Unspinning the Press Conference ?

Todd Perdum's analysis of Bush' Press conference is very harsh.

A normal essay is designed to support a conclusion which is stated at the end. There seems to be a rule of "News Analysis" that the last sentence should cast doubt on the analysis which preceeds it. Perdum's last sentence notes that Bush has been in trouble before and was re-elecyted. I think this is a concious strategy to make the news analyst appear un-opinionated and I suspect that I am one of the last newspaper readers to notice.

More seriously the analysis includes one major element of bamboozlement. Perdum appears to accept the definition of wealthy as referring to anyone with income over 20,000 a year (I don't know if he accepted the definition of middle class as including struggling millionaires) "He pronounced himself to be "moving the process along" on Social Security by proposing that future benefits grow faster for people who are less affluent than for those who are better off (a delicate way of suggesting benefits cuts for the wealthy)." I would say "benefit cuts for the wealthy" is a delicate way of describing benefit cuts for all but the extremely poor.

See Keving Drum's useful figure here
Based on the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities analysis.

Of course Atrios pointed this out already as did Think Progress.