Yes, you've heard me correctly - Fox News SUPPORTS President Obama's call to end oil subsidies.
In fact, that very thing was just reported on the front page of Daily Kos by Jed Lewison, albeit with a bit of misleading title:
Fox blames Obama for oil subsidies
by Jed Lewison
Screenshot from foxnews.com
Okay, here are the facts:
• Last month, President Obama has proposed ending big oil subsidies.
• This week, Congressional Democrats voted to end big oil subsidies.
• And this week, House Republicans unanimously voted to protect big oil subsidies.
And in a web feature titled "It's All Your Money: Paying for Energy Subsidies," here's what Fox has to say about those facts:
Here's a look at some subsidies in President Obama's 2012 Fiscal Year budget:
• $126 million for wind
• $340 million for bio fuels
• $457 million for solar
• $452 million clean coal
• $800 million for nuclear
Oil and gas get even more of your money through tax incentives, deductions, depreciation and investment credits. Those total about $3.6 billion a year, according to the Administration.
So Fox caps off a list of energy subsidies proposed by President Obama with the mother of all subsidies: $3.6 billion to oil and gas companies.
See? Fox is actually supportive of the call to end subsidies.
Oh, sure - you're now telling yourself "But, that's not what they SAID. That's not what they MEANT." Of course it's not. BUT, it is what they've effectively done, by trying to spin the budget item of the subsidies as something Obama's responsible for, they've also done their characteristic implication-by-association that infers the oil and gas subsidies are bad.
So, in effect, Fox News has said that the subsidies are bad, so - by extension - ending the subsidies must be good, which supports President Obama's call to end the subsidies.
I'm just applying a little verbal tai chi to their words, using a variant of methods taken from their own playbook.
So, anybody want to help freak out Fox and see how fast they take to make corrections and/or backpedal, by spreading news of their support far and wide?
(Yes, I'm a stinker. A genuine irritant. And I like it.)