July 17, 2010
That must be what NYT readers must be asking after seeing unemployment benefits described as “deficit-bloating government spending” in an article about the problems facing those who have lost their benefits and the prospect that Congress will vote to extend benefits. While this view may express the reporter or editor’s opinion, it conveys no information whatsoever to readers.
The article also asserted that Congress is reluctant to extend benefits because: “fears about the country’s skyrocketing deficit, which are at the heart of Republican objections, have gained growing prevalence.”
The article does not say how it has determined that fears about deficits (“skyrocketing” is more editorializing) explain the Republicans’ motivations. Most of the Republicans expressing these concerns had little problem supporting the Bush tax cuts or spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which added to the deficit. This may call into question their professed concerns about deficits now. They may just not want to give the Democrats a victory or they could hope that by making the economy worse the the electoral prospects of Republicans will be improved in November.
The reasons that politicians give for their actions are often not the true reason. Since reporters cannot typically know the true reason, they should just tell readers what the politicians say rather than trying to explain their motives.
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