Quote Originally Posted by Taichiliberal View Post
Your exaggerated numbers are indicative of your exaggerated belief that your opinion is a substitute for facts. Here's what the article pointed out that differs from your interpretation:
The attacks have become something a cornerstone to Fox's program in early 2014. This, while Republicans stand firmly opposed to Obama's wage proposal, to the point where it's unlikely to come to a vote, just as Republicans earlier this month filibustered an effort to extend unemployment insurance for U.S. workers.
Here's what's interesting and what helps put into perspective the radical turn that not only Fox News has taken in recent years, but the entire conservative movement in America: In early 2007, after Democrats had gained control of both the House and the Senate, one of their top legislative priorities was passing a bill to raise the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25. The two-plus dollar boost was the first in a decade.
And you know what the collective Fox News reaction was to the prospect of an increased minimum wage in 2007? Nobody seemed that upset. Based on a review of Fox News' nighttime transcripts via Nexis, the issue was mostly dealt with -- when dealt at all -- in news updates as Democratic and Republicans negotiated the Fair Minimum Wage Act's certain approval.
There wasn't endless hand wringing, condemnations, or predictions of economic doom. For instance, in January of 2007, Fox contributor Mara Liasson described passing the minimum wage as "low-hanging fruit" for Democrats since the idea wasn't at all "controversial." (Indeed, 26 Republican House members had previously urged party leaders to schedule a minimum wage vote.)
That same month when Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace sat down with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to discuss the year's legislative agenda, the senator assured the host, "We're going to be able to get off to a good start with ethics reform and probably craft a minimum-wage increase that's acceptable to both sides and see how far we can get on a cooperative basis." (Then as now, increasing the minimum wage was widely popular with voters.)
There was no cavalcade of snide commentary in the winter of 2007. There was no denouncing the minimum wage as "black teenage unemployment act," which a regular Fox News guest did recently.
Instead, the bill, which included tax cuts for small businesses, passed 94-3 in the Senate and 315-116 in the House, and President Bush, who in 2004 had previously endorsed a minimum wage bill that had been championed by a Republican senator, signed the bill into law. On Fox, the issue wasn't presented as a deeply contentious one (when the bill came up for a vote, the House debate was "limited" reported the New York Times), nor were affected low-wage workers depicted as lazy and unmotivated.
You keep forgetting that it's not as simple as you just inserting your personal opinion, supposition and conjecture and thinking that everyone else just puts their brains on hold and goes along with you.
