Related: Ever wonder why the Republican party is more scandalous then the Democrat party? And The White House vs NBC with the video to prove it.-For ample evidence that the party affiliation is missing when democrats are in trouble but not republicans from last year.
And in second article CBS doesn't tell you that Limbaugh's approval rating is higher then the Democrat House Leader Pelosi!!!
No Party ID for Murtha, But CBS Tags Critic Flake as '(R)'
Tuesday's CBS Evening News highlighted an ethics investigation of a long-serving House Democrat, but viewers were not clued in to his party affiliation verbally or with any an on-screen notation. Yet CBS slapped a party name on screen as a Murtha critic spoke: "Rep. Jeff Flake (R) Arizona."
Fill-in anchor Maggie Rodriguez avoided Murtha's party as she asserted "there are few politicians as polarizing as Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha" and referred to him as "a powerful member of Congress." In a story which consumed about-two-and-a- half minutes, reporter Sharyl Attkisson also failed to identify Murtha's party.
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Rodriguez teased the story at the top of the Tuesday, March 17 CBS Evening News: "Also tonight, a CBS News investigation. Questions about the actions of a powerful member of Congress and whether defense contractors unfairly got earmarked funds."
She set up the subsequent story: "There are few politicians as polarizing as Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha. Voters in his district love all the federal funding he lines up for projects back home. But critics call him the king of earmarks who wastes a lot of taxpayer money. Now the FBI is taking a close look at some of those projects. More from Sharyl Attkisson in this CBS News investigation."
SHARYL ATTKISSON: Under fire for his earmarking practices, Congressman John Murtha wouldn't grant us an interview today....
Representative Jeff Flake, who's against earmarks of any kind, is calling for an ethics investigation and says it could dwarf the last lobby mess to hit Washington.
ATTKISSON TO FLAKE: This is bigger than the Abramoff scandal?
REP. JEFF FLAKE (R) ARIZONA: In terms of contributions and circular fundraising and the involvement of members, it's much bigger, much bigger.
ATTKISSON: In the coming weeks Murtha will help divvy up new defense earmarks...."
CBS News Poll: Limbaugh Has Higher Favorables than Pelosi
"Limbaugh's Favorable Rating: 19 Percent," shouted the headline at the top of CBS News.com Tuesday night. A look, however, at the PDF of the full CBS News poll results, posted at 6:30 PM EDT Tuesday, pegged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable rating a point lower at 18 percent -- within the margin of error, but evidence Limbaugh is no less popular than the leader of congressional Democrats. (Friday's CBS Evening News highlighted President Obama's 62 percent approval level and a few other results about the bailouts, but didn't mention the Limbaugh or Pelosi numbers.)
CBSNews.com: www.cbsnews.com
CBSNews.com's Brian Montopoli had a news hook with Limbaugh since it was the first time the network asked about Limbaugh (at least in recent years), but his "CBS News Political Hotsheet" post failed to make the contrast with Pelosi, who stood at a mere 10 percent approval a month ago, as he used the Limbaugh finding to expound on the efficacy of the White House attacks on the radio talk show host:
"Over the past few weeks, the White House has been casting right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh as the head of the Republican Party, and based on a new CBS News poll, it appears they may be onto something: According to the poll, Limbaugh's favorable rating stands at just 19 percent, a full 43 points lower than President Obama's."
Montopoli's post: www.cbsnews.com
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Another "Political Hotsheet" posting, by Kevin Hechtkopf, was headlined: "Congressional Job Approval at 30 Percent." Hechtkopf did note, with a matching pie chart:
"[P]ositive views of Democrats in Congress have not translated into a positive opinion of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Thirty-five percent have an unfavorable view of the California Democrat, while 18 percent have a favorable view. Nearly half of all Americans haven't formed an opinion either way." See: www.cbsnews.com
But that post was not on the CBSNews home page.
Limbaugh's unfavorable is at 40 percent, a little higher than Pelosi's 35 percent, but more know or have an opinion about Limbaugh: 41 percent "Don't know" or have "no opinion" on Limbaugh, yet, as noted above, 47 percent offered that reply when queried to assess Pelosi.
The survey, conducted March 12-16, was weighted to count more Democrats than Republicans: 265 Republicans, 442 Democrats and 435 independents.
PDF of the poll findings: www.cbsnews.com
-- Brent Baker"
