If so, see this thread of mine:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021505195
We Have Got To Be The Dumbest Fucking People On Earth (PBS)

as to the times, they pushed Judy Miller and yellow cake, for one - prime cheerleaders for the Iraq War, with LOTS of blood on their hands re wmd's.

CNN - Wolf Blitzer is the #1 cheerleader for Republican started wars and I believe their polling tends to lead Republican.

Heck, look at the egregious error they were willing to make to give the erroneous impression that any group of people thought Ryan won the debate. Super shoddy, and unsurprisingly, designed to aid the Republican narrative.

Also be sure to point out that CNN was sold by Ted Turner/the former Ms. Jane Fonda.

I'm sure that some of those newspapers are not liberal bastions.
Maybe if she reads enough of them she will better understand what the tradeoffs are.
I liked the Raleigh Durham one in particular. I think they endorsed McCain last time so it might appeal to her.

Searching for it now.

Here's papers which are not the NYT supporting obama

newspaper endorsements
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141490: this is the one I meant in the earlier post.....
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141559
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141558
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141557
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141555

criticizing Romney fantasy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251141449

Is it the Raleigh Durham one?

thats interfering with the link

She needs to think about what is going on where she heard it, and why she believes what she does.

You can try saying it like this:

If the media had a liberal bias you would not be hearing that the media has a liberal bias with none of the networks countering it.

You would be hearing that it has a conservative bias, and none of the networks would be countering it.

I just used fact-check organizations to inform her about aspects of Obamacare.

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/04/realtors-the-3-8-sales-tax-and-247-medicare-premiums/

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp

I found a document put together by the National Association of Realtors, but this is better because it's quicker, shorter.

I think she will find there is nothing much to the right of Fox, and plenty to the left of the NYT.

So by definition NYT must be the center and Fox must be extreme right

I did just ask what her news sources are. With this info I can ask her to make the list.

I really appreciate that she's being so open to the info I'm sending so I'm trying to be very gentle, very respectful. When I visited in 2002 she had a signed photo of her family with VP Cheney on the fridge. I had a hard time staying in the room, but feel this conversation we're having is a good opportunity to push her a teeny tiny bit toward her New England roots.

No "excerpt" formatting on FB so it'll be a bit more difficult for her to read.

We're on a roll! I'm curious...what news sources do you use?

I think I've been politicized by living in such an incredibly poor country. I've become much more progressive, considering the impact of actions on the poorest of the poor and not just me. Not to imply that you're self-centered! Just that my worldview has shifter over the past 14 years. I just gave xxx [my daughter] the "Poverty and Social Justice Bible" put out by Sojourners, to help her understand the difference between Buddhism and Christianity.

I just spend about 45 minutes doing some research, which I've written up below. I don't expect to change your mind, but I do appreciate being able to share my views and this information with you. I haven't touched on everything you wrote so there will be more to follow. Right now I have to go help my kids with homework.

I found out that the National Association of Realtors prepared a document (9http://www.realtor.org/small_business_health_coverage.nsf/docfiles/government_affairs_invest_inc_tax_broch.pdf/%24FILE/government_affairs_invest_inc_tax_broch.pdf) that goes over various scenarios for this tax, which does, in fact exist but in a much different form than I think you’ve been told. A real estate broker summarized the tax as follows (http://www.erichempler.com/real-estate-tax-in-obamacare/):

Back to me writing again. I don’t think the IRS agent hiring info is accurate. When I googled “obamacare irs agents” there were lots of hits from conservative sites talking about it. However, Forbes (not a publication that likes Obama http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2012/07/03/some-tax-few-will-face-obamacare-uninsured-penalty-and-irs-hamstrung-to-collect/) says the IRS will not be enforcing mandate. Here’s just the beginning of the article:



And now me again (not Forbes)... I wanted to double check this IRS agent thing and it seems that it's just flat out not true. From http://www.factcheck.org/2011/02/irs-and-the-health-care-law-part-ii/:



Me, again. So, 17,000 agents, versus 291, is a bit of a stretch!

That's it for now, but I'm not finished! I have yet to tell you what makes me so squeamish about Romney, why I don't trust him past the tip of my nose. And I want to research the small business angle of Obamacare. I already know what I think about it, but want to look at a variety of sources. I guess you think CNN and the NYT are too liberal, but in my view they're quite careful and often run on both sides of the center. Still, I'm going to look for "factual" info.

Hope you're enjoying this!
Best,
Shanti Mama

And then, with DU's help (sorry not to give credit where credit is due, but I don't want her knowing that I'm getting help):

I can't help myself! Thought of a different way to google the real estate tax and came up with these. This just reaffirms to me how important it is to be careful with what we believe. The truth is often hard to come by. Please open these links and see how easily we're all misled.

http://www.factcheck.org/2012/04/realtors-the-3-8-sales-tax-and-247-medicare-premiums/

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/25/chain-email/3-8-percent-tax-real-estate-transactions-health-ca/

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp

I've found some info refuting this, of course, but appreciate additional support, particularly from right of center news sources and independent sites.

Their website is http://www.fair.org/
They also have a weekly radio show called "Counterspin" http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=5

Sourcewatch entry on FAIR:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fairness_%26_Accuracy_In_Reporting

I've decided to take it on.

But I have learned that most right wingers ignore even the most compelling evidence that challenges their worldview. Save your work because there is a good chance that she will repeat the same fabrications in a year or so by forwarding an almost identical version of the same chain email.

I usually share these email replies with others as CC: recipients. My adversary is almost never convinced, but I sometimes reach some of the spectators.

ALSO - The guy generating MOST of the bad PR on Obamacare is an adviser to Romney. HOW unbiased can he be?

Avik Roy is a member of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research which in turn received $19,470,416 in grants from 1985–2005, from foundations such as the Koch Family Foundations. There are more sources, but if they are taking money from Koch, they aren't doing this to be fair and balanced toward Obama.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Institute_for_Policy_Research#Funding_sources

The Illinois Policy Institute which "claims" to be unbiased is a member of ALEC - the group that has corporations write themselves favorable laws that are then passed to politicians to pass.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Illinois_Policy_Institute


FACTS:

RYAN's budget KEEPS the SAME spending cuts.
The cuts DON'T affect Medicare beneficiaries.
It's using buying power to get bigger discounts from providers.

THOTS:

RYAN's PLAN is looking at establishing a NEW program, like Medicare Advantage only better? (For WHOM is the question.) Medicare Advantage was a try at using the HMO model for Medicare. It is sucking out extra dollars, includes things like free gym memberships and is seeing some part of the expense reductions. ONE high buck program for high income seniors to get more benefits isn't good enough in Ryan's opinion. ***

Obama's plan directs it toward MEDICAID, which is medical program for the POOR. Seniors can qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid if they are poor and have a medical need. It was a way to close up the Donut Hole in the Part D - Medicare fiasco of the *ush administration.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/03/fact-check-the-700b-medicare-cut/

ALL money collected by US goes to pay current bills due since 1969. Social Security (which Medicare is under) ALWAYS gets paid back since the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990.

ROMNEY would be under the same law. THAT is why they are trying to dismantle Social Security. They want to get AT that money without having to pay it back.

<snip>
Under the concept of the unified budget, money that is collected by the federal government for whatever purpose (such as Medicare and Social Security payroll taxes) is spent on whatever bills are coming due at that time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_budget



*** NOTE: Think Progress IS a Liberal Site. Sorry.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/08/13/680461/romney-claims-obama-robbed-medicare-to-distract-from-gop-plan-to-end-medicare/

<snip>
Rather, the savings slow the growth of Medicare over the next decade: eliminate overpayments to private insurers, reform provider payments to encourage greater efficiency, tie reimbursements to improvements in economic productivity, and reduce fraud and abuse.

As a result, “growth in spending will be restrained” and the life of the Medicare trust fund is expanded by eight years, the government estimates. Sixteen million seniors are also benefiting from the savings by receiving preventive benefits without deductibles or co-pays and saving more than $3.9 billion on prescription drugs.

The Ryan-backed GOP budet maintains these cuts, but rather than using them to improve the Medicare program, it applies the savings to pay for massive tax cuts.



http://www.factcheck.org/2012/08/a-campaign-full-of-mediscare/




ONE LAST ENCOURAGING THOUGHT: In all the dreg I read to find a few answers for you it seems that "the market" is responding by creating their own plans that offer seniors benefits at a lower cost than Medicare.

NOW is it doing this because it's drooling over the thought of Ryan's "vouchers" or is it doing it because Obama put out some spending caps and tied payouts to performance?

MAYBE a bit of both.... and that is what is good about tackling these tough issues. Even when it's a lot of screaming and spin ..... the bottom line message is being heard by the FOR PROFIT Health Care industry that has been sucking America dry financially. THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING AND WE DON'T LIKE WHAT WE ARE SEEING. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

I'm off to bed now (night time in Asia).
Will wait to see what she replies. If she's not expressing any surprise at her lack of accurate info I may quit.

and then ask her if the owners would work AGAINST their own interests.
Simple.
Rich, big corporations are NOT liberal, EVER.

It's a right wing lie.

I think those would be very effective. There should be a number where a voter can call and actually talk to a live volunteer to get their questions answered. A virtual inbound call center. I think that would reach a lot of people that outbound call centers don't reach. In fact volunteers on the outbound calls could just call and tell people the number they can call to get their questions answered.

Without that sort of direct communication, we really do lose a lot of voters to absurd Republican lies like the above. They aren't going to get on the Google and try to sort out fact postings from fiction. And fact-checker organizations are woefully behind in their technology and product. Republicans have already found ways to exploit them.

One technique used by the many right wing think tanks and commentators is "playing the ref"-- accuse the media of being too liberal and they will do as much as they can to prove that they are not liberal.

Here is an article about the book.

http://www.thenation.com/article/what-liberal-media

The book goes into really fascinating detail about the many right wing foundations that were created since the 70's to push the national dialogue to the right.


Media consolidation also changed many things. We used to have about 80 media companies in the USA but when the Democrats deregulated media ownership to be "New Democrats" and show that they were not too liberal, more giant corporations swooped in to merge and acquire media companies and now 5 corporations own most of our mass media.

http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart

Which is always good for showcasing any unbecoming "non-Headlines worthy" behavior of Black Americans..........something not usually indicative of a wildly Liberal medium