(Thanks to David Flanders for the graphic)
#FoxNews would rather treat a pimple (Food Stamp fraud=$750M/yr) not a cancer (Tax Fraud by Top 1%=$300B/yr) #news http://t.co/W6JcxM0HmO
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) March 14, 2014
[I]f $3 billion gets Fox News all in a fluster, what about the estimated $150 billion lost in tax revenue through loopholes and avoidance schemes by large corporations?…. Of course Fox News defends these corporations, arguing that they simply take advantage of what’s available to them. But when an impoverished individual or family does the same with food stamps, Fox News is quick to vilify. Stewart summed everything up: “So what I’m getting from Fox is this: Exploiting government largess, while reprehensible and morally corrupting for individuals, is A-OK for corporations.”
Time was when I could delude myself into thinking that news organizations believed in journalism- you know, objective reporting on issues free of a clearly identifiable ideological slant? Truth be told, presenting the news has never been an objective undertaking. The wealthy Conservative White males who own media companies aren’t about to give ideological control over their properties to a bunch of godless, dope-smoking Liberal weenies. If you think MSNBC is the pinnacle of “The Liberal Media,” I’d submit that you really need to bone up on the definition of “Liberal.” Trust me; MSNBC is far from Liberal. Yes, an argument can be made the several MSNBC personalities trend to the Left on the ideological scale. If being part of the “Liberal Media” means doing your homework and having command of the facts (see Hayes, Chris and Maddow, Rachel), the perhaps it’s not such a bad thing. If you’re going to make a fuss about the “Liberal Media,” you should also be complaining about the aggressively Far Right corporatist bent of Fox News Channel.
It’s rather boring to continually point out the lies, propaganda, and slanted news presented by FNC…and that’s part of the problem. When lies, deception, and propaganda are the norm, when they come to be accepted as part of the media landscape, we’re in trouble…and that’s where we find ourselves today. When the most trusted newsmen in America are comedians- Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert- you get a sense of how far down the path leading to our new idiocracy we’ve traveled.
Lies can circumnavigate the globe in the time it takes Truth to drag itself out of bed….
What’s truly sad about the state of today’s news landscape is that outside of MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Stewart and Colbert provide the most cogent and insightful analysis available. Sure, humor can make a boring story more interesting, but when comedians are more thoughtfully and impartially analyzing current affairs…well, as a very wise friend once told me: “We’re @#$%(&!!!”
Stewart’s latest tour de force was taking down FNC’s attempt to “school him” on welfare fraud.
What is the cost of this rampant food-stamp fraud that Fox News hounds on? Roughly $3 billion. That, as Stewart said, isn’t anything to scoff at. Perhaps Fox News is reasonable in their panic over $3 billion in waste. Except for the small fact that the same pundit - Eric Bolling - that said he was going to “school” Stewart on food stamps called the $4 billion in tax subsidies and loopholes that go to oil companies a mere “pittance.” So, $3 billion is an outrage but $4 billion is trivial? “What I have learned today from my ‘teacher’ is that $3 billion in taxpayer money is greater than $4 billion in taxpayer money. I think we’re done here,” Stewart said.
Yes, you read that correctly. Not only is Eric Bolling’s math off- where I come from, $4 billion is more than $3 billion- but he also completely ignores that estimated $150 billion in tax revenues lost to corporate tax avoidance schemes. To Bolling’s way of thinking, $3 billion of waste and abuse is an outrage, $4 billion is trivial…and $150 billion barely warrants acknowledgement.
If that’s “fair and balanced,” I’m the Queen of England.
Yes, the argument’s been made- by many at Fox News- that corporations are only taking advantage of what the system makes available to them. Fair enough; there’s truth in that…but only if you accept that welfare recipients are doing the same. You can’t credibly allow that argument to one side while simultaneously denying it to the other. Is there fraud and abuse in the welfare system? Of course there is; it’s an imperfect system designed by imperfect people and administered in an imperfect manner. But what about the fraud and abuse perpetrated by corporations, which represents a significantly larger amount of taxpayer dollars? Where’s the outrage and demands for reform?
Listen for it, and you’ll hear…crickets.
The moral of the story is that corporate fraud, waste, and abuse is perfectly acceptable. The same fraud, waste, and abuse among welfare recipients is an outrage, a crime being perpetrated against good, God-fearing, working class Americans. AND IT SHALL. NOT. STAND!! Why should we support takers at the expense of the makers, right?
Move along, people…no hypocrisy here….
