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: Laffer continues to mislead on 2011 tax changes On Fox & Friends, guest Art Laffer misleadingly claimed that "President Obama has decided to let Bush's tax cuts expire," falsely claimed that the "dividend tax rate's going from 15 to 39.6 percent" and pushed the dubious claim that Reagan "postponed tax cuts which... caused the deep recession of 1981-82." In fact, under President Obama's proposed budget, tax rates would only increase ontop earners, and dividend taxes for those taxpayers would increase to 20 percent, not 39 percent. Read More Fox News strains to tie Obama administration to BP Fox News pushed the tenuous suggestion that White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has unethical "ties" to BP because he once lived in the home of Stan Greenberg, a D.C. research strategist who has done work for the oil company. In fact, there is no evidence that Emanuel's relationship with Greenberg -- which dates back several decades -- has anything to do with BP or benefited BP in any way. Moreover, Brian Kilmeade falsely claimed BP donated $750 million to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which would have amounted to the entirety of Obama's campaign haul. Read More Fox & Friends runs with attack on gov't for not yet buying company's untested oil boom Fox & Friends attacked the Obama administration for not immediately purchasing a manufacturer's oil containment boom. However, the company has not previously manufactured oil boom, their product reportedly "differs from other designs being used," and BP has reportedly "ordered a trial run" of the boom before committing to purchase it. Read More Did the GOP commission Fox to rewrite the history books? Appearing on Fox & Friends, purported business expert Stuart Varney made extensive revisions to U.S. economic history, among them: the false suggestion that President Obama has not cut taxes; the false suggestion that President Bush presided over strong job growth; and the false claim that after President Clinton took office, the economy did not improve until Republicans took control of Congress. Read More Wash. Times distorts Kagan's record to claim she's a "threat to gun owners" The Washington Times distorted Elena Kagan's record to claim that "a vote for Ms. Kagan for the Supreme Court is another vote against gun rights." Read More The Wall Street Journal's extensive history of using industrial disasters to attack government The Wall Street Journal editorial page has used the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to criticize government regulation of industry. This is merely the latest in a long history of using environmental and industrial disasters to attack government and advocate for less regulation. Read More You can help support our work; become a volunteer media monitor, or donate to Media Matters for America.