I have to admit that I watch Fox News on a regular basis. I do it for a number of reasons. First, when I'm on the treadmill it helps me to walk faster because it gets my blood boiling. Next, I watch it for a good laugh because, after all, it is pretty funny every time they say,"Fair and Balanced". Fox News is a 24/7 Republican commercial run by the former head of the Republican National Committee, Roger Ailes. It is pure propaganda TV and sadly, our troops shed blood fighting against governments that used propaganda techniques on the masses. Lastly, I watch Fox so that I can know what my Fox watching friends are going to say before they say it. They parrot what they hear on Fox like talking points and then you hear them around the restaurant table. It's good to be prepared.
Lately, I've been hearing a great deal about the 50% of the people who pay no taxes. When you hear that, they normally assume that these people are the freeloaders, minorities and immigrants, who game the system while the rest of us pay for it. It sounds like class warfare but that happens only when you want to raise taxes on the rich! These are the people who pick up their welfare checks in limos. Basically, they want these people to pay their fair share but not the wealthy because they are the job creators. How is that working out for us so far? They are still taking the tax cuts but I don't see the jobs!
Here is where a clarification is needed. First of all they rounded up. It is more like 47% who don't pay federal taxes. Half of those people have incomes that are too low to pay taxes. They may be hiding it just as some wealthy people do along with corporate loopholes. Let's face it, every class of people game the system if they can. About 22% are seniors citizens on Social Security and about 15% are the working poor who qualify for earned income and child care credit. The remainder of the 47% includes corporations who pay no federal income tax, such as GE, Citigroup, BOA, Boeing, Exxon Mobil, Valero and Chevron. Not only do they pay no taxes but we subsidize many of these companies and have bailed them out with our tax dollars when they mess up!
You never hear about that on Fox. They want their viewers to get angry at the little guy who is not paying their fair share, not the wealthy. It is much easier to turn people against the minorities and the immigrants rather than their constituents. Feed the hate that is already out there! They are the easy targets. Fox is like the bully on the playground picking on the weakest kid. The profits being made by the oil companies, insurance companies, financial institutions, along with the salaries and bonuses their CEO's make, are obscene but you will never hear about that on Fox News.
So for my friends who watch Fox, remember to take what they say with a grain of salt. You don't always get the complete picture because they have a conservative agenda that is obvious. Mainstream media may have a left wing bias but Fox is in your face! There is really no comparison. And if their bias was equal, a conservative bias is no better than a liberal bias. If you are against slanted news, they should be just as angry about the conservative slant, but they are not. So please don't be so hypocritical. Wake up, America!
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