Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Media bias


'WAPO': RISE IN GAS PRICES HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH OBAMA


Hot Air's Ed Morrissey helps to clear up the Washington Post'sconfusion over the startling 45 cent rise in gas prices in a single month. What's also of interest, though, is a word found nowhere in the Post's  750-worder; and that word is "Obama." Not once does the Post question, examine, or consider how  White House policies or lack thereof might be exploding the price of a gallon of gas.

There is no crueler tax on the poor than inflation, especially when it comes in the form of energy prices. The poor need to heat their homes and drive their cars just like wealthyWashington Post journalists. We're not talking about an increase in golf lesson-prices here; we're talking about the most vulnerable in our country needlessly getting gouged, thanks mainly to left-wing policies Barack Obama protects and encourages.
The Post mentions that this price spike is the result, in part, of a refinery in Saint Croix no longer refining a million barrels due to a maintenance shutdown. But nowhere does the Post mention the calls (mostly from the right) to build more refineries that would offset these fairly regular and predictable maintenance shut downs.  And who blocks those calls? The left.
What about the president blocking the Keystone Pipeline? What about ANWR? If you recall, one of the primary arguments against drilling in ANWR was that it would take 10 years before production would affect the price of a gallon of gas. That was over 15 years ago. The left has pushed back against nuclear power, the cleanest and cheapest energy available, for decades. The left is currently on a rampage against fracking, which is also perfectly safe and results in clean-burning natural gas.
And still, the Post scratches its head. Still, the Post can't even bring itself to put forth a theory that the overall increase in gas prices since 2008, and this recent spike, might have been avoidable with better White House policies.
There's just no question that the Post does not want to go there. Gas prices are part of the economy, and the media push to protect Obama from the political repercussions of his failed economy is ongoing. The m.o. is always the same: Ignore bad economic news; if the bad news can't be ignored, spin it into good news; or do what the Post does here: Cover a major economic story  as though Obama and his policies have nothing to do with it.


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