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April 29, 2005
The predictable media response
Of course as details of President Bush's ideas for reining in the unsustainable growth in Social Security benefits emerge, the media is going to fall all over itself to portray this as an effort to "cut benefits." See today's "Today's Papers" at Slate for a field guide. But in the self-righteous minds of the leftists who write the mainstream media headlines, it's hard self-sacrificing work to be biased against the president. As Slate's Eric Umasky puts it, "The [President's] rhetoric left papers in a tight spot, forced to contradict the president if they were going to give readers a clear and honest account." You see, it's "clear and honest" to pretend that today's promised benefit accelerations are able to be delivered costlessly and risklessly, and Bush is being unclear and dishonest to fail to characterize reining in those undeliverable promises as "benefit cuts." It's Bush who's being clear and honest here: clearly and honestly admitting that promises made in the past can't be fulfilled in the future. Them's the facts, and he's had the courage to say them.Posted by Don Luskin at April 29, 2005 8:01 AM | Print
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