Soledad O’Brien Steps In It – Again

Here’s the thing about biases: they are much more tolerable when a person admits they have it. There’s plenty of examples of biased journalists and news outlets out there that refuse to admit it, but none are quite as bad as CNN host Soledad O’Brien. After being caught using the liberal site Talking Points Memo’s, well, talking points, Soledad again kept embarrassing herself by claiming it is “debunked” that Obamacare cut some $700 billion from Medicare.

Apparently having still not learned her lesson, O’Brien went to battle against Romney surrogate John Sununu (not a good idea). When Sununu brought up the fact that the Ryan and Romney plans would have no effect on anyone 55 or older, but Obama’s cuts to Medicare begin next year, O’Brien boldly proclaimed, “I understand that this is a Republican talking point.”

Well of course it is – because it’s true, Facts aren’t that hard, Soledad. As Sununu said, put an Obama sticker on your forehead if you’re going to keep this up.

Here’s what O’Brien wants you to believe: the $700 billion in cuts to Medicare that begin at the start of 2013 as passed by Obama and the Democratic Congress through Obamacare are just reductions in growth in the program to “pay for tax cuts” (she really gave her bias away with that phrase). Meanwhile, the Romney and Ryan plans would catastrophically cut Medicare in a draconian fashion.

Now here’s the truth: the $700 billion in cuts to Medicare as passed by the Democratic Congress and President Obama are reductions in costs – because it’s a cut to the program. However, those cuts affect the elderly already on the program and are not coupled with any type of reform to keep Medicare as a program sustainable. AT the current rate, medicare could collapse before the end of the decade. The Romney and Ryan plans on the other hand only effects those under 55 and does reform the program to keep it solvent for future generations.

If the truth is a Republican talking point, as O’Brien said, then the talking point Soledad keeps using can only be one thing : a lie.