Chief "Caucus" reporter Michael Shear's loaded language in defense of Obama-care: "A year after President Obama signed his health care law into effect, the two leading Republicans in Congress are making it clear that they do not intend to let up in their assault on the historic measure."
By
Clay Waters
March 23, 2011 - 12:51pm
A year after President Obama signed his health care law into effect, the two leading Republicans in Congress are making it clear that they do not intend to let up in their assault on the historic measure.
"Historic measure" has an awfully supportive ring to it. Indeed, the White House has similarly referred to the "Affordable Care Act" as "historic legislation [2]," and former Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd called it "historic legislation for the good of the country [3]" in the August 15, 2010 Times.
Times reporters David Herszenhorn and Robert Pear called Obama-care "historic legislation [4]" in a January 19, 2010 story.
While relaying the back and forth between House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the Obama White House, Shear left out relevant information, like survey data (even in surveys skewed toward Democrats) showing the deep unpopularity of Obama's legislation, despite Democratic predictions last year [5] that the more people learned about the measure, the more they would support it.
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