That’s “Moderate”?

If there’s ANY doubt as to whether the mainstream media is biased, reports about the federal budget deficit show us again that they, well, ARE biased.

Take, for example, the move to cut Federal spending in reaction to the Katrina cleanup. After many years of fiscal insanity, some brave congresspeople stood up and said No, against their leadership. For once, this “offset” movement got some traction. If taxpayers are going to pay to aid the Gulf Coast to the tune of, say, $200 billion, at least we can cut spending elsewhere, was the argument put forth by Rep. Pence and others.

This wasn’t a “conservative” thing. Heck, Rep. Pelosi’d – House Minority Leader – offered some pork for her district up in this whole debate. No conservative, she.

Jeez, Louise, the federal budget deficit is over $300 billion, which is 3% of GDP.

And, yet, news reports like this one call those who wanted to trim back the offsets (and necessarily to balloon the deficit MORE) are called “moderate.” Of course, the story gets a bit muddled, since part of the package included offshore oil drilling.

It’s this sort of irresponsibility that led me to cancel all newspaper subscriptions and rarely watch TV news. When a reporter tells you he or she is “objective,” ask him or her for a definition of “moderate.”

I consider myself a moderate, and a moderate would, it seems to me, want balance, starting with the Federal budget. There’s nothing “moderate” about saddling generations to come with the irresponsible red ink that just keeps flowing out of Washington.

-Robert Capozzi