Fact-Free Writing
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010If someone was to award a prize for fact-free reporting, Dana Milbank’s column would be the prohibitive favorite. Here’s what Milbank wrote about Jim Bunning:
In his 17 years pitching in the big leagues, Jim Bunning was known for his graceful curveball, his rising slider and his sidearm fastball. Now 78 years old and about to retire from the Senate, the Republican of Kentucky is apparently down to only one pitch: the screwball.
For four days, he has been on a one-man campaign to cut off unemployment benefits, kick the unemployed off of health insurance, cut Medicare payments to doctors, deny satellite TV to rural Americans, shut down federal flood insurance and highway projects, and furlough thousands of federal workers.
It’s wonderful writing. The only problem is that it’s a bald-faced lie. As I wrote here, Bunning isn’t trying to stop unemployment. He’s just been insisting on the Senate following the recently passed PayGo laws, which requires that Congress pay for new spending increases by cutting spending elsewhere or raising taxes.
Milbank is right in saying that the legislation has provisions in it for health care for the unemployed, etc. What he got wrong is that Sen. Bunning was attempting to defeat the bill. I know because I saw footage of Sen. Bunning on the Senate floor saying that he favors passing the bill the minute the Senate includes $10,000,000,000 of offsets to pay for the bill.
Then again, to these Democrats, cutting spending even by that tiny amount, in comparison to the federal budget, is probably analogous to defeating the bill. It’s obvious that the Democrats aren’t interested in fiscal responsibility. They’re only interested in appearing to be fiscally responsible.
Democrats can hardly believe the gift Bunning has given them by single-handedly shutting down these popular programs. Bunning’s fellow Republicans are aghast.
TEA Party activists, many of whom are independents, living in the Heartland are rejoicing at Sen. Bunning’s standing up for the rule of law and fiscal sanity. Far from being a political gift for Democrats, this is a political gift for Republicans, a gift they’ll cash in the first Tuesday this November.
While I don’t doubt that some Senate Republicans are trembling after insisting on following the law, that speaks more to their spinelessness and their worry that the network news can hurt them politically more than the Right Blogosphere can help them with the folks. It’s time they stopped being afraid of their shadows and started acting like profiles in courage.
They should know that the Dana Milbanks of the world don’t have the influence that they once did. They aren’t totally uninfluential but they aren’t kingmakers anymore either.
On deck was Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, who asked for the 10th time for the Senate to approve, by unanimous consent, a temporary measure that would avoid the furloughs and the cutoff of unemployment benefits and highway funds. “I object!” Bunning called out from the rear of the chamber, raising his right hand.
Reid was almost gleeful. “The fact is my friends on the other side of the aisle are opposing extending unemployment benefits for people who are out of work,” he said.
God knows why Harry Reid thinks the things he thinks. The man is borderline insane. By making that over-the-top statement, Sen. Reid is admitting that Democrats don’t want to cut spending or act responsibly. He’s admitting that Democrats aren’t capable of governing. Sen. Reid might gain a temporary victory but he’s certain to get his backside kicked this November, when he’ll become the second majority leader who will get defeated in 6 years.
That’s what’s known as winning a skirmish and losing the war.
Dana Milbank is probably an educated man but he isn’t a particularly bright man. He certainly isn’t a man of reporting integrity. That’s why he’s fast becoming Washington’s version of Nick Coleman, the crazy uncle Strib columnist.
Technorati Tags: Media, Agenda Media, Dana Milbank, Nick Coleman, Harry Reid, Democrats, Jim Bunning, PayGo, Republicans, Election 2010
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog