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ENCYCLOMEDIA
During
the summer, some talk shows do re-runs of what they refer to as “The Best
of … “ They
may be anywhere from years to weeks old, but they are really eye openers.
With complete conviction, guest talking heads (that were recorded months
or weeks ago) told us things that have already proven to be false.
And they were never called on it! Furthermore, they are still
talking about current events with the same conviction and introduced as
authorities. What is that?
What DO we know and when do we know it? Few of us have any idea of what our government is doing and most of us must rely on the impressions of various media personnel to tell us. Congress produces documents that affect our lives. These documents are read by a particular “expert” who then passes on the “gist” to a reporter who writes a story that is critiqued by an editor.
When it finally gets to us it has been strained through several opinions. True, with the advent of the internet, most of these documents are available to us in their original form but we have become accustomed to getting information chewed, digested and spewed out by the various news sources. There is just so much information out there and so many sources, who has the time or the credentials to always go to the source?
It only takes a few minutes watching a TV news spot to get thoroughly confused. A Democratic Congressperson will state something as absolute, and then is followed by a Republican Congressperson who will state as absolute the exact opposite. They can’t both be right so how do we decide? Fox TV is a blast! It is so far right that the tube in your TV set skews the image 45 degrees. To compensate, it captions itself as always giving both sides. Well, they do. They give both sides from a Conservative/Republican’s point of view.
We
are constantly assailed by propaganda designed to appeal to our self-interest
like the check in the mail that some of us are receiving now. Remember
back when it was announced that everyone would get at least $300 and married
couples $600? Somehow the administration, the media and assorted gasbags
neglected to say that only those who paid taxes would get a refund. It
would have been so simple if they had just added the word taxpayers.
They also neglected to say that many of us at the bottom of the food chain would get nowhere near $300. The media frenzy that was determined to help the un-president sell his tax cut brought untold misery to those who heard, believed and then spent the expected $300 before they got it.
And the propaganda beat goes on to re-elect the non-president and his party with the check itself. First they sent a letter to recipients saying that a check was coming, then a letter saying the amount and finally the check itself. Do you think it is a coincidence that the words, AUSTIN, TEXAS is prominently printed at the top of the check? Or that Tax Relief for America’s Workers is prominently printed near the bottom of the check?
There are a few in the media that have actually told us what the check really means. Read it and weep.
Tax-relief checks actually an advance on next refund If you owe, bill will be $300 or $600 more
by David Milstead
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
July 26, 2001The tax-relief checks that started arriving in mailboxes this week don't have a consumer-warning label, so we're happy to provide one. Warning: This check is not a "rebate" of taxes you already paid. It's an advance on the refund you'll get when you file next April. During the next nine weeks, the Treasury Department will mail about 92 million of those checks, distributing some $38 billion to taxpayers in the first installment of President Bush's 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut. If it's an advance, you ask, does that mean my refund in April will be $300 smaller than it would have been? And if I'm unlucky enough to owe taxes, does that mean my tax bill will be $300 higher? The answer to both questions is yes…
Come to think of it, perhaps the news media have just been to busy to pick up on all the ramifications of the tax “refund” because of their total immersion in Representative Gary Condit. We laud the few pundits that continue to tell it like it is. Check out “We do have a surplus of incompetance” by Molly Ivins.
http://web.star-telegram.com/content/fortworth/columnist/molly_ivins.htm
If the majority of the media ever get sick of “continual Condit,” they might tackle “the year Dubya went AWOL from the National Guard." Hopefully they would pursue that story with all the vim and vigor that they employed when they rooted through Arkansas for anti-Clinton memorabilia. THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!
