned income were rent from two tracts of land on Lake Providence in Louisiana, worth less than $7,500. He reported $56,250 in gifts to his legal defense trust fund.
Senators in particular tend to come from the upper echelons of wealth, with many claiming incomes and assets reaching well into the millions. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., heir to his family's oil fortune, has three blind trusts worth more than $80 million.
Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who is running for president, reported that her husband, former President Clinton, made more than $10 million for giving speeches last year. The couple held two accounts — a regular bank account and a blind trust, each valued at between $5 million and $25 million. The forms don't require Congress members to report exact figures, only to note the ranges their holdings fall within.
The low end of the wealth scale included Rep. Peter King (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., the top Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, who said he had no major sources of unearned income in 2006. His major asset was a bank account held jointly with his wife worth between $50,000 and $100,000. (snip)
Go here to read the entire long version: http://news.yahoo.com/...
The bottom line here is, how much longer is AP going to let Jim Abrams be a propaganda-monger/hitman for the neocons/Repuglians, and still continue to call him a reporter?
Abrams needs to be fired!
Please write AP at info@ap.org to complain about this blatant hit piece, and about Jim Abrams. And, if anyone has an e-mail addy for Abrams, please post it, as I would love to write him a note too! And feel free to add relevant tags, as needed.
Thanks for reading!