When It Doesn't Fit The Preconception, It Doesn't Make The News

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Yesterday I was privileged to listen to a discussion between a political candidate and a reporter regarding the financial meltdown we have all been experiencing for the past two years.  The newspaper that the reporter was associated with has endorsed the opponent of the person to whom the reporter was speaking, so I should not have been surprised either by what was said or what happened next.

The candidate was someone who had firsthand knowledge of exactly what went into the financial meltdown.  He was discussing the pressure put on banks to make loans to people who would not be able to pay them back and the chain reaction those loans caused in the financial sector (and the housing sector) of our economy.  The reporter kept on saying, "Well. what about Wall Street?"  The candidate explained that Wall Street was involved after the loans were made, but that the root of the problem had much more to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than with Wall Street.  The candidate then pointed out that he did not support the Financial Reform Bill because it did not address the problem of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Although this was an 'on-the-record' discussion, I felt as if I were listening to a teacher instruct a student.  The discussion was much more informative than political.

There are stories all over the internet of ACORN showing up at stockholders meetings of major banks in America and threatening them with lawsuits, boycotts, and other things if they did not make loans to people who could not pay them back.  There is also a video at YouTube entitled, "Burning Down The House" which shows the congressional testimony that blocked the reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the George Bush Administration.  The fact that anyone believes that Wall Street is responsible for our economic problems and that the Financial Reform Bill will have any impact on our problems is a result of media spin.  Until we as voters and reporters learn to listen 'past the spin', our decisions will not be based on the facts as they are--they will be based on what the media and politicians tell us in order to advance their political agendas.

I am not surprised that the information given to the reporter was either new to him or that he had not considered it seriously before.  I am also not surprised that the reporter's newspaper printed nothing about the meeting or the discussion between the reporter and the candidate.  I don't know if the reporter actually learned anything or not.  I do know that if the reporter understood what was said to him and did not report it to his readers, he did a disservice to both the candidate and the voters.

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This page contains a single entry by Granny G published on October 29, 2010 1:16 PM.

Cutting Spending By Not Paying Dead People was the previous entry in this blog.

Two Good Sources, Two Opposing Stories, I Have No Idea Who Is Right is the next entry in this blog.

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