Fox News Cycle: Building a smear, one segment at a time

 

I've been writing about FOX News' campaign to smear Media Matters over at Crooks and Liars for the past three weeks. No low has been too low for them. Fox News is a bit hot under the collar over Media Matters holding them accountable for their lies and distortions while promoting Republicans running for office with free air time and other perks. With the News of the World scandal unfolding in the UK, it's just a matter of time before it unravels here. 

It should disturb everyone -- conservative and liberal alike -- that hacking, breakins, theft of tax returns, and unfounded character smears are part of News Corp's culture. Even as news breaks about former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's tax returns, bank accounts and phone being hacked into (not to mention confidential medical records), it's worth remembering that the man who currently heads up Dow Jones & Co -- Wall Street Journal publisher -- was involved with News of the World and the Times in the years involved. 

I predict this story rolling across the Atlantic into the United States like a category 5 hurricane. Meanwhile, they continue to manufacture stories over there and pretend it's news. 

I'm not much for online petitions as a general rule, but there are some worth their weight in gold. Media Matters and CREW are pushing for a federal investigation into News Corp and the allegations that 9/11 victims were targeted for hacking. You can sign the petition here to ask Congress to open an investigation immediately. Also, you can follow their DropFox program to encourage sponsors to drop ads from their networks here.

Medicaid In Extremis

Three months ago the Republicans opened debate on the FY2012 budget when Rep. Paul Ryan released The Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise. In that plan, he proposed a remaking of Medicaid that would eviscerate the program’s core purpose: provide health care to the most vulnerable.

Many labor under the misconception that Medicaid is health benefit open to any low-income American. In reality, states are only required to cover impoverished children (including those in foster care), pregnant women, some disabled persons, some adults with dependent children, and the elderly. In fact, more than 2/3 of Medicaid spending pays for services for the disabled and elderly; children consume about 1/5 of the total funds with the rest going to adults.

Childless adults, even those with incomes far below the poverty line are not automatically eligible for Medicaid. Nor are the parents of Medicaid-eligible children automatically eligible for coverage. For example, in Alabama, parents’ incomes cannot exceed 24% of the federal poverty line – less than $5000 a year for a family of three. Eleven other states all have income eligibility well below the FPL.

Whatʼs The Matter with Kansas? The 750 Mile Plan (Guest Contributor KSMom)

Once again, the elected officials in Kansas, who are more loyal to their version of the bible than to the citizens they serve, have managed to earn points on the attention meter.

 

Ten years ago it was evolution. Kansas was the first of many states to attempt to remove evolution from its Science classrooms. The good news is this insanity woke up Kansans, who worked to remove the zealots from the state board of education and restore evolution to the Science curriculum. The bad news is most people outside of Kansas donʼt realize this and still assume our kids are taught creationism instead of evolution. And this started the ball rolling for several other states to challenge the teaching of evolution.

Now it looks like Kansas has started yet another ball rolling, this time about abortion. In November, the most radical group of far right (mainly tea party) folks were elected to the state legislature. Thankfully, the state Senate remained more moderate, but they were out shouted by the extremists in the House.