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Media push 11 misleading attacks (now Romney talking points) on Obama's energy policies.
Get the FACTS:SOURCE: http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/22/how-conservative-media-wrote-romneys-energy-att/190828
Fox Advised Romney To Falsely Blame Obama For Gas Prices
Conservative media outlets pushed at least eleven misleading attacks on President Obama's energy policies that have become talking points used by Mitt Romney's campaign. The conservative media bubble has largely prevented voters from hearing the facts about clean energy programs, fossil fuel production and environmental regulation under the Obama administration.
O'Reilly Advised Romney To Blame Obama For Gas Prices. In September, Bill O'Reilly complained on his Fox News show that "nobody is mentioning gas prices [...] not even the Republicans are going there, and I don't know why. If I were Romney and Ryan, I'd be going all over the place on the gas prices[.]" At the time, Fox News was frequently airing a misleading graphic juxtaposing today's gasoline prices with those on the day of Obama's inauguration, implying he is to blame for the increase. [Media Matters, 9/7/12]
FACT: President Cannot Control Gas Prices, Which Plummeted Before Obama Took Office Due To Recession
Gasoline Prices Plummeted In Late 2008 In The Midst Of A Massive Recession. The following chart shows that oil and gasoline prices fell sharply in late 2008 just before President Obama took office (displayed as an index to show the correlation between oil and gas prices):
Conservative Media Promoted Romney's Baseless "Crony Capitalism" Charges
Fox Pushed The "Crony Capitalism" Narrative Soon After Solyndra's Bankruptcy. Soon after Solyndra declared bankruptcy, Fox News had established a narrative: Solyndra was an example of "crony capitalism." Conservative commentator and frequent Fox News guest Michelle Malkin said "One of the hugest investors in the massively failed enterprise just happens to be one of Obama's largest funders, a man named George Kaiser ... You got crony capitalism." [Fox News, Hannity, 9/14/11, via Media Matters]
Stossel: Solyndra Is "Crony Capitalism." On the "Political Grapevine" segment of Special Report With Bret Baier, Fox's John Stossel said that of all the alleged scandals that had befallen the Obama administration, he was "most bothered by Solyndra" Stossel said "it's crony capitalism," adding "People trash capitalism, but this is crapitalism." [Fox News, Special Report With Bret Baier, 9/16/11, via Nexis]
FACT: Extensive Investigations Have Turned Up No Evidence Of Wrongdoing
TIME: Inspector General "Hasn't Confirmed" That Any Contracts Were "Steered To Friends And Family." As TIME's Michael Grunwald noted, the Inspector General's comment was actually about an open investigation, and the Inspector General "hasn't confirmed" that any contracts were "steered to friends and family":
It was a line near the end of Romney's ad that caught my attention: "The Inspector General said contracts were steered to 'friends and family.'" That sounded like news. I've spent two years in stimulus-world, and I had no idea an inspector general had said that. I asked the Romney campaign for documentation, and it produced a Newsweek article asserting that Energy Department inspector general Gregory Friedman "has testified that contracts have been steered to 'friends and family.'"
Except that Newsweek article was an excerpt from the book "Throw Them All Out," written by Peter Schweizer, a right-winger who has served as an adviser to Sarah Palin's PAC, edited one of Andrew Breitbart's websites, and written a slew of books portraying liberals as pond scum. Not exactly a disinterested source. And it turns out that the inspector general never testified that stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. He said his office was investigating whether stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. So far, it hasn't confirmed that any were. [TIME, 5/31/12]
Except that Newsweek article was an excerpt from the book "Throw Them All Out," written by Peter Schweizer, a right-winger who has served as an adviser to Sarah Palin's PAC, edited one of Andrew Breitbart's websites, and written a slew of books portraying liberals as pond scum. Not exactly a disinterested source. And it turns out that the inspector general never testified that stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. He said his office was investigating whether stimulus contracts were steered to friends and family. So far, it hasn't confirmed that any were. [TIME, 5/31/12]
MUCH more (and please share - Romney AND the media is lying to the public. We need a factual intervention here):
http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/10/22/how-conservative-media-wrote-romneys-energy-att/190828
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