A January 12th Associated Press article carries the headline “Employer health mandate may be dropped” and Erica Werner reports:

The House-passed bill included an income tax increase on individuals making more than $500,000 a year and couples making over $1 million, as well as a requirement for large businesses to cover their workers. The Senate bill contained neither. It included a tax on high-value insurance plans and a modest increase in the Medicare payroll tax. Instead of requiring employers to offer health coverage, the Senate bill penalized businesses if any of their workers obtained government-subsidized health care.

The House and Senate … Continue Reading

On January 11th, Matt Apuzzo and Brett Blackledge reported on an Associated Press analysis of federal government infrastructure stimulus spending writing:

Spend a lot or spend nothing at all, it didn’t matter, the AP analysis showed: Local unemployment rates rose and fell regardless of how much stimulus money Washington poured out for transportation, raising questions about Obama’s argument that more road money would address an “urgent need to accelerate job growth.”
…
AP’s analysis, which was reviewed by independent economists at five universities, showed that strategy hasn’t affected unemployment rates so far. And there’s concern it won’t work the second time. For

… Continue Reading

A December 18th USA Today headline read: “House narrowly OKs year-end, $100B jobs bill.” But then reading Associated Press report we learn:

According to documents released by Democrats, the measure would cost $154 billion. But there’s also another $20 billion from the federal treasury to keep the highway trust fund afloat.

Similarly, under the headline: “U.S. House Approves $154 Billion Jobs Bill, Debt Limit Increase”, Bloomberg reports:

The U.S. House approved a $154 billion economic-aid package and a $290 billion increase in the legal limit on government borrowing as the chamber wrapped up its legislative business for the year.

So where did … Continue Reading

A November 29th Associated Press article reports that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has pressured the NBA to drop Adidas as the league’s official uniform supplier because the German company plans to move production of NBA gameday jerseys from upstate New York to Thailand:

Schumer planned to publicly urge the leadership of the NBA on Sunday to intervene and stop Adidas from moving production of the league’s official uniforms to Thailand, or pull out of its contract with the sports apparel giant.

Schumer said not only is “an all-American product” at stake, but also about 100 jobs at American Classic Outfitters’ factory

… Continue Reading

A December 8th Associated Press item by David Espo reports:

At its core, the legislation would expand health care to millions who lack it, ban insurance companies from denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions and rein in the rise of health care spending nationally.

The first two items are fine, but the last assertion on cost control is just plain false. Much of the media bought Democrats spin that the recent Congressional Budget Office analysis of the Senate bill showed that proposed health care changes are somehow fiscally responsible. Yet what the CBO actually reported was … Continue Reading

Reporting on the October 2009 US trade deficit and the bilateral deficit with China, the Associated Press’ Martin Crutsinger and Christopher S. Rugaber conclude:

American manufacturers contend that China is manipulating the value of its currency, keeping it undervalued by as much as 40 percent in relation to the dollar. That gives Chinese manufacturers a competitive advantage and makes U.S. goods more expensive in China.

While Crutsinger and Rugaber are correct that American manufacturers still allege that China’s currency is undervalued by 40%, the journalists fail to mention that this statistic is from 2003, and that China’s currency – the … Continue Reading

Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar wrote a November 5th article for the Associated Press on the AARP’s endorsement of the latest version of the House health bill.

Many retirees are concerned about cuts in Medicare payments to medical providers, which will be used to finance an expansion of health insurance coverage to millions of working families who now lack it. Also, AARP says its membership is about evenly divided among Democrats, Republicans and independents, meaning its endorsement in today’s highly politicized atmosphere could anger many members.

This is a good start, but a better report would have noted AARP’s conflict of … Continue Reading

The November 2nd Associated Press article by David Espo, AP sources: House health bill totals $1.2 trillion, is a great start at honest reporting on the true costs of the House health care bill. Espo reports:

The health care bill headed for a vote in the House this week costs $1.2 trillion or more over a decade, according to numerous Democratic officials and figures contained in an analysis by congressional budget experts, far higher than the $900 billion cited by President Barack Obama as a price tag for his reform plan.

While the Congressional Budget Office has put the cost of

… Continue Reading

Associated Press reporter Laurie Kellman’s October 25th article, “Patients—and patience—in health care end game,” contains a big whopper. In an article otherwise devoted to chronicling the political back-and-forth of health care negotiations, she writes:

In a time of lingering recession, there is no more compelling pocketbook issue than health care overhaul. It’s an effort that’s intensely personal because it could affect every American.

How is the statement that health care is the most compelling pocketbook issue facing Americans justified? It’s not. Polling regularly shows the overall economy, job creation, and even deficit reduction are higher priorities than is … Continue Reading

A unattributed October 21st Associated Press article reports:

The industrialized world again in 2007 boosted, rather than reduced, its emissions of global-warming gases, the U.N. reported Wednesday, as international negotiators looked ahead to crucial climate talks in December.

But a search of the Web easily turns up news stories that show 2008 data, referring to numbers compiled by the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (“IWR”). This data, when compared to the IWR’s prior year data, shows that CO2 emissions from the “industrialized world” dropped substantially in 2008 versus 2007 (although the IWR goes out of their way … Continue Reading

An October 21st Associated Press story highlights a push from child-welfare advocates for more money from Washington to combat the problem of child-abuse related deaths. AP reporter David Crary writes:

Armed with grim statistics, experts and activists are mobilizing this week to demand expanded federal efforts — including more money and tougher oversight — to reverse a recent rise in the number of children dying from abuse and neglect. …

“Child abuse and neglect are national problems that require national solutions,” said Michael Petit, president of the Every Child Matters Education Fund. “That means federal lawmakers must work with states to

… Continue Reading

Covering the debate in Congress over whether a government-run health program should created under President Barack Obama’s health care plan, the Associated Press’ Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar asserts on September 25th:

The public option continues to enjoy broad support in opinion polls.

Alonso-Zaldivar then completely fails to actually cite any polling data to back up this claim. To better inform his readers, Alonso-Zaldivar ought to check out the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted Spetember 17-20 by Democrat Peter Hart and Republican Bill McInturff.

They asked 1,005 adults: “Would you favor or oppose creating a public health care plan administered by the federal … Continue Reading

The Associated Press’ Seth Borenstein published an article September 23rd, titled “NASA data: Greenland, Antarctic ice melt worsening.” The story opens, “New satellite information shows that ice sheets in Greenland and western Antarctica continue to shrink faster than scientists thought and in some places are already in runaway melt mode.”

Oddly, there is no mention of “runaway” in either the British Antarctic Survey’s press release or the research paper itself. Yet the lurid conclusion appears in the reporter’s first paragraph.

Although the paper at issue is already, as we see here, being spun as evidence of impending catastrophic sea level … Continue Reading

The Associated Press’s Calvin Woodward published a FACT CHECK: Health overhaul myths taking root August 20th. In it he writes:

THE POLL: 45 percent said it’s likely the government will decide when to stop care for the elderly; 50 percent said it’s not likely.

THE FACTS: Nothing being debated in Washington would give the government such authority. Critics have twisted a provision in a House bill that would direct Medicare to pay for counseling sessions about end-of-life care, living wills, hospices and the like if a patient wants such consultations with a doctor. They have said, incorrectly, that the elderly would

… Continue Reading

The Associated Press’s Calvin Woodward published a FACT CHECK: Health overhaul myths taking root August 20th. In it he writes:

THE POLL: 55 percent expect the overhaul will give coverage to illegal immigrants; 34 percent don’t.

THE FACTS: The proposals being negotiated do not provide coverage for illegal immigrants.

55% of Americans are right and Woodward is wrong. While it is true that H.R. 3200 does not explicitly provide health care for illegal immigrants, no one is arguing that it does. What Americans are concerned about is that the enforcement provisions in the bill are too weak to make sure that illegal … Continue Reading

A unattributed August 18th Associated Press story titled China Mulls Climate Resolution (printed in the Wall Street Journal), reports that China might vow that it will, or at least should, begin reducing its greenhouse gas emissions possibly around 2050. Early in the piece is a one-sentence paragraph, sandwiched between two others:

China is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases and has not set a cap on its emissions, believing it needs to continue to expand its economy and lift millions out of poverty. The country’s stance is expected to be key to a successful December U.N. conference in Copenhagen, which

… Continue Reading

On Monday, police found a Massachusetts woman who had been murdered and her unborn child was cut from her womb. Until a few hours ago, reporters have been calling the baby a “fetus.” For example, take this July 29th AP report: “Police in Worcester, Mass., are trying to figure out who killed an expectant mother, removed a fetus from her womb and dumped her body in a closet. The fetus is missing. …the fetus could survive, but would need immediate medical attention.”

Dictionary.com explains that the term “fetus” refers to a mammal during gestation, particularly in … Continue Reading

The Associated Press reports today (July 21) that California lawmakers may have finally found a way to solve their budget impasse through an agreement that includes major budget cuts. While the details of the budget deals are not yet known, according to the article’s author, Judy Lin, we know what caused the problem in the first place. She writes: “While California has been criticized for spending beyond its means, much of the current deficit can be traced to a steep economic downturn that has robbed the state of tax revenue.”

Certainly it is true that the economic downturn … Continue Reading

The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen is attacking Erica Werner and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP for their July 15th and 16th stories placing a $1.5 trillion price tag on the House Democrat health care plan.

Benen claims they are off by $500 billion since the CBO put a “a roughly $1 trillion cost” on the bill. But it is Benen who has his numbers wrong. The $1.042 trillion number that Benen is probably referring to, is the “net impact of coverage specifications” on page 14 of the CBOs pdf. But that “net impact” to the deficit number … Continue Reading

In her June 21st article entitled “Palin spars with critics over ethics complaints”, Associated Press writer Rachel D’Oro makes the unfounded statement that “the truth (about whether Sarah Palin has violated state ethics laws) is probably somewhere in between” Palin’s denials and her critics’ grievances.

However, while one report suggests that Palin may have “abused her power” (a finding which Palin’s camp says is absolutely not reasonable to conclude from the evidence), even that report said Palin broke no laws.

And the multiple other ethics charges filed against Palin have all been dismissed as without foundation, frivolous, or simply not showing … Continue Reading

Big “news” this past Monday: President Obama has new plans to “save or create” 600,000 additional jobs this summer!

At least that’s what you’d think by scanning today’s headlines. Doug Palmer’s June 8th Reuters piece Obama speeds projects to create, save 600,000 jobs, takes the President’s bait hook, line and sinker: “President Barack Obama said on Monday that accelerated stimulus spending would create or save 600,000 jobs over the next 100 days,” Palmer wrote before parroting White House claims that the spending will quickly lead to new economic activity at national parks, veterans centers and Superfund sites from coast to … Continue Reading

Tuesday April 28 is the feminist invented pseudo holiday, “Equal Pay Day,” so prepare yourself for a rash of misleading articles about systemic workforce discrimination against women. One such article was already released by the Associated Press on April 23, in anticipation of an event being today to mark the occasion.

As almost all of these articles do, it parrots Equal Pay Day planners press releases without providing readers with almost any context or critical analysis:

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney will join cultural and civic leaders to mark Equal Pay Day on Friday and push for passage of the state’s

… Continue Reading

A large Arctic ice mass loss in 2007 was widely reported as proof of man-made global warming, even though NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories attributed it instead to unusual winds. Now, as a April 7, Associated Press story by Seth Borenstein affirms, the massive 2008 gain of Arctic ice mass is being presented not as recovery, but used to perpetuate the meme of a melting Arctic.

That piece, “Arctic sea ice thinnest ever going into spring”, opens with “The Arctic is treading on thinner ice than ever before.” Outside of the improper use of “ever” in the two spots that … Continue Reading