04.14.23
Pathological Media Amnesia – CBS NEWS
- It is almost as if you completely forgot covering this very issue months earlier.
It was with head-shaking inevitability that we learned the Jose Biden administration was altering IRS standards so that now private businesses making side venture transactions on payment platforms such as Venmo would have to report the revenue this year. Scott MacFarlane has taken a respite from his January 6 obsession to detail how small businesses will be affected by the new move.
Starting next year, a new IRS rule will require anyone earning over $600 on payment apps, like Venmo, in 2023 to receive a 1099-K form. The old threshold was earning $20,000 over 200 transactions. pic.twitter.com/TaygGwFBep
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) April 12, 2023
Tellingly, we get no notification of how this basically defies the message from the White House that the massive spending increase at the IRS and the hiring of a new army of hundreds of thousands of agents were not going to impact the middle class and entrepreneurial business owners. Funny, because we were told that very detail – from CBS News.
Say, @MacFarlaneNews? Any chance you would want to note how the administration lied its asses off regarding the new IRS agents were not hitting the middle class??
— Brad Slager: Just Watching Walls Moving Out... (@MartiniShark) April 14, 2023
Here is a pull quote from last October where they pledged they would not be doing THIS VERY THING. https://t.co/Fl1iAaPqsU pic.twitter.com/dTz4CMVSWQ
Race to the Bottom – MSNBC
Recommended
- Really, Chris – there was no better analogy for this segment?!
The idiocy behind almost all "dog whistle" accusations is that there is always the desperate attempt to inject the accusation of racism when there is none intended. It is for this reason that leveling the charge toward the left is not favored, yet the insistence upon it by the press means it needs to be pointed out when the accusation could be warranted, as a teachable moment, if for no other reason.
It is a classic case of "Hey, your rules" being employed.
Chris Hayes had some critical things to say about Senator Tim Scott and his stance on abortion. Okay, fair enough so far. But we have to point out that it is rather assured – if not outright promised – if anyone on the right were referring to a black Democrat and used the "not very good at swimming" reference, there would be no shortage of accusations being heard in the press. Hell, Joy Reid would get a week's worth of material out of that!
"Tim Scott's answers were like the rhetorical equivalent of watching someone who is not very good at swimming—like a kid who’s just learned—desperately flail about in a pool looking for something to hold on to so they don't drown," says @chrislhayes on Scott talking abortion. pic.twitter.com/qYfNhrTXT8
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) April 14, 2023
Low Octane Gas Lighting – VOICE OF AMERICA
Sometimes the best course of action is not to say anything at all. (Just ask the folks at Anheuser-Busch.) In a dose of pure amusement, Amanda Bennett, CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, came out with a statement from the State Department where she decried that Elon Musk attached the cursed label State-funded Media to the Twitter account of Voice Of America.
We completely reject the implications of the label ‘government-funded,' said Bennett, according to a State Department transcript. 'Of course we’re government-funded, but it’s potentially misleading.'
To clarify, VOA is operated by USAGM. It is completely funded by the federal government. Soooo…she completely rejects the message sent by a label that is 100% accurate.
The head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, a news agency funded entirely by the U.S. government, said it is "very misleading" for Twitter to label it a "government-funded" organization.
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) April 13, 2023
Via @ChuckRossDC https://t.co/MNp0WvKhvf
Presentation Paradox – NBC NEWS
The big news in Florida was the passage and signing of the new abortion law in the state. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law last night – but if you hear Matt Dixon tell it, this news very nearly would have been missed had it not been for his intrepid work to ferret out this nugget of information.
NEW: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs legislation into law that will ban most abortions after six weeks in the state. https://t.co/A8mRroQtPq
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 14, 2023
According to Dixon, this was done "quietly," with "no fanfare," as the notification was made "late in the night." Of course, this alleged subterfuge is not so devious when you come to realize he has made no secret of signing the bill, declaring long ago he would do so if it passed the legislature.
Also, the signing was hardly a hidden affair, considering the crowd, the media in attendance, and his sending out notice on his account.
Signed the Heartbeat Protection Act, which expands pro-life protections and devotes resources to help young mothers and families. pic.twitter.com/quZpSj1ZPk
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) April 14, 2023
Artisanally-Crafted Narratives – THE HILL
On the subject of DeSantis-dysfunction and legislation sending the press into the vapors, there was also a new piece of policy regarding toughening immigration enforcement in the state. Over at The Hill, this was seen as a dire move against immigrants. Not the ILLEGAL immigrants, as stipulated in the bill, but seemingly all immigrants.
Of course, there was a list of those who opposed this desire to enforce our laws. Democrats, to be certain, but also a number of organizations oppose this plan.
Faith leaders, civil rights groups, chambers of commerce, and others have come out against these draconian measures because they will slow economic growth, reduce our workforce, hurt small businesses, drive up inflation, and deeply damage our international tourism.
Note that we get no specific measures being opposed, no direct quotes from members or spokespersons, nor any individuals from such going on the record – we do not even get names of these groups in Florida who allegedly oppose the measures. That is because reporter Rafael Bernal did not speak to any individuals or even reach out to such groups – he simply gives us that passage from the claims of a lone Democratic politician, Nanette Barragan.
Who is from California.
Hispanic Democrats rail against DeSantis immigration crackdown https://t.co/zbqyDqXl8Z pic.twitter.com/s0afGoyPDB
— The Hill (@thehill) April 12, 2023
