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. Quick Fact: Wallace claims Obama "participant ... in building up" trillion-dollar deficits over last year Previewing President Obama's State of the Union address on Fox Broadcasting Co., Chris Wallace asserted that Obama was "a participant in the last year in building up" "multi-trillion-dollar deficits." In fact, the FY 2009 deficit, which totaled $1.4 trillion, was already estimated to be $1.2 trillion when Obama came into office and "virtually the entire deficit over the next ten years" are due either to policies implemented under President Bush or to the recession, which began during Bush's tenure, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Read More Memo to media: Obama's comments on Supreme Court decision in line with four justices' views Two posts on National Review Online claimed that President Obama was untruthful when he said that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC "open[ed] the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." In fact, four justices of the Supreme Court agreed that the logic of the decision "would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans" to make certain election-related expenditures. Read More The right-wing response to Obama's SOTU address: "jerk," "arrogant," cocky" Conservative media figures reacted to President' Obama's 2010 State of the Union address as usual -- with attacks on Obama and fellow Democrats. Media Matters for America has compiled some of their reactions. Read More Quick Fact: Ignoring nonpartisan CBO, WSJ claims only "devoted partisans" believe health bill saves money A Wall Street Journal editorial asserted that Obama "re-pitched the health bill now in Congress with the same contradiction-covers more people but saves money too-that all but the most devoted partisans long ago dismissed as unbelievable." However the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the health care reform bills passed by both the House and the Senate would reduce federal deficits through 2019 and beyond. Read More Fox & Friends' Kilmeade revises economic history to defend Bush Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade falsely claimed that when president Obama took office, he found "50 plus months of economic growth" and "between 5 and 7 percent unemployment." In fact, the unemployment rate was 7.7 percent in January 2009 and both employment and GDP had been falling for months prior to Obama's inauguration. Read More Conservative media attack Obama's Supreme Court criticism as untruthful Conservative media are highlighting Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito mouthing "not true" during the State of the Union address after President Obama said the court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC would "open the floodgates" for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend in U.S. elections to accuse Obama of "attacking" the First Amendment or not telling the truth. But, in fact, four of the Supreme Court's justices agreed in their opinion that the decision "would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans" to make certain election-related expenditures. Read More Quick Fact: "Fox News brain room" claims Obama statement on Supreme Court ruling is "wrong" On Fox News' America's Newsroom, co-host Martha MacCallum claimed that the "Fox News brain room" determined that President Obama's statement that a recent Supreme Court ruling would "open the floodgates" for foreign corporations to spend in U.S. elections was "wrong," adding that "the court specifically wrote that it was not overturning restrictions on foreign dollars." In fact, four of the Supreme Court's justices agreed in their opinion that the decision "would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans" to make certain election-related expenditures. Read More Quick Fact: NY Post falsely denies Obama cut taxes, saved jobs In a January 28 editorial, the New York Post asked if President Obama was in "Opposite Land" when he "claimed to have cut taxes and saved 'millions' of jobs." In fact, Obama's recovery act included $288 billion in tax relief, and economists estimate that the stimulus "raised employment" by as many as 2 million jobs through December 2009. Read More Giuliani falsely claims Obama never said "war" in State of the Union In a Fox & Friends appearance, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani falsely claimed that President Obama "didn't mention the word 'war' " in his State of the Union address. In fact, Obama made at least seven mentions of the word "war," including calling for the U.S. military to "have the resources they need in war," adding that "we all have a responsibility to support them when they come home." Read More Fox & Friends' post-State of the Union guest list is neither fair nor balanced In its post-State of the Union analysis on January 28, Fox & Friends hosted more than twice as many guests who were critical of President Obama's speech and agenda than those who were supportive, many of whom used inflammatory rhetoric or false claims to attack the president. Moreover, even one of Fox & Friends' few Democratic guests -- Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) -- was invited on to "take on his own party" and talk about how he's "fed up with the arrogance" of Democratic leaders. Read More Sally Quinn's Washington You cannot caricature Sally Quinn. Don't even try. It simply can't be done. No matter how hard you try to exaggerate her preening self-regard and utter frivolity, she comes right along and shows herself to be worse than you could possibly imagine. Read More Quick Fact: Limbaugh is latest media conservative to accuse Obama of ignorance or "lying" about Supreme Court ruling On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said that President Obama "didn't know what he was talking about or he was just out-and-out lying" when he said during the State of the Union address that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC would "open the floodgates" for special interests -- including foreign corporations -- to spend in U.S. elections. In fact, four of the Supreme Court's justices agreed in their opinion that the decision "would appear to afford the same protection to multinational corporations controlled by foreigners as to individual Americans" to make certain election-related expenditures. Read More Breitbart brings ACORN videos lie to MSNBC Interviewed on MSNBC, Andrew Breitbart falsely claimed that the ACORN videos created by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles "clearly show in every -- in almost every single office, the employees at ACORN helping aid and abet the establishment of an underage prostitution brothel." But in six of the eight heavily edited videos produced by O'Keefe and Giles and distributed by Breitbart, either the activists did not clearly tell the ACORN employees that they were planning to engage in child prostitution; or the ACORN employees refused to help them or apparently deliberately misled them; or ACORN employees contacted the police following their visit Read More Unhinged Beck lashes out in response to Obama's SOTU with attacks, conspiracy theories Responding to President Obama's January 27 State of the Union speech on his radio show the following day, Glenn Beck offered a series of harsh and bizarre comments, ranging from ad hominem attacks on Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Vice President Joe Biden to baseless conspiracy theories. Beck claimed that Obama detailed his "enemies' list" during the speech -- a list he compared to similar lists from "radicals" including Lenin and Stalin -- and warned his audience that we may be witnessing "the beginning" of a "dictorial [sic] kind of state" and that Obama will "pick us off to send you a message."   Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.