Tax and Spend vs. Spend Only?

Media Matters is pointing out a double standard in the Washington Post's coverage of the Presidential candidates' health care plans. When Democrats Obama and Edwards announced health reform plans --including costs and plans to raise taxes to fund them-- the Post reported that. But when Giuliani announced his plan --without attaching cost estimates or specifying a funding source-- the Post implied that the proposal was costless.Media Matters is onto something here. It was the Democrats, after all, who turned ruinous deficits into surpluses and the Republicans who've raised spending like drunken sailors while cutting taxes. But the bias on the part of the Post is a little more subtle. Probably the writers are just being lazy: it's easier to report what's in the press release than to ask about what's not  there. In addition, the Giuliani proposal is less specific and less ambitious, so who really knows what it might cost? In any case it's likely to be less.