June 29, 2010
The Post noted that Congress has been reluctant to extend unemployment benefits in spite of the evidence that they will boost the economy. It then told readers that: “Congress is balking at the added expense in an election year, as Republicans accuse Democrats of out-of-control spending and as many rank-and-file Democrats struggle to justify an increase in already sky-high deficits.”
It is not clear that members who oppose extending benefits (most of whom are Republican) are actually concerned “out-of-control” spending or “sky-high” deficits. Of course, spending grew in response to the economic downturn, as the Post should know. So it is misleading to refer to it as “out-of-control” or the deficits as “sky-high.”
While the Republicans who oppose stimulus measures such as extending unemployment benefits because they are now concerned about budget deficits (most were not during the Bush presidency), it is also possible that they oppose these measures because they feel they would gain politically in November from seeing them voted down. It is likely that a weak economy will benefit the Republicans in the election. This article should have at least noted the possibility that politicians may not act for the reasons they claim in public, sometimes they don’t.
This piece also said that President Obama “acknowledged” that reining in the debt may require cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. The correct word would be “said” or “asserted” unless the Post has some independent basis for knowing that changes in such programs are necessary, in which case it should share this evidence with readers.
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