Sinking newspapers and who is up to No Good

At a time when our National Debt has now reached a level so large that most Americans don’t even know exactly how many zeros are attached to it, John Kerry wants to make newspapers “Not for profit” so that they no longer have to pay taxes.

Hours before a Senate hearing on struggling newspapers, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said steps must be taken so the news media can stay diverse and independent.

Diverse and Independent. Excuse me while I cough and laugh….

“As a means of conveying news in a timely way, paper and ink have become obsolete, eclipsed by the power, efficiency and technological elegance of the Internet,” Kerry said in prepared remarks. “But just looking at the erosion of newspapers is not the full picture; it’s just one casualty of a completely shifting and churning information landscape.”

Kerry, chairman of the Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, said newspapers resemble an endangered species. The panel was scheduled to hear from Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who has proposed allowing newspapers to choose tax-exempt status and operate as nonprofits similar to public broadcasting stations.

Oh goodie. NPR in writing. We all know how objective they are. And now they can be “obsolete” and not pay taxes besides.

Readers, if you would also like the option of being Tax Exempt, please raise your hands.

Papers would no longer be able to make political endorsements, but could report on all issues including political campaigns. Advertising and subscription revenue would be tax-exempt, and contributions to support coverage could be tax deductible under Cardin’s plan.

I’m rolling my eyes here. Let’s take the New York Times. They endorse people in their slanted news coverage every single day. Who the hell is John Kerry kidding?

Kerry said he was concerned that traditional journalistic standards on fairness and accuracy could suffer as newspapers falter.

Really? How will we be able to tell the difference, John?

But have no fear, readers, some newspapers have a Savior. Or more accurately, a Savior Couple–who just happen to be thinking the same thing John Kerry is thinking! Isn’t that a coincidence!?? Don’t you just love when great minds are…..um…..sympatico?

Now, surely you are asking: Which benevolent couple could possibly be interested in ”helping out” sinking big newspapers, especially if they become “Not for Profits”?

Why……..it’s Herb and Marion Sandler! In case that name doesn’t ring a bell:

WASHINGTON – With newspapers dropping dead like the flies they once swatted, a new non-profit riding to the rescue with free, ready-made “independent investigative reporting” is accepting money from a billionaire couple with a far-left agenda and dubbed “the king and queen of toxic mortgages.”

Herb and Marion Sandler, who sold their Golden West Financial Corp. to Wachovia and nearly bankrupted the buyer with its portfolio of subprime loans, committed $10 million to Pro Publica Inc., the non-profit that promises underwritten hard-hitting investigative journalism that has a “moral force” to newspapers facing cutbacks in staff and elimination of editions.

Let’s see now. John Kerry thinks certain newspapers should have the option of being Not For Profit and the Sandlers just happen to have the same goal. Isn’t that a coincidence? After all, the Sandlers are perfect champions of “fairness” and lord knows they really care. After all, look at the nice things they have done for America in the recent past:

Time magazine named the Sandlers in its list of “25 People to Blame for the Financial Crisis.” The Sandlers company “offered several ways to back-load your loan and thereby reduce your early payments, with increasing zeal and misleading advertisements,” Time reported. Then the Sandlers dealt the company to Wachovia before the subprime loan crisis hit.

Even “Saturday Night Live” mocked the Sandlers, accusing them of pushing the bad loans on to Wachovia. That show was even tougher on the couple than Time, captioning the characters playing them with these words: “People who should be shot.”

Capital Research Center say Pro Publica has not lived up to its non-partisan, non-ideological billing.

Rather than investigating ACORN last fall, when accusation of voter fraud were being widely revealed, Pro Publica began probing the background of the public affairs group that blew the whistle on ACORN.

Pro Publica also invested resources in investigating Sarah Palin’s “pork history” and her connection to the “road to nowhere.” There was no similar interest in Barack Obama’s ties to Bill Ayers or Rev. Jeremiah Wright or any other similar controversies during the presidential campaign, notes the center.

Capital Research Center sees Pro Publica as another front in the battle by “progressive” organizations in promoting a left-wing policy agenda through the media – noting on-going efforts to silence talk radio, intimidate dissent through groups like Media Matters and even bail out newspapers

Golly, these sure are nice people!

Herb and Marion have some great “objective” friends too!

But, according to a report by Capital Research Center, the Sandlers have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to MoveOn.org, George Soros’ Democracy Alliance, David Brock’s Media Matters, John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, the William J. Clinton Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the Institute for Public Policy, the Natural Resources Defense Council and two affiliates of the voter-fraud tainted ACORN, the Association for Community Organizations for Reform Now – and many other groups and causes with a portside tilt.

Somebody please check John Kerry’s bill for Sandler fingerprints, would you?

Note: To read more about the Sandlers and how they helped bring down America’s economy, see Uppity piece, dated 9/30/08, entitled “‘One Big Happy Anti-Capitalist Family“.