Retraction Leads to Reporter Exit

Terri Cullen, the reporter who wrote that article earlier this week alleging an Obama "back door" tax hike for nearly everyone, which became a rightwing cause -- and then was withdrawn by Reuters -- has now left the company. Jumped or pushed? She had just come on board a month ago, and had spent many years as a top WSJ staffer. NYT reports:

Her article said that President Obama’s budget amounted to a backdoor tax increase for middle-income and even lower-income people, based largely on the scheduled expiration of income tax cuts passed in 2001. But the president had actually proposed keeping those cuts in place for all but high-income families.

After a complaint from the White House, Reuters withdrew the article, stating that it was inaccurate. But by then, some prominent conservatives had seized on the article, and a few - notably Rush Limbaugh - insisted that the retraction meant simply that the media were protecting the president

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