Yes, the Post commits this fundamental sin once again telling readers in reference to an omnibus spending bill approved by the Senate that: "all but three Senate Republicans opposed the measure, citing what they consider to be wasteful spending on domestic agencies at a time of war" (emphasis added). The point of course is that the Post doesn't have a clue as to whether Republican politicians really consider the items in the bill to be wasteful. What it knows is that they say the items are wasteful. Suppose that the Republicans don't want to make it easy for the Democrats to help important constituencies, support they don't want to see them get credit for successful programs, or suppose they just want to do whatever they can to obstruct Congress. All of these are plausible explanations for the Republicans' actions, although it is inconceivable that the Republicans would ever publicly give any of these reasons for voting against a spending bill. Does the Post know that none of these reasons explain the vote of Senate Republicans? Of course not, but it just told readers that their stated reason is their true motive. That is awful reporting.
--Dean Baker
