Hullabaloo

Equal Time For Reality

by digby

CAF made note of the fact that CNN outsourced its news gathering function to propagandists this week-end and is asking people to take some action:

There is a growing consensus among economists that:
The investments we need for America’s long-term prosperity require federal deficit spending, but the deficits are manageable.
Social Security is fiscally sound for decades to come.
The answer to soaring health costs includes universal health care, not slashing Medicare.
Yet if you turned on CNN during the weekend of Jan. 10-11, you were told the opposite. That our budget is a “fiscal cancer, with catastrophic consequences.” That “large … social spending” can bring about an “economic downturn.” That Social Security will reach a crisis point in “10 years.” That Medicare is based on “unfunded promises.” And that those views were unequivocal objective truth, not opinion or ideology.
For CNN to do that was wrong. (See why below.) It’s time to tell CNN to give equal time to public investment strategies that will put our economy back on a sound footing.

Click here to send them a little note.

This nonsense is taken as an article of faith among the villagers and it's really dangerous. It wasn't just the six hours they devoted to Peterson's docudrama. All week-end, media gasbags were blithely passing it on like it was common knowledge as well:

Blitzer: But if he wants to deal with the deficit, the national debt, he's got to deal with those entitlements, social security, medicare, medicaid.

Borger: This is the opportunity. This is the opportunity, because everybody understands right now that won't have the money. So this is what you call a teachable moment here right now for Barack Obama. The American public can't keep these entitlements at these levels.

It would be nice if, just once, somebody actually countered this stale drivel with the facts.

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