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. Myths and falsehoods about health care reform Media Matters for America identifies and debunks 14 myths and falsehoods surrounding the health care reform debate. Read More Memo to Hannity: Spencer Bachus is not Max Baucus; Social Security will not "default" in two years On his Fox News show, Sean Hannity falsely claimed that Senate Finance Committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) said Social Security "could face default" and "could be insolvent" within two years. In fact, it was Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) who made the comments about Social Security in an interview with the Tuscaloosa News, and his staff later clarified that he meant to say Social Security could face a "deficit," not "default." Read More Dobbs -- Dobbs! -- complains about misinformation in health care debate In recent days, Lou Dobbs has stated on his CNN program that "there has been no public debate, no public discussion whatsoever of the facts, the context" surrounding health care reform and that, "I don't think there's any doubt people are lying in this debate." However, Dobbs himself has advanced misinformation about health care reform on CNN and through his radio show. Read More Those "death panels" really do exist At this point, if anyone still believes that progressive proposals for health insurance reform contain ominous "death panels" designed to kill their grandparents, I have a bridge to sell them in Arizona. Fear not, my conservative friends: The bridge connects a tea bag manufacturing plant with a militia training camp stuck in the 1990s, so you should feel right at home. Read More Media: When Dems use budget process to pass bills, it's the "nuclear option" In recent days, media figures repeatedly referred to the Senate Democrats' possible use of reconciliation to pass health care reform with a simple majority as the "nuclear option," with Fox News going so far as to run graphics defining "nuclear option" as "[f]orcing government-run insurance through the Senate with just 51 votes." In fact, the term "nuclear option" was coined by then-Republican Sen. Trent Lott in 2005 to refer to a possible Republican attempt to change Senate filibuster rules, while the budget process, known as reconciliation, is already part of Senate procedure, and Republicans have used it repeatedly in the past. Read More GOP repeats dubious claim about Mohammed interrogation; The Hill echoes it The Hill newspaper uncritically reported that in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, several Republican senators claimed that the interrogation of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed "produced information that 'was absolutely vital' to capturing other terrorists and preventing other attacks on the United States, such as a plot to destroy the Library Tower in Los Angeles." In fact, that interpretation conflicts with the chronology of events put forth on multiple occasions by the Bush administration, as Slate.com's Timothy Noah noted. Read More Media seek to impugn both sides for ugliness in health care debate In commenting on the tenor of the debate surrounding health care reform, several media figures have suggested that its supporters and opponents are equally detracting from the "seriousness" of the issue or that its supporters are failing to take seriously the critics of health care reform. These media figures have either ignored the false and extreme rhetoric coming from opponents of health care reform or have backed their claims with questionable assertions, such as referring to labor unions as "fringe groups." Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.