ElectionWatch: Hey Big Spender! Media Fail to Report Cost of Campaign Promises
The vast majority of the programs in candidates’ platforms seem to have gone unnoticed in the media. Some examples:
* Obama, whose $287 billion in promises eclipses the other candidates, promoted a ‘Zero to Five’ plan to spend $10 billion every year on expanding Early Head Start and Head Start programs and providing child care for working families, among other initiatives. None of the networks mentioned Obama and the Head Start program or his “Zero to Five” initiative label in the last six months.
* Obama has proposed doubling foreign aid to $50 billion over the next five years. Only one story in the last six months has even mentioned Obama and foreign aid at the same time – it was an interview with Republican candidate Rep. Ron Paul (Texas).
* Clinton has supported helping “working people earn enough to support their families and help them save for the future” to the tune of $7.5 billion over the next five years through the Unemployment Insurance Modernization Act. The networks haven’t mentioned it.
* Clinton proposed $1.75 billion annually to extend paid medical leave to guarantee seven sick days per year and ensure access to “affordable, high quality childcare” in the workplace. Not even a blip on the network radar screen.