Eric Boehlert: Media fail: Americans have no idea what's in Biden's Build Back Better bill

[babylonsister]

https://pressrun.media/p/media-fail-americans-have-no-idea

Media fail: Americans have no idea what’s in Biden’s Build Back Better bill
Obsessed with cost
Eric Boehlert
1 hr ago


Leaning into the doomsday narrative that President Joe Biden’s agenda and presidency is slipping away as Democrats work to pass both a huge infrastructure bill and even bigger social spending bill, dubbed Build Back Better, the Beltway press continues to do a great job ignoring the contents of the historic effort. Focusing instead on its cost and obsessively documenting the vote-counting process, the press has walked away from its job of explaining legislation.

snip//

Yet for the Beltway press, the process by which the bill might pass, and how much the legislation costs, far and away exceeds the importance of what’s in the bill itself. Even if the legislation is historic and potentially transforming:

• Creating a universal Pre-K program for 3- and 4-year-olds.

• Making sure low- and middle-income households pay no more than 7 percent of their annual income on child care for kids up to age 5.

• Funding the construction and remodeling of child care facilities as well as raising the wages of child care workers.

• Making community college tuition-free for two years.

• Providing federal paid and medical leave benefit for up to 12 weeks.

• Allowing families to receive a child tax credit totaling $3,600 for each child under the age of 6, and $3,000 for each one under age 18.

• Allocating $35 billion for child nutrition programs, which would allow nearly 9 million more children to receive free school meals.

• Adding dental, vision and hearing benefits to Medicare.

By turning away from the popular Build Back Better programs, the press continues to do Republicans a favor and focus overwhelmingly on the cost, leaving Americans in the dark.

[spanone]

1. K&R...

[jimfields33]

2. The most effective way is for

President Biden to hold a nighttime prime time telecast and give every detail of what’s in it. The talking heads will definitely talk about it after and weeks following. How can the media talk about something not written yet? What if they say something is going to be in the bill, but is taken out at Sinema or Manchin’s request? That could be worse.


And there is a Hell of a lot more in the bill then those items listed. Where’s the climate change into? Broadband? Etc.

[Sherman A1]

4. Precisely

This may not be so much a media failure as much as a missed opportunity by the administration.

[HUAJIAO]

8. Dems tend to miss TOO MANY opportunities to 'propagate' the truth and facts!

There certainly are ways around/through a fascist-complicit media.

[Takket]

13. Absolutely this

The media is a right wing ratfucking operation. Bypass them.

[2naSalit]

3. K&R!!

Severe media fail.

[appalachiablue]

5. K/K

[WHITT]

6. Except

There is no "bill".

If the Dems go around talking about what's in their proposal, and parts of that don't end up getting enacted, then you're accused of not delivering on your promises. Rep. Schiff had it correctly on 'Face the Nation', pass the legislation, THEN you can go on a country-wide sales tour.

[Lonestarblue]

7. The key is to actually pass the legislation and stop stalling.

Manchin and Sinema are both being unreasonable, disloyal to the Democrats who elected them, and creating a nightmare for the 2022 election. No one and nothing seems able to make them change their minds.

[PortTack]

9. HRC did say on the view the other day that they are not that far apart, that it will pass

She’s not one to give lip service

[hay rick]

10. Failure to provide certain types of information is not a bug, it's a feature.

The media's priorities are: 1) sell stuff for advertisers and 2) protect interests of ownership. Informing the electorate of what they need to know to make good decisions is subordinate to those priorities.

[jmowreader]

11. Isn't that the same argument used against the ACA?

It seems to me that every time the Democrats come up with a large bill that will help a lot of people, this tired old argument is brought out.

That doesn’t happen with Republican bills. No one knew what was in Trump’s tax cut, but they were all “ooh! Shiny!”

[ancianita]

12. Boehlert's right, but he could also help show how easily Americans can bypass the press by linking

Last edited Wed Oct 13, 2021, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)

the bill in his own analysis.
Otherwise, at least on this issue, he can call them out but isn't looking much better than corporate press himself.

Just go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/build-back-better/
and read.

So, yeah the press leave lazy Americans in the dark.
Worse, Americans leave themselves in the dark.

Americans need to READ, not just listen to background TV or radio while doing something else.

Why corporate owned press turn away from the BBB's highlights is one thing; that they turn away from the easy math of its affordability is even worse. Bernie's right. It's entirely paid for at the original level. It's silly not to see that $3.5 TRILLION over ten years, when Americans would have paid in $7.8 TRILLION in tax each of those ten years, makes this bill affordable TEN TIMES OVER.

[progressoid]

14. Yes the media fails. But Democrats need to up our messaging game.

Every hour of every day someone from our team should be on the TV and radio showcasing the positives and dispelling the myths the right is throwing out.

I've lost track of the number of right wing ads I've seen on TV slamming this bill. I've yet to see one in support of it.