House Republicans have a budget-cutting proposal that stands no chance of getting by President Obama while some Senators have a big tax-hiking plan which stands no chance of passage in the House, but CBS, in illustrating the larger media take, framed the conservative plan as a distracting waste of time while cheerleading the Senate's 'Gang of 33' plan in the name of 'bi-partisanship.'
On Tuesday night, CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer dismissed the relevance of the 'Cut, Cap and Balance' proposal, fretting the 'House of Representatives spent most of the day debating a Republican plan to cut trillions of dollars from the federal budget' which 'faces a certain presidential veto and will never become law. So why do that when time is short?'
The next night, Wednesday, anchor Russ Mitchell touted how 'one plan put forward by a bipartisan group of six Senators is gaining support.' Reporter Nancy Cordes trumpeted 'a remarkable resurrection for the Gang of Six, which was written off as irrelevant months ago...'
Schieffer introduced the July 19 story:
Back in this country, where the clock is now winding down toward a possible government default, the House of Representatives spent most of the day debating a Republican plan to cut trillions of dollars from the federal budget. There is only one problem: all sides concede that even if the bill did pass the Senate, too, and that's a long shot, it faces a certain presidential veto and will never become law. So why do that when time is short?
From the Wednesday, July 20 CBS Evening News:
RUSS MITCHELL: The clock is ticking down toward a government default, in less than two weeks. Without an agreement to raise the debt ceiling the federal government will not be able to pay its bills. Work on a deal continued today and one plan put forward by a bipartisan group of six Senators is gaining support. Here's congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes.
NANCY CORDES: What was the Gang of Six Senators is now a Gang of 33: 15 Republicans and 18 Democrats who signed a letter backing the new bipartisan plan to slash $3.7 trillion from future deficits. It's a remarkable resurrection for the Gang of Six, which was written off as irrelevant months ago...
- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here [1] to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.