A Washington Post article that is ostensibly on Ireland's budget problems begins: "Is this the ghost of America's future?" This no doubt had readers asking "is this the way to begin a news story on Ireland?" On the other hand, since the headline is "in Ireland's deep budget cuts, an omen for a heavily indebted United States?" we were already warned not to expect a serious news story. The Post really really wants to reduce the deficits and it wants to do so primarily by slashing Social Security and Medicare benefits. It has shown repeatedly that it is prepared to ignore accepted journalistic standards to push this cause. This is just one more instance.
--Dean Baker
