Networks Ignore Embarrassing Political Defeat for Obama: 99-0 Rejection of President's Budget
Barack Obama suffered an embarrassing defeat, Wednesday, when the U.S.
Senate rejected his budget 99-0. But, one wouldn't know it on ABC or
CBS. The two networks completely skipped the political setback. NBC
offered a single news brief on Thursday's Today.
On that program, news reader Natalie Morales allowed, "The Senate on
Wednesday rejected President Obama's 2012 budget, the second year it has
rejected the President's plan." Morales didn't mention the lopsided
rejection, nor did she note that the House spurned the budget 414-0 in March.
ABC's World News and Good Morning America, as well as CBS's This Morning and Evening News both skipped the story. (Evening News did feature a story on the debt ceiling debate.)
The Washington Times reported:
President Obama's budget suffered a second embarrassing defeat Wednesday, when senators voted 99-0 to reject it.
Coupled with the House's rejection in March, 414-0, that means Mr. Obama's budget has failed to win a single vote in support this year.
...
"A stunning development for the president of the United States in his fourth year in office," Mr. Sessions said of the unanimous opposition.
On March 28, the House overwhelmingly rejected Obama's budget.
According to a Nexis search, the networks similarly ignored the defeat
for the President.
On March 29, Morales simply noted, "House Republicans are set to pass a
$3.5 trillion budget today that reflects their deficit-cutting
priorities, including a plan to revamp Medicare. the proposal is
expected to be dead on arrival in the Senate, setting up an
election-year battle."
Times reporter Stephan Dinan explained the details of Obama's budget:
It calls for tax increases to begin to offset higher spending, and would begin to level off debt as a percentage of the economy by 2022. It would produce $6.4 trillion in new deficits over that time.
