So Which one is it?

The headline today in much of the media is "Senate GOP Firm on Keeping Tax Cuts for the Rich". Of course, an accurate headline could also have read: "Senate GOP Firm Against Raising Taxes on Small Businesses in a Recession". Without a doubt, the public reaction to those two headlines would be quite different. Nevertheless, the main stream media is following the first template almost exclusively. It plays in to the time honored meme that Republicans are the party of the rich and the Democrats protect the poor. Of course, if that story line was ever true, it has not been the case during the last fifty years. Maybe if the media was less interested in protecting the Democrats and more interested in doing things that would help the public determine what is best for the economy, there would be a split in those headlines. It is a good thing that the new media exists.