MYTHS PEDDLED BY THE MEDIA ...

Here's an abbreviated round up of myths peddled by the media, brought to you by Media Matters.

O'Reilly Lies: Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that "the Democrats in charge of the finance committees" resisted efforts by the Bush administration to regulate the mortgage industry. Two points: (1) The Democrats didn't gain control of both "finance committees" in Congress until 2007; (2) Dems who opposed legislation did so because of republican "poison pills" that were added late to the legislation. Read more here ...

O'Reilly Lies (again): On his radio and television shows, Bill O'Reilly advanced the falsehood that "the average autoworker now makes 70 bucks an hour" with pay & benefits. In fact, a recent Barclays Capital analysis reportedly found that the average U.S. autoworker is paid "an average of $55 an hour in wages and benefits." Read more here ...

Sean Hannity Lies (too): Sean Hannity repeated the false GOP talking points that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act spends money to protect the salt marsh harvest mouse and a high-speed rail line between Southern California and Las Vegas. When his guest Rep. Joe Sestak noted that the bill does not contain any language for salt marsh mice or for a specific line between Southern California and Las Vegas Hannity simply replied "Yeah, of course, because you hide it" and threw in a gratuitous remark about Bill Clinton. Incredible. Read more here, or watch it here ...



- Mark