Obama Looking To Bail Out Newspaper Industry

Toledo Blade/The lid ^ | 9/20/09 | The Lid

[Shellybenoit]

With the federal treasury facing insolvency what industry do we help next? Well lets see, how about the public relations arm of the Democratic party, the newspaper industry. That way when our Taxes go even higher they can tell us that it is a great idea. Today the President said that he would be happy to look at the Senate proposal allowing papers to restructure as non-profit organizations.

Non-Profit may describe a newspaper's balance sheet, but it should not describe its tax status, unless of course, if Senator Benjamin Cardin( D-Md.) gets his way. The Senator introduced a bill on the Senate floor that would allow newspapers to elect to receive tax-exempt status all they have to do is promise not to endorse any political candidates (but they can report on the campaign).

Most newspapers today do not need an editorial page to show their bias, maybe that's why the President took this opportunity to bash the internet and spread love toward the newspaper industry.

[SandWMan]

Did we not see this coming?

[EGPWS]

Why stop now? /s

[the invisib1e hand]

well, you have to admit, he sure owes them some big favors.

[A CA Guy]

He’ll probably bail out the liberal ones, not conservative ones like the OC Register.

By the by, were all the auto dealers forced to close down either conservative or not Democrat donors?

[The Great RJ]

If the government is funding a bailout, do they not only control the content of what is published? So much for the first amendment.

[Lysandru]

Well shoot-- isn't The New York Slimes already a "non-profit" enterprise? I mean, who thinks that they actually make money?

Nope, I think that the State-Run Media isn't in it for the profits-- otherwise they would look more like Fox News.

[ClearCase_guy]

a bill on the Senate floor that would allow newspapers to elect to receive tax-exempt status all they have to do is promise not to endorse any political candidates (but they can report on the campaign).

"President Obama, brilliantly running his re-election campaign -- a campaign that for centuries will be admired for it's wisdom and benevolence will appear in Chicago tomorrow: oh, lucky town! Meanwhile, the Republican candidate seems to have avoided embarrassing themselves yesterday by mostly staying out of sight, leading some sources to say that yesterday was the candidate's best so far."

[MyFreedomIHoldDear]

Print is dead.

[Carbonsteel]

For forty years we've listened to the Mainstream Media spew their left-wing, secular, anti-American bias and the America people are sick of it.

Obama won't win over any Conservatives or Independents by doing this.

[Caipirabob]

The punk in the oval orafice is looking to deprive me of the one pleasure I get from newspapers these days - their imminent demise.

He's got to be stopped and as humiliatingly as possible...

[screaminsunshine]

We all need to become non-profit organizations. Then he will have no profit to tax and the Communists will have no income.

[BigFinn]

Change the 2nd amendment... game over. Not far away.

[FlingWingFlyer]

By the by, were all the auto dealers forced to close down either conservative or not Democrat donors?

Great point! I'll bet only "friendly" newspapers will be eligible for the "bailout."

[webstersII]

I hope he does bail them out.

It would be the nail in the coffin for the MSM. Look how great it’s been for the auto industry.

[mo]

Why do “progressive” Democrats keep trying to perform CPR on dying 20th century institutions with OUR money?!!!Dare we spend for OUR own healthcare!!!!

[Carbonsteel]

Good point, then Foxnews, talkradio, and the Internet can start calling the mainstream media the state media.

[Flag_This]

The press would officially be bought and paid for.

[ncfool]

Let them fail. We already have Gov media. Newspapers created their own failure by the greed of their publishers.

I refuse to buy the Kansas City Falling Star. My last day as a subscriber was October 1, 2008.

[tanknetter]

Newspapers created their own failure by the greed of their publishers.

Not greed, but ideological self-centeredness.

They looked at their newspapers and rather than asking "what can I print that will make me the most money" (greed), or "what news should the public read" (good journalism) they instead decided to print either what fit their own worldview and beliefs, or what they WANTED the public to read.

The correlation between the decline in readership and the decline in public trust is strong enough to conclude causality.