Can we talk? As you know, we like to keep a civil tone here in the Talking Points newsroom. But, hey, let’s be honest: it’s just hard to overstate how profoundly dishonest a person House Majority Leader Dick Armey really is.
Armey is the poster boy for a particularly troublesome Washington phenomenon: because of the canons of journalistic objectivity, it is generally okay to lie brazenly as long as it’s about public policy. (If it’s about your personal life, watch out!)
Why is this so? In general, because every story is supposed to have two sides to it. And journalists are very hesitant to say so when one side’s argument is true and the other’s is simply false. In any case, Dick Armey is a big beneficiary of this rule.
This afternoon he was on CNN lying about the Democrats’ alternative tax plan, and roughing up and/or getting fresh with the truth on a half a dozen other counts as well. (Here’s the transcript.) Maybe it’s time to start spreading the word about just how wretched Mr. Armey’s politics really are. You know, thing like being against Medicare. Stuff like that. Let’s crank up the Talking Points oppo research machinery.
(Normally I don’t like using words like ‘lying’ and ‘dishonest.’ I like to leave words like those to anti-Clinton scum. But for Armey I’ll make an exception.)
And, oh yeah, while we’re at it, this new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities exposes why the Treasury Department’s analysis of the Bush tax bill sounds so good. They changed the scoring methodology, cooked the books, pick your metaphor. Go take a peek.
