The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Bernie Savages the AHCA, is Ignored by MS Press

    By NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 12:04pm |

    Bernie yesterday on Senate floor, The Hill:

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Thursday slammed the plan put forth by Senate Republicans to repeal and replace ObamaCare, saying the legislation "is even worse" than he imagined.

    “The bill Republicans announced today is even worse than expected and by far the most harmful piece of legislation I have seen in my lifetime,” Sanders said in a statement. 

    “This bill has nothing to do with health care. It has everything to do with an enormous transfer of wealth from working people to the richest Americans.”

    Google search "Bernie senate health bill". Last 7 days.  You get links to Salon, the Week, the Hill, Politics USA, Bernie's twitter feed.......hmmmm...

    .....no links to New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, CBS, ABC...?

    ***********************************************

    Do a search on the New York Times search window, for "sanders senate health bill" - last 7 days:

    Zippo, nothing.

    ***********************************************

    If we just do the routine NYT "relevance" search with no date specified, a search for  "Sanders Senate Bill" at The New York Times, we get this very old and NOT relevant 2016 'horse race' stuff from pre-election, at the top:

    The Senate Votes That Divided Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders

    but nothing on his attack on the Republican AHCA Bill, yesterday.

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    OK, but the Washington Post surely covered it, right?

    No.

    Search for "Sanders Senate Bill", at The Washington Post, last 7 days, the only link with Sanders in it is a news blog about his wife 'lawyering up' in Burlington.

    ****************************************************

    Well OK, the lead New York Times article on the GOP Senate Health Bill, with a non-news subjective slant title about McConnell 'losing' must have something about what Bernie or Obama said yesterday...?

    McConnell’s Calculation May Be That He Still Wins by Losing

    No.....

    Check again.  Surely there is mention of Bernie Sanders in there somewhere...the guy described as America's most popular and trusted politician?

    No. No mention.

    ****************************************************

    Obama came out yesterday and said pretty much the same as Bernie.

    ******************************************************

    Hooray!  CNN has a link to the Obama comments right now on its front page.

    *****************************************************

    The New York Times? All News that is Fit to Print?  On Obama's opinion on the destruction of his signature legislation?

    Not on the front page.....not as of noon eastern time Friday.

    After quite a lot of searching, the New York Times did have the Obama story and comments, republished from the Associated Press.

    **********************************************************

    The NYT did have some editorials criticizing AHCA, but none of them mentioned Bernie's or Obama's attacks.

    Or what both called it, not a health care Bill, but a tax cut and wealth transfer to the rich.

    *************************************************************

    It seems now that Bernie Sanders, progressives, and all Democrats agree on something about the assault on the working class and poor by Republicans, the leading proponent and spokesmen for economic justice, Bernie Sanders, can not only not make the front page, he can't even make any page....

    It's like the press is censoring Bernie, deep sixing Obama, not drawing attention to their condemnation of the Republican Party's actions.

     

     

    Comments

    Saw Anderson Cooper do a 10 minute interview with him last night on CNN. Found full videos and summary here quickly by googling:

    ‘Thousands of Americans will die’: Bernie Sanders destroys ‘barbaric’ Trumpcare bill

    Now that I think on it, I see him on CNN and MSNBC a lot, I don't think he bothers with talking to anyone at NYTimes or WaPo, I think he prefers to spread whatever he wants to message on TV. It seems like he has a straight line to producers when he wants to say something, he often shows up soon after something breaks that he wants to message on. And it's not from Congress, not like he got caught walking down a hall or even that he is holding as press conference. Rather, he's usually in a studio, they'll take him anytime he calls and says he wants to be on and seems as if he's already set up to do it.


    by artappraiser on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 2:01pm

    So the NYT doesn't even mention Bernie or Obama in an article about the AHCA the day after both attack it... but it is OK cuz Andersen Cooper and YouTube?

    Bernie's description of the scam should be a lead on the front page. Hillary emails were leads for months and in multiple columns. I honestly wonder if the news media seeks bad government to increase revenue/eyeballs.

    You might want to read about the polls on the lack of voter knowledge of the AHCA  in How Trump and Republicans may get away with hurting millions of people.

    Includes this:

    The Senate bill front-loads the sweet stuff and delays all the painful stuff. The tax cuts kick in immediately; so too does relief from the individual mandate. But the bill holds off on slashing Obamacare subsidies until 2020, well after the next round of congressional elections. And it delays the Medicaid cuts until 2021, right after the next presidential election. So, by design, the law aims to allow Republicans to duck political accountability for taking insurance away from people.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 2:35pm

    Bernie's description of the scam should be a lead on the front page.

    I find that an absurd statement. Even if a newspaper's aim is political (which I would hope is not the case), it would be a really stoopid move, would give those 4 wavering GOP Senators more ammunition to vote yeah.

    I know you know how hated Bernie the commie has become with a large segment of our society. He did it himself, he's proud of the brand.

    Furthermore why would you want an op-ed by one Senator at the top of a newspaper? Have you gone mad? What was wrong with WaPo's massive amount of coverage and analysis yesterday? It basically comes to a lot of the same conclusions. Why insert Bernie's name there to cause more accusations of political preference that the major papers already get?

    I am very surprised you think this. It is basically agreeing with the whole adversarial political press model of Breitbart et.al. I remember you criticizing Lulu for recommending and relying on lefty spin sites, I thought you were against the adversarial model. Don't you see how printing a Senator's opinion as news would be doing that same thing.

    The NYTimes and WaPo are doing just fine, their practice of their "Fourth Estate" role is one of the few things about our system of government that are functioning well right now. I don't want them putting Senator's opinions as their headline. If a Senator switches parties and starts saying something totally opposite of what he's been saying, that I agree should be a headline.

    NCD, it is just this simple: it is sooooo not news that Sanders is against the GOP's ACHA.

    Matter of fact, Cooper giving him 10 minutes yesterday so early on after the bill was released further branded CNN as left partisan, which means more people switching to Fox News. If they had spent that time with a more independent analyst like Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, some of those people might have stayed on CNN and we'd all be better off.

     


    by artappraiser on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 3:59pm

    Dean Heller (R) Nevada, posturing he cannot support AHCA "in its present form" now top front page lead NYT. 

    No Bern....ignored. "Worst legislation in his lifetime".

    This Heller kabuki leads....no, they are not doing "fine", and the Republican strategy is based on them not doing enough.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 5:11pm

    That said, simply by searching the site, I see that Weigel gave Sanders this full page piece at WaPo yesterday:

    Sanders warns of ‘authoritarian direction’ under Trump

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images) Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) warned that the Trump

    David Weigel · Powerpost · Jun 22, 2017

    To tell you the truth, I myself am not that interested in what he is saying because:

    1) I know what his views are

    2) Whatever he's saying, he's going to be preaching to a choir, the people who listen to him are his supporters. And those who aren't interested in what he has to say include many leaning left. So with all the news there is to read these days, figuring out what he is saying is not at the top of my priority list. I'm glad that the NYTimes and WaPo don't spend a lot of reporter man hours on what his opinions are.

    What his opinions are, and what Obama's opinions are, are: op-eds, punditry. Furthermore with Bernie, he has specifically made himself a brand, so you know what to expect from him on most issues.

    If they've got news, that's another thing.

    And actually Bernie was making news yesterday, I saw it covered a lot yesterday that his wife has lawyered up: 

    Jane Sanders Lawyers Up @ Politico, June 22

    The strange story behind the federal investigation that has rattled Burlington, Vermont, and put Bernie and Jane Sanders on the defensive

    I guess I really don't like your suggestion that he should be getting more coverage than he already does. The presidential campaign is over.  If I am going to listen to what Senators think, I'd like to hear from other ones. I'd rather reporters dog some of the other Senators more. But then I'm not into fanning political polarization.

    I do think it is important news when Obama speaks out because of the "ex-presidents don't comment on presidents" tradition. And personally I think his opinion is worth reading much more than Sanders because he has the support of a much bigger segment of the electorate than Sanders does, and he is no longer in "campaign" mode.


    by artappraiser on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 2:42pm

    I agree AA. Sanders gets plenty of coverage. There's a segment of liberals that are pushing for Hillary to shut up and go away at the same time they want to make Sanders the spokesperson for the democratic party. He's an important person who has a voice but he doesn't speak for the party. As good as he did in the primary he still lost by a large margin. Let us not forget that Hillary not only defeated Sanders but also won the general by 3 million votes and it was only an archaic undemocratic provision of the constitution that awarded the presidency to the loser. Like it or not Hillary, as demonstrated by the voters, is more representative of the democratic party than Sanders.


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 2:59pm

    BTW here are the stories you claim weren't there @ WaPo and NYT, needed Bernie to tell it instead:

    New York Times Analysis:

    Shifting Dollars From Poor to Rich Is a Key Part of the Senate Health Billl

    by Margot Sanger-Katz, JUNE 22, 2017

    which i see is being picked up by a lot of regional papers today.

    ------

    A.P. run @ Washington Post:

    Senate GOP health bill: Tax cuts for rich

    by Stephen Ohlemacher, June 23

    -----

    Washington Post analysis:

    How Trump and Republicans may get away with hurting millions of people

    By Greg Sargent,, June 23

    -----

    and by Googling I find that the Washington Post did a lot of prepping on the "tax cuts for the rich: angle before the bill was even publicly released:

    The simple reason the Senate has been keeping its health-care plan a secret

    Washington Post - ‎Jun 21, 2017‎

    That's because they are required by rule to cut more in spending than they cut in taxes as a result of the way they're trying to pass their plan with just 51 votes in the Senate. So as long as the GOP's top priority is getting rid of the taxes on the ...

    Is there anybody actually in favor of the Senate health-care bill?

    Washington Post (blog) - ‎Jun 22, 2017‎

    If Republicans want big tax cuts for the rich, they should propose them (won't they do so in the tax bill anyway?) and not make Medicaid and coverage under Obamacare worse. Ironically, the bill does reveal something quite remarkable: Republicans know ...

    The Latest: Medical groups find fault with Senate plan

    Washington Post - ‎17 hours ago‎

    WASHINGTON — The Latest on Senate Republicans' health care bill (all times local):. 10 p.m.. Medical organizations and other interest ... He also says it “hands enormous tax cuts to the rich and to the drug and insurance industries, paid for by ...

     

     


    by artappraiser on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 3:54pm

    Good links, hope people read them.

    Still believe it is inxceusable to ignore Bernie without any news report on his Senate speech, and Obama relegated to back pages.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 5:17pm

    Probably all water over the dam given the breaking news  about Senator Heller, whose opinion is more important to the reality of what may happen.

    Think I'm going back to spending time on the news....


    by artappraiser on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 4:10pm

    Hope I am wrong, but this may be more dissimulation, head fakes,  and the standard GOP practice of sowing confusion and blowing smoke.

    My bullshit meter is saying McConnell will jam it through next week, saying "it's better now, fixed" and the tax cuts on the rich funding health care, and Medicare also, which cuts are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2017, will be a done deal.

    As I have noted before, you can cut taxes with reconciliation, by cutting safety net spending like Medicaid to balance the budget impact-over 10 years according to the rules-you cannot RAISE taxes without 60 Senate votes, control of the House and the Presidency.

    This will be a slam dunk for protecting the rich if it passes.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 5:37pm

    I really appreciate this piece NCD.  Thank you.  I agree that the NYT and WaPo - which by the way (shameless self-promotion alert) will be publishing an op-ed I wrote this Sunday - have largely ignored Bernie.  But, I do think CNN has been pretty good about giving him an audience and even at MSNBC (home of Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, and Joy Reid - collective yuk), Morning Joe and Chris Hayes have provided Bernie with a good deal of air time.


    by HSG on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 6:56pm

    Thanks Hal. I don't watch TV News (stopped in 2003-"OIF cheerleading"), good to hear they have been giving Bernie time on it. 

    Congratulations on the op-ed will watch for it!

    If the Republicans push this through I will call the NYT to complain and cancel,  telling them I am tired of them playing the sucker for the GOP......this time with the articles I linked, on Heller, and the 'McConnell wins if he loses" bs, and not headlining Bernie.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 9:03pm

    Robert Reich:

    Bad enough that the Republican Senate bill would repeal much 

    of the Affordable Care Act. 

    Even worse, it unravels the Medicaid Act of 1965 – which, even before Obamacare, provided health insurance to millions of poor households and elderly.

    It’s done with a sleight-of-hand intended to elude not only the public but also the Congressional Budget Office.....

    For years, Republicans have been looking for ways to undermine America’s three core social insurance programs – Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. The three constitute the major legacies of the Democrats, of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson. All continue to be immensely popular. 

    Now, McConnell and his Senate Republican colleagues think they’ve found a way to unravel Medicaid without anyone noticing.

    Don’t be fooled. Spread the word.


    by NCD on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 9:59pm

    This reminded me of Alan Grayson a few years back on the House floor. He represented the 9th Congressional District in Florida.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Grayson

    Grayson attacked the repubs for proposing that they wished to kill people.

    He was attacked for this speech and other speeches.

    (I recall Weiner at this point in history)

    Alan has been accused of beating his wife and other things.

    But at the time, he WAS RIGHT.

    THE REPUBS AND THEIR PLANS WILL KILL FOLKS.

    I really think and feel that repubs appear to believe that we are all going to die anyway.

    hahahahahah

    Although, THIS AINT FUNNY.

    Shakespeare could not have created a more sorrowful tragedy.

    Not with the millions of folks facing heaven's door.


    by Richard Day on Fri, 06/23/2017 - 11:19pm

    Butttt.... Rand Paul is running away from the Better American Healthcare Euthanasia Law......not stingy enough......while of his fellow Kentuckians, half are on Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare.


    by NCD on Sat, 06/24/2017 - 1:26pm