Maybe it's a small thing in the scheme of things, but the budget story on the radio this morning really got my goat. If enough of us get off our asses and slam the media (truthfully) for being administration tools as often as the wingers slam them (dishonestly) for "liberal bias," maybe they'll decide it makes business sense to produce real news. Anyway, here's what I sent:
I was listening to the CBS radio news story about the budget this morning, and was astounded when it concluded with the statement "President Bush wants to cut the deficit in half." Why would you parrot this party line in a story about a budget that is projected to once again produce a record deficit? (Not that your story even
mentioned that this budget will produce a record deficit.) If listeners are actually going to be informed by a newscast, we need information about what the President is
doing, not cheap talk about what he "wants" to do. Would you end a story about an alcoholic who's going on a record-breaking binge by noting that "he wants to cut down on his drinking?"
The majority of Bush's deficits are caused by Bush's tax cuts, and the only way they're going to be closed is by repealing some of those tax cuts. For all the talk of "tight" budgets, he could cut everything in the areas of the budget he has targeted for cuts, and it would not bring the budget into balance. We have had balanced budgets once in the past century, and in case you don't remember, it wasn't achieved by massive tax cuts for the wealthy and small budget cuts for the poor.
As long as supposedly reputable news sources allow administration officials to lie with impunity, and disseminate their falsehoods, they will continue to do so. CBS was once a fine news organization, and I expect better from you.