In his report on today's release of Uncle Sam's February Monthly Treasury Statement, Christopher Rugaber at the Associated Press today did almost all he could to ensure that his wire service remains deserving of the nickname yours truly gave it several month ago: "The Administration's Press."
Rugaber's primary sin of omission ensures that readers, listeners and viewers at AP's subscribing outlets will probably not learn that February's deficit, at a rounded $232 billion, was the highest single-month shortfall in U.S. history. But four years ago in March 2008, during the final year of George W. Bush's presidency, the wire service's Jeannine Aversa somehow found space to note the record-breaking nature of that year's $176 billion February deficit:
Rubager didn't, as seen in the first three paragraphs of his report today:
It's hard to imagine how the double standard and the embarrassing lengths to which the self-described Essential Global New Network will go to protect Barack Obama and his administration from as much of the impact of bad news as it can could be more obvious.
There are several more problems with Rugaber's report, including his failure to note how certain items in the Monthly Treasury Statement seem to indicate that economic growth may be slowing down a bit. That will have to wait until tomorrow.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
