CBS' 60 Minutes program, a self-proclaimed "News Magazine" is not news anymore. Viacom (owner of CBS) allows CBS to use the one hour to push their anti-war agenda, and to cross sell for Simon and Schuster (another Viacom company). Nearly every week they're showing stories on the Irag war, but their slant on the war is evident.
Also nearly every week, they conduct interviews with someone who has a book coming out. And, oh by the way, they say "the book is published by Simon and Schuster, a CBS sister company."
Although their pieces on the war can be interesting, and the interviews have been mostly entertaining, it really can't be called news. There is a journalism rule that says those who report the news cannot be the news. CBS violates this rule every time they give slanted war reports, and push books published by their sister company.
Keep watching, as I know I will. But only for the entertainment value, not for any news value. It's simply self-promotion.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Colorado's Referendum C
Well, the voters of Colorado fell for the scare tactics that the Governor and his minions spewed over the past few months. They voted to reverse themselves and let the state government keep our Tabor refunds over the next 5 years.
Gov. Owens joined forces with the tax and spend Democrats to push for passage. Why? Because he and his fellow Republicans couldn't do their jobs in the Statehouse to work with the other side of the aisle and balance the budget. There are too many spending programs and not enough tax revenue. Let's just ask the voters for more money. If we scare them into thinking their roads will fall apart, and their kids won't be able to afford college, they'll vote for it.
Even the major newspapers supported Ref C & D. You could tell before they published their opinion pieces by the cleverly placed "news" articles about how the Department of Transportation (CDOT) couldn't afford to fix roads, how the higher education system was having to raise tuition to record highs, etc. All scare tactics.
Each year when the legislature convenes and argues about budget issues, you'll notice no one talks about the CDOT budget. CDOT's budget is the biggest sacred cow in Colorado. We could fund many humanitarian needs with the excess CDOT spends. How about a special Governor's task force on CDOT spending? Oh, that's right, the head of CDOT is an old pal of the Gov's.
There's no question we won't miss our Tabor refunds. On an individual basis it's not much money. But, this is just the beginning of their plan to totally dismantle the Tabor amendment. Now that the voters have rewarded them for their inability to balance the budget, watch how much more difficult it will become to do so.
Gov. Owens joined forces with the tax and spend Democrats to push for passage. Why? Because he and his fellow Republicans couldn't do their jobs in the Statehouse to work with the other side of the aisle and balance the budget. There are too many spending programs and not enough tax revenue. Let's just ask the voters for more money. If we scare them into thinking their roads will fall apart, and their kids won't be able to afford college, they'll vote for it.
Even the major newspapers supported Ref C & D. You could tell before they published their opinion pieces by the cleverly placed "news" articles about how the Department of Transportation (CDOT) couldn't afford to fix roads, how the higher education system was having to raise tuition to record highs, etc. All scare tactics.
Each year when the legislature convenes and argues about budget issues, you'll notice no one talks about the CDOT budget. CDOT's budget is the biggest sacred cow in Colorado. We could fund many humanitarian needs with the excess CDOT spends. How about a special Governor's task force on CDOT spending? Oh, that's right, the head of CDOT is an old pal of the Gov's.
There's no question we won't miss our Tabor refunds. On an individual basis it's not much money. But, this is just the beginning of their plan to totally dismantle the Tabor amendment. Now that the voters have rewarded them for their inability to balance the budget, watch how much more difficult it will become to do so.
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