August 07, 2011
The Post featured a lengthy front page piece on the Republican debt ceiling strategy. Early in the article, it told readers that:
“Democrats called the GOP irresponsible for gambling with the economy and the nation’s flawless credit. Republicans countered that an epic clash over the debt limit was inevitable, given the outcome of the election and widespread anger with runaway government spending.”
There was no “runaway government spending.” The bulk of the increase in spending was for transfer payments like unemployment insurance and food stamps that always rise during a downturn. They rose more in this downturn than in most because it was steeper. A real newspaper would have put the words “runaway government spending” in quotation marks rather than implying that it was something that actually existed in the world.
Somewhat later, the article tells readers that:
“smaller government and lower taxes, not explosive federal spending, would be their [the “young gun” Republicans] route to growth and prosperity.”
No one was advocating “explosive federal spending.” This means that a real newspaper would have put these words also in quotation marks.
This is how you can tell the difference between the Washington Post and a real newspaper.
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