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In response to Wednesday's column by Tom Crawford: Which is worse? Dishonesty or bias?
We have a word for a "journalist" who uses his position in the media to express only one side of a story: biased. His column written in The Times portrays only one part of the debt problem in the U.S., that apparently taxes have been too low for the past 10 years.
Except that revenues to the federal government increased after the Bush tax cuts took effect in 2003, and unemployment was at statistical zero for six of the eight years Bush was in office, even after the recession his administration inherited and the recession after 9/11.
And it is true that debt increased during those years. But the problem wasn't revenue. It was spending.
Guess what? Spending is still the problem. Even with people out of work, revenue to the federal government is pretty high. The problem is that spending is still too high and going higher. Just look at the omnibus spending bill proposed by Congress. Over $1 trillion in new spending, proposed at a time when the government is about to run out of money to operate.
And by not mentioning spending, Crawford is showing his bias. Biased media got President Barack Obama elected. Biased media hammered President George W. Bush. And biased media is largely responsible for the ignorance that abounds in our society.
Tell the whole story. That's not only honest, it's what real journalists do.
Jon Richard
Braselton