The GOP/TPers and the trusty ol' "liberal media" seem to be sharing the same lack of comprehension gene on this one ~ ~ I can understand the GOP/TPers jumping on this, true or not ~ but WTH is wrong with the media??? ~ Sooz

Reality has a bad day at the office
02/05/14 08:00 AM—Updated 02/05/14 08:05 AM
By Steve Benen

The biggest political story of the day yesterday was a Congressional Budget Office report that a few too many Republicans and reporters didn’t understand. Much of the political world apparently forgot that labor supply and labor demand aren’t the same thing, which made it easier for critics of the Affordable Care Act to push a claim that was 100% wrong: “Obamacare to cut over 2 million jobs.”

And if this were simply an instance in which conservatives pushed a bogus attack and the media fell for it, this would become an interesting anecdote in a journalism textbook about media malpractice. But as yesterday progressed, we actually saw a more alarming twist: media professionals suggesting reality doesn’t matter all that much.

Consider these two paragraphs published by Politico mid-day:


Right, because it doesn’t matter if someone lies – what matters is whether the person can get away with the lie.

The New York Times’ Jackie Calmes acknowledged that much of the reporting and Republican rhetoric is “inaccurate” and “false,” but she said the story is a “problem” for Democrats anyway.. “If you’re explainin’,” she said, “you’re losin’.”

A rational public discourse struggles badly under conditions like these.

What possible incentive would a political actor have in this environment to tell the truth, or take the details of public policy seriously, or look at a CBO report before telling the public what it says, if all that really matters in a policy debate is how reality might “look in attack ads”?

Consider this brief series of events yesterday:

* The CBO published a report filled with good news for supporters of the Affordable Care Act.

* Congressional Republicans said the CBO report was filled with bad news for supporters of the Affordable Care Act and much of the media believed them.

* Those who understood reality tried to explain what the CBO actually said.

By yesterday afternoon, we were led to believe that those who were right – those who were telling people the truth, highlighting verifiable facts consistent with reality – were “losing.”

Indeed, as of this morning, there are still many who continue to get the basics of this story completely wrong.

I feel as if circumstances like these come up far more often than they should. There are no “death panels” in the ACA, but some on the right said otherwise, so there’s a public discussion about it. There are no “bailouts” in the ACA, but some on the right say otherwise, so we’re in the midst of a ridiculous debate.

The Obama administration isn’t closing the U.S. embassy to the Vatican; ACORN doesn’t actually exist; there is no IRS scandal; there was no Benghazi cover-up; the government isn’t stockpiling ammunition to be used against civilians; and the Arms Trade Treaty wouldn’t undermine the Second Amendment.

And while all of these truths are very nice, “what matters politically is how they’ll look in attack ads.”

As we discussed a few weeks ago, we can no longer focus on what is true; we must also consider what Republicans and reporters perceive as possibly true – which in turn is what the public will believe, whether it’s accurate or not.

It’s just not healthy to see this in the political system of a global superpower.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/reality-has-bad-day-the-office

I wonder if the GOP/TPers ever think that maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't be seen as puffed-up-with-nowhere-to-spew fools IF they weren't frothing at the mouth to make everything a disaster/controversy ~ ~ seriously, the [intentional???] lack of comprehension should be a total embarrassment for them ~ Sooz

TPM LIVEWIRE
New York Times Editorial Board Tells It Like It Is On That CBO Obamacare Report
Tom Kludt – February 5, 2014, 9:37 AM EST

With Republicans and the media both woefully mischaracterizing the Congressional Budget Office's report on Obamacare, the editorial board of the New York Times did its part Wednesday to set the record straight.

No, the Times reminded, the report did not really say that the health care law will cost 2 million jobs.


What the CBO really said is that, as a result of Obamacare, Americans will choose to stop working jobs simply to receive health coverage. Some might see that as a good thing, as the Times spelled out.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/new-york-times-cbo-obamacare

Here's more ~ I'm thinking you'd have to really work hard to misunderstand this ~ ~ bolding/emphasis below is mine ~ Sooz

Conservatives Seize On Report To Argue Obamacare Is A Job Killer — But The Author Says They’re Wrong
By Sy Mukherjee on February 5, 2014 at 1:42 pm

On Wednesday, Congressional Budget Office (CBO) director Doug Elmendorf refuted the claim that the Affordable Care Act is a job killer — a misleading takeaway from his agency’s new report that is being touted by Obamacare critics.

Testifying before the House Budget Committee on the CBO’s newly released economic projections for the next decade, Elmendorf addressed the report’s finding that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the labor participation rate and the total number of hours worked by an equivalent of 2 million jobs in 2017. According to Elmendorf, that statistic is being taken out of context to suggest that Obamacare will eliminate jobs.

“The reason we don’t use the term ‘lost jobs’ is there is a critical difference between people who like to work and can’t find a job — or have a job that’s lost for reasons beyond their control — and people who choose not to work,” he explained. “If someone comes up to you and says, ‘The boss says I’m being laid off because we don’t have enough business to pay,’ any other person feels bad about that and we sympathize for them having lost their job. If someone says, ‘I decided to retire or stay home and spend more time with my family and spend more time doing my hobby,’ they don’t feel bad about it — they feel good about it. And we don’t sympathize. We say congratulations.”

Even Budget Committee Chairman and former GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan conceded that point in part. “Just to understand, it is not that employers are laying people off,” said Ryan at the beginning of the hearing.

In fact, the CBO report explicitly states that the estimated reduction in labor “stems almost entirely from a net decline in the amount of labor that workers choose to supply, rather than from a net drop in businesses’ demand for labor” and that “there is no compelling evidence that part-time employment has increased as a result of ACA.” Those notions are further supported by economic data on full- and part-time employment trends over the last several years. Simply put, the report finds that Obamacare will reduce the number of people who are forced to work a job merely for the sake of health insurance.

Elmendorf also noted that the ACA is actually expected to boost the economy in the near-term by making health insurance and medical care affordable for the poorest Americans, giving them the freedom to spend money in other areas of the economy. “On balance, CBO estimates that the ACA will boost overall demand for goods and services over the next few years,” states the report.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/05/3252421/elmendorf-debunk-obamacare-job-killer/

Sounds like it's going to be another Republican invented "scandal" that will join Benghazi and the IRS "scandals" on the ash heap of wet dreams that have gone down in flames.

Gone down in flames!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

*Sage goes red in the face, then purple, manages to swallow some blood pressure pills, collapses on the floor and kicks his heels screaming "HAVEN'T, HAVEN'T, HAVEN'T"*.

How could you be so blinded by liberal propaganda that you don't understand that this is just the beginnings of DICTATORSHIP and TYRANNY Jim!