Media Matters Daily Summary

Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story. Fox's Henneberg falsely claimed Democrats in White House "want government-run health-care programs" On Special Report, Molly Henneberg reported that "Democrats control the White House and Congress, and they want government-run health-care programs." In fact, the White House health-care Web page states: "On health care reform, the American people are too often offered two extremes -- government-run health care with higher taxes or letting the insurance companies operate without rules. President Obama and Vice President Biden believe both of these extremes are wrong." Read More Wash. Times ignored McConnell's $51 million contribution to omnibus bill he decried as part of "spending binge" The Washington Times uncritically reported Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's statement that the omnibus bill is part of an ongoing "spending binge," without noting that according to a study by independent budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, McConnell himself added 36 earmarks to the bill totaling about $51.2 million. Read More NY Times article missing reference to Graham's statement that "nationalizing the banks" should be considered In reporting that the AFL-CIO's executive council will push the Obama administration "to call for moving more aggressively on nationalization" to "counter Republican and business cries against it" and that "[l]abor leaders said the administration appeared to be vacillating on nationalization partly out of fear of Republican attacks that it was adopting socialist policies," The New York Times did not mention Sen. Lindsey Graham's statement that "nationalizing the banks" is an option that should be considered. Read More Times' Dowd used falsehood to advance McCain accusation that Obama broke promise on earmarks The New York Times' Maureen Dowd falsely claimed that President Obama is not "liv[ing] up to his own no-earmark pledge from the campaign," echoing a Times article false claim that Obama made "campaign promises to put an end to the practice" of earmarks and Sen. John McCain's accusation that Obama has gone back on a promise to "work to eliminate ... earmarks." In fact, Obama promised to reform the earmark process and cut wasteful spending. Read More CNN's Henry falsely suggested Obama's tax proposals would affect taxpayers in all income brackets On CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Ed Henry falsely suggested that President Obama's proposals to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire and to increase the capital gains tax rate would affect taxpayers in all income brackets. In fact, Obama has proposed allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire -- and increasing the capital gains tax rate -- only for individuals earning more than $200,000 in income and for joint filers earning more than $250,000 per year. Read More In CNBC host Cramer's "U.S.S.A.": "Comrade[]" Obama is a "Bolshevik" who is "taking cues from Lenin" CNBC's Jim Cramer has repeatedly characterized President Obama and congressional Democrats as Russian communists intent on "rampant wealth destruction," claiming Obama is "taking cues from Lenin" and using terms such as "Bolshevik," "Marx," "comrades," "Soviet," "Winter Palace," and "Politburo" in reference to Democrats. Read More Fox News hosts falsely asserted that doctors could be jailed for refusing to perform abortions under Obama administration In separate reports, Fox News' Bret Baier and Megyn Kelly misrepresented the reported plans of the Obama administration to rescind a December 2008 Bush administration regulation to falsely assert that the Obama administration's decision could result in doctors' being prosecuted or discriminated against for refusing to perform abortions. In fact, federal law -- which the Obama administration cannot "repeal[]" -- prohibits public officials from requiring recipients of public funds to perform abortions or sterilizations in violation of their religious or moral beliefs. Read More Beck, Pethokoukis cited Marshall Institute's cap-and-trade study, ignored its ExxonMobil funding Glenn Beck and James Pethokoukis each cited a study by the George C. Marshall Institute to criticize the carbon cap-and-trade system described in President Obama's budget proposal. But neither Beck nor Pethokoukis noted that the Marshall Institute has received funding from ExxonMobil. Read More Media assault on Obama's character: He "lied" and has "broken so many promises" Many media conservatives have recently embraced and promoted the accusation, almost in unison, that President Obama has "lied" or broken promises. In many cases, these accusations are based on distortions of comments he has made or misrepresentations of campaign pledges. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.