Sibby Online

Misleading with headlines

The MSM frequently misleads with headlines. Take this ABC News headline, "Congress Passes Budget That Cuts Medicaid". Here is the opening to the report:

A $2.6 trillion budget outline barely approved by Congress will cut projected spending on Medicaid for the poor, lock in tax cuts and Republicans claim put the country on a path toward lower federal deficits.

Democrats unanimously opposed the spending outline passed late Thursday. They said the budget reflects the president's misplaced priorities by freezing or trimming health, education and agriculture programs while cutting taxes by as much as $106 billion over five years.

Rush Limbaugh helps us understand the truth about ‘trimming’:

You ever wonder why they hate Tom DeLay? What is he considered? "The Hammer". He's "abusive". Tom DeLay will tell you what he thinks. Anybody in our culture that tells you what they think is considered abusive and is a threat, and here's the real reason, one of many, that they really hate Tom DeLay. It's an Associated Press story. You know, we have a $2.6 trillion budget that just narrowly passed in the Congress, 2.6 six trillion. What are the caterwauls from the left about this? "Cuts. Draconian cuts. Inhumane, unfair cuts." And they're focusing today on cuts in Medicaid. Medicaid cuts? "Why it's just unseemly. I can't believe this president would do it." Nothing's been cut. How in the world do you cut things when we're spending $2.6 trillion? We've never spent $2.6 trillion in a year before. This budget is $2.6 trillion. Tell me what's being cut? Nothing is being cut. We may reduce the rate of growth in things, that may be happening in Medicaid, the rate of increase in benefits may be reduced. It's Medicaid and it's a 1% reduction in the rate of growth, a 1% reduction in the rate of growth. It's not a 1% cut of anything. Instead of going up 12%, it's going to go up 11%. Or instead of ten, eight, nine percent. Whatever the number is going up, it's going up by minus 1%. And so Washington is all over the place. "Oh, no, this is horrible. It's a cut!" It's not a cut. It's a reduction of the rate of growth.

"Congress narrowly passed $2.6 trillion budget plan Thursday, cut back spending on the Medicaid healthcare program for the first time since '97. In a step toward trimming federal deficits, DeLay says, 'It's time to trim popular but wasteful programs.'" That's why they hate Tom DeLay. Time to trim them. Trim them. They're still going to grow. They're going to grow faster than your kid. They're going to grow faster than the weeds in your yard. They're just not going to grow as fast as they used to and yet, "Oh, no, Mabel! Why, it's all over for us. There's a 1% reduction in the rate of growth of Medicaid. We are screwed." It's this kind of thinking that actually gets in the way of real budget reform, but that's why they hate DeLay, because he advocates stuff like this.

Trimming means slowing down the growth rate. It is not a cut as the MSM uses as a lie in their headlines. You will also see the Democrats reinforce the lie.

Here is an excerpt that substantiates Limbaugh’s point:

Democrats have targeted most of their political criticism to the GOP's cuts to Medicaid spending. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California said the ranks of Medicaid users only increase as more Americans lose health coverage.

Republicans say Medicaid spending will continue to rise annually despite changes intended to trim $10 billion.

Sex Ed or far-left indoctrination

Today’s Argus Leader covers a debate between School Board candidates on the merits of sex education:

Candidates for the Sioux Falls School Board differ on whether sex education should be taught in schools.

Two said it should be a part of public education, and one said the process in place now allows parents to remove their children from the class when that discussion takes place. Two others were less supportive of teaching the topic in schools.

Amy Willis, a mother of three boys who attend private school, said it should not be taught in school at all."I do not agree with sex education in the school," she said.

John Stratman, an insurance salesman with grown children, said if it is taught, abstinence should be an integral part of the lesson. Stratman is on the board of directors of the Abstinence Clearinghouse and the Alpha Center."Parents should be aware of what is taught in class," he said. "A lot of what is taught isn't appropriate for fourth-, fifth- or sixth-graders."

Darin Daby, a banker with two children, said parents have the right to take their children out of those classes if they don't think they are ready for the discussion.

Actually sex education is the wrong label for the curriculum. Planned Parenthood provides us with proof that the curriculum is actually far-left indoctrination:

Abstinence-only education is one of the religious right's greatest challenges to the nation's sexual health. But it is only one tactic in a broader, longer-term strategy. Since the early 1980s, the "family values" movement has won the collaboration of governments and public institutions, from Congress to local school boards, in abridging students' constitutional rights. Schools now block student access to sexual health information in class, at the school library, and through the public library's Internet portals. They violate students' free speech rights by censoring student publications of articles referring to sexuality. Abstinence-only programs often promote alarmist misinformation about sexual health and force-feed students religious ideology that condemns homosexuality, masturbation, abortion, and contraception. In doing so, they endanger students' sexual health.

Mona Charen has a column that shows how the MSM is helping promote the far-left indoctrination:

Last month, the leading lights of journalism reported (with a trace of smugness) the results of a study showing that adolescents who took a pledge of sexual abstinence were almost as likely as those who took no pledges to contract sexually transmitted diseases.

The Washington Post noted that the report "sparked an immediate, bitter debate over the wisdom of teaching premarital abstinence." Bill Smith, vice president of the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, crowed, "Not only do virginity pledges not work to keep our young people safe, they are causing harm by undermining condom use, contraception and medical treatment."

A Nexis search of the words "abstinence," "pledge" and "STDs" brought up 60 hits for the past 90 days, beginning with the Village Voice's contribution "F--- Abstinence" and ranging through the big networks and major newspapers.

Most conveyed the lesson in the headline, such as that of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Abstinence-only programs fail and deceive our kids, says Stacey I. Young." There were dozens of stories touting a related finding that those who pledged to abstain from sex were more likely than others to engage in anal or oral sex.

Yet the results of a new study showing that abstinence programs do work to reduce sexual behavior get only two hits on Nexis -- one a UPI story and the other a PR Newswire item. So much for the idea that the media are no longer dominated by liberals.

These people are not liberals. They are far-left extremists who use public education to indoctrinate our youth with their ideology. That was one of the tactics used by Hitler.

Herseth goes anti-family

Stephanie Herseth votes against parents’ rights:

Democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Herseth voted against the Republican majority in the latest bill aimed at curbing abortions.

The measure that passed the House Wednesday 270 to 157 would make it illegal to take minors across cross state lines for an abortion. The House bill would impose fines, jail time or both on adults who accompany minors across state lines to get around parental notification or consent laws. South Dakota and 29 other states have enacted such laws.

The bill would also penalize doctors who perform the procedure under such conditions. And in states without parental notification laws, the House bill would require abortion providers to notify a parent.

The Senate plans to consider a similar bill today.

Thune on Hannity & Colmes

After tonight’s press conference by President Bush, Senator John Thune was the first guest on the Fox News program Hannity & Colmes. Thune did a fantastic job of supporting what the President said about the private accounts for Social Security. President Bush was the point man, but John Thune nailed the three-pointer.

NPR was wrong

From Human Events:

National Public Radio has been caught in an anti-conservative smear and forced to apologize.

On Tuesday, NPR issued a correction and apology to Mark Levin, author of the New York Times bestseller Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. According to Levin's publisher, Regnery, a recent broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day" program falsely accused Levin of advocating violence against judges.

Yesterday's NPR apology stated: "We have a correction [that] concerns a conversation we aired on April 5 about denunciations of the judiciary by certain conservatives in the wake of the Terry Schiavo case. After noting that a U.S. senator had explicitly linked violence against judges to judicial activism, we then turned to a critique of a book by Mark Levin, called Men in Black. We want to make clear that Mr. Levin's book does not discuss either violence against judges or the Terry Schiavo case, and we regret any error or confusion that resulted from our story that day."

Mr. Levin responded by saying, "While I accept NPR's apology and correction, its broadcast was illustrative of a smear campaign launched by the Left to try to silence my criticism of judicial activism. I continue to challenge those who support government by judiciary to debate this issue on the merits."

Ingraham’s surgery a success

From the New York Post:

Breast-cancer surgery on conservative radio host Laura Ingraham appears to have been a success, her surgeon said yesterday.

"[It] couldn't have gone better," Dr. Katherine Alley said on Ingraham's Web site. She added that initial testing showed no signs the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes.

Inhraham, 40, was diagnosed with the disease last Friday. The operation took place at a hospital in Bethesda, Md.

The right not to be offended?

From Rush Limbaugh:

Now, the Constitution -- and again this is for those of you on the left -- the Constitution prevents a government religion being imposed on you, as it was in England. It doesn't say that you're not to be offered the opportunity to be religious, and it doesn't say that you're not to be offended from religious symbols. There's no constitutional right that you won't be offended. It's not there. Now, give liberal judges enough time and it will be enshrined in the Constitution, that we all have a right not to be offended and wait till we start litigating that. But it's not there now. You do not have a right not to be offended from religious symbols or references to God. And so since you're not to be offended, you're not going to allow yourselves to be offended, you have to purge from public aspects of society all of these things that offend you, because you have appropriated to yourselves a right not to be offended. But if you don't want to practice religion then don't practice it.

I guarantee all of you secularists and leftists out there, you would have hated America just as much prior to the time when the Supreme Court in 1947 ruled that there's a wall of separation between church and state. Do you know that's the first time that it was actually ruled? We think that it's in the Constitution, a wall of separation and it's not there. There's no such thing. This is another example of how the Constitution has been bastardized by liberalism. There's no such thing in the Constitution. It was in 1947. It's not that long ago, a Supreme Court decision that found a wall of separation between church and state. A bunch of libs. So, you could go back, you libs could go back prior to that, back to 1945, and you still would be confronted with religious people, they were all over the place, they've been all over this country ever since it was founded. So even after the Supreme Court says, "There is a wall of separation between church and state," you're still afraid, even though the Supreme Court's given you what you want, the so-called wall, but somehow the wall doesn't seem to be stopping the religious. So you've got to jump over the wall and you've got to stop them yourself when it comes to nativity scenes or whatever.

Dems out of line on protest

From today’s Mitchell Daily Republic editorial:

Sen. John Thune is receiving all kinds of advice on Social Security these days - and very little of it is constructive.

Most of the comments fit one description: Don’t change Social Security.

Former state lawmaker John McIntyre, Sioux Falls, exemplifies those who oppose any private accounts for Social Security - and a surprisingly cavalier attitude about the seriousness of the situation. McIntyre was quoted in an Associated Press story Wednesday [see this post] as saying, "We’d like to have the facts. And the facts we see is that Social Security is not in crisis."

Not today, it isn’t.

And not tomorrow, either.

But to say that Social Security doesn’t face a looming crisis is to ignore the facts. In 15 to 17 years, more money will be paid out of the system than is contributed through taxation. Although there are differing estimates as to exactly when this will occur, the stark truth is that as more people retire and the ratio grows of those taking out compared to those paying in, the integrity of the system will be compromised.

What we’re seeing from many quarters is a reaction against change, but with no proposals to fix the problem.

For those who are 73, as McIntyre is, Social Security remains a nice safety net. But for those "Baby Boomers" who are 20 years younger, the Social Security Trust Fund no longer holds the guarantee that McIntyre enjoys. The scenario worsens for the children of the "Boomers."

"…the Social Security Trust Fund no longer holds the guarantee that McIntyre enjoys"…at least one paper in the State recognizes the Democrat’s lie that the Social Security benefits are guaranteed.

Roger Andal responds

Today I received a third email from Roger Andal:

Steve,

Your research is incomplete. I also was State coordinator for Veterans for Kerry in 2004. State coordinator for Veterans for Gore in 2000. I supported these gentlemen because of their experience and because of their concern for their fellow veterans. You need not apologize for your lack of understanding of veterans issues as veterans never assume folks like you who are sunshine patriots truly understand what it is like to give of yourself to live in America.

You mention John McCains vote on the Murray amendment, why did you not mention Senator Arlen Spector's vote which was opposite that of McCain and Thune, or is Spector so far to the left that you don't consider him a republican. Rep. Chris Smith R, who is pretty far to the right is one of the best supporters of veterans in congress, is that why the unindited coconspirator Delay had him stripped of his chairmenship of the House veterans Committee and removed from the committee. Face it Steve, some of you republicans just want a free ride - and you hate the idea that you may owe veterans something for their sacrifice.

Have a nice day - little less caffeine!

Roger L. Andal

There you have it. There is no doubt that Roger Andal is a far-left elitist who is nothing more than a shill for the Democrat Party. The South Dakota MSM should be disclosing these facts when they quote Andal.

Also note that Andal failed to respond to the fact that the Swift Boat Vets are on my side. Andal represents the agenda of the Democrats more so than he does Veterans.

Kranz couldn’t wait

In my previous post, I predicted how the South Dakota MSM will cover Roger Andal’s upcoming protest. David Kranz could not wait as he promoted the protest in his Argus Leader column today:

Some South Dakota disabled veterans upset with Sen. John Thune's health care votes are proving to be a thorn in his side.

They will protest his votes Saturday outside the Minnehaha County Lincoln Day Dinner at the Ramkota.

David Kranz frequently quotes Andal and he do so again today:

State DAV Commander Roger Andal said Thune cast three votes against veterans issues in his first 100 days in office. Two dealt with a health care amendment to a supplemental spending bill. The other would have added $2.9 billion to veterans care.Andal also wants Thune to help move mandatory health care legislation.

"John Thune is on the Veterans (Affairs) Committee and says he supports assured veterans funding, but it isn't important to him because he won't sign on to the bill. I told him, 'It is in your committee. It is your job to get it on to the Senate floor,' " Andal said.When Thune's staff said the senator opposed the health care assistance amendment because it was "not germane" to a supplemental budget, Andal asked: "So what is germane? Not taking care of them when they come home?"

Thune's staff said Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, former prisoners of war, voted as Thune did on the bills.

But Kranz did not mention that Andal was district manager for Daschle when he was elected to the House or any of the many details I provided in my previous post. When the Argus Leader used me in their October 2004 propaganda piece on Linda Daschle, they described me this way:

Mitchell accountant Steve Sibson, a Thune supporter and constant critic of Sen. Daschle on an Internet log, is among those who question her connections.

Why didn’t Kranz describe Andal as a Daschle supporter and constant critic of Sen. Thune?

Yesterday I sent an email to Kranz regarding his report on the Social Security protest:

South Dakotans United To Protect Social Security is run by former Daschle staffers including Steve Hildebrand. Did you not know that?

I also copied Argus Leader executive editor Randell Beck when I sent this just before 1PM yesterday. Both men opened the email within 10 minutes. Neither has given me a response.

Here are two more examples of the blatant pro-Democrat bias at the Argus Leader.