Did you know that the mortgage interest deduction was a major contributor to families’ distressed circumstances leading to the housing bubble? Or that George W. Bush’s (really modest) tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, not the Internet bubble of the late-1990s led the nation from fiscal surplus to deficits?

The reason you don’t “know” these things is that they’re not true. But the Associated Press’s Tom Raum thinks they are, and said so as if they are indisputable facts in an AP analysis piece (or at least I hope it was meant to be that) yesterday. In over 850 words, he also failed to note, while barely acknowleding their existence, that Republicans in the House already acquiesced to $620 billion in tax increases in return for a “whopping” $15 billion in spending cuts during the fiscal cliff deal at the end of last year. Excerpts from Raum’s risible writeup follow the jump.

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On Friday morning, Milwaukee County District Attorney, a Democrat, announced that an investigation into illegal campaigning and other illegal acts while current Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was the county’s executive had concluded nine days earlier. Three former Walker aides, a political appointee, and two private citizens were sentenced. Two county officials pled guilty to crimes relating to campaigning on government time; two others stole money, one from a not-for-profit group and another from a county commission. One private citizen was sentenced for exceeding campaign contribution limits and laundering contributions; the other pled no contest to importuning a 17 year-old boy.

Walker himself was not charged. A top state Democratic Party official was so angry that he tweeted Jeffrey Dahmer analogies. It is pretty obvious, based on word choices he made in his related writeup, that the Associated Press’s Scott Bauer, whose biased coverage of Walker has been clear for at least the past two years (previous NewsBusters posts with his tag are here), was also extremely displeased (bolds and numbered tags are mine):

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… when it turns away Pamela Geller.

More here.

Dhimmitude is not a conservative value.

Rules are here. Possible comment fodder may follow later. Other topics are also fair game.

From Tampa:

Mar 2, 2013 / 01:04 pm

Chris Catanach has been the head volleyball coach at the University of Tampa for 29 seasons now. And he’s okay with the fact that you probably don’t know of him.

Working at the same school that he graduated from, he is an example of the type of humility that Christians are called to, in exemplifying that it’s not about us, it’s about God.

Consider his response when asked about college coaches in sports like football and basketball being household names in a lot of cities and in the world of ESPN and social media, but volleyball coaches getting nowhere near that recognition level.

“From my standpoint I’m totally okay with that. I wouldn’t trade my life to be a superstar. If you look at what’s happening with (South African runner) Oscar Pistorius, if he was Joe Schmo his life wouldn’t be in the papers. I get to live under the radar and do good things and do things right and not be in the newspaper. Those other (basketball and football coaches) are getting paid millions but have the scrutiny that comes with it.”

Ironically, despite being among the winningest active NCAA Division II coaches, and even though he’d “played volleyball extensively in high school,” Catanach never really planned to have a long career as the university’s top man in volleyball.

“I got my undergrad in Phys. Ed. and really wanted to be a teacher,” he explains, “but when I graduated I applied for a P.E. job at St. Paul’s School in Clearwater and an admissions job with UT. So I took the UT job and (after having volunteered when he first got there) continued to work with the volleyball team. Midway through that first year the coach resigned, so I came back and convinced them to give me a shot, which was rare because I wasn’t qualified. At first I thought I’d only do this for a few years and thought I’d go do something else. But around the four-year mark I thought I’d keep going for maybe four more. I’ll probably put in 40 years before I can think of finally retiring.

“The first ten years I just said I worked at UT because I was a little embarrassed (about saying he was the volleyball coach), but the last 19 years I’ve been really proud and work with tremendous players and the university is a great place to work. You can’t walk away from a job like that.”

Certainly the Lord called this devout Catholic to the job because it has enabled him to help shape student-athletes into young women, not just to coach volleyball players. …

Go here for the rest of the story.