Earlier this month USA Today splashed a headline on its front page that declared: “U.S. owes $62 trillion.” I wrote a couple blog posts about it — one on the alarming size of the number and another on its juxtaposition with the Anthony Weiner story. It turns out this number — a staggering debt of $534,000 per household — has caused quite the controversy. James Agresti, president of Just Facts, wrote to me about an editorial from Bloomberg taking USA Today to task for making a miscalculation. That came as a shocker to …
Speaking at yesterday’s Bloggers Briefing, conservative filmmaker Stephen Bannon held up a copy of USA Today to demonstrate the challenge of getting Americans to take seriously this country’s debt crisis. On the front page was a banner headline, “U.S. owes $62 trillion.” Underneath the headline and above the fold was a photo of a tearful Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) from Monday’s late-afternoon press conference. The two stories had nothing to do with each other, but no doubt USA Today had an idea which one was more likely to sell papers. “Look, …
According to a new analysis from USA Today, American households are now on the hook for $534,000 to pay for the county’s debt and the unfunded obligations, or excess costs, for programs like Social Security and Medicare. USA Today reveals the eye-popping numbers for the federal government’s mounting fiscal problems. A staggering $5.3 trillion was added to the government’s tab last year, putting the overall figure at an astonishing $61.6 trillion. The report offers fresh evidence that the time to act is now. Entitlement programs, in particular, are driving the …
Last week we wrote about an item that appeared in USA Today wanting to know your opinion about the meaning and significance of Independence Day: Americans celebrate the values that unite us on the Fourth of July, but today the country seems sharply divided. As the country copes with unemployment, immigration and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, what do you think the nation needs to remember this Independence Day? What are the messages you would like to share with other Americans? Write to letters@usatoday.com by June 21. …
Two days after Tax Day, April 17, USA Today ran an editorial—Tax rhetoric vs. realtiy—that said the Tea Party protesters had nothing to be mad at because taxes are not that high. Here is snippet: Quick now: How big a bite do federal income taxes take out of the average person’s income? 30%? 40%? Even more? Nope. It’s 9.1%.
At National Review Institute‘s Media Malpractice, Heritage senior fellow James Carafano takes the USA Today to task for their sloppy reporting reporting on missile defense: The March 16, 2009 USA Today headline, “Reports question U.S. shield of Europe” by Ken Dilanian fueled an already on going controversy about the future of ground-based missile defense sites that are to be emplaced in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter a potential Iranian long-range ballistic missile threat against Europe and the United States. The headline refers to a report by the Government …
We’re just asking, because the USA Today has the following headline today: No Proof Washington Said ‘So Help Me God’ Will Obama?
