Coming on the heels of The New York Times’ decision to give the far-Left group MoveOn.org a massive discount on its ad accusing General Petraeus of betraying his nation, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia wants an investigation.

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III of Virginia said the discount may equate to an illegal in-kind political contribution by the Times to the group.

In a letter sent yesterday to Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Rep. Henry A Waxman, California Democrat, Mr. Davis asked for a full committee hearing on the matter.

MoveOn paid $65,000 for a full-page ad (download pdf) that criticized the character of Iraq war commander Gen. David H. Petraeus — about $117,000 less than the Times’ “open rate” for an ad of that type and size.

Now, the Democratic Congress has had no problem launching an estimated 300 investigations, most of them baseless and pointless. Keep that in mind.

“The New York Times has already given a very clear and credible explanation on how their advertising policy works,” Mr. Waxman said.

 

“Even though many Republicans are trying to ignore those facts and manufacture a controversy, I will give careful consideration to Mr. Davis’ request.”

Translation: MoveOn’s a group that supports Democrats, so don’t hold your breath. I will be truly shocked if Waxeaselman actually pursues the investigation.

“We do not discount advertising rates based on the political content of the ad,” Ms. Mathis said. “Normally, we don’t discuss what any one advertiser pays. But in this case, MoveOn.org has publicly stated they paid $65,000 for the ad, and that is our rate for advocacy ads of the type that they ran.”

Ms. Mathis said rates depend on numerous factors, including time of year, day of publication and whether the ad appears in black and white or in color.

“It’s sort of like flying,” she said. “There are first-class seats. There are coach seats. There are standby rates. There are a whole variety of rates available.”

Yes. Anti-war groups are first-class, general Democrat groups are coach, and any Republican or pro-war ads are stand-by. Freedom’s Watch, a pro-war group, asked for a quote and was given a much-higher price. Following the controversy, The NYT granted Giuliani’s request for an ad the same price, due to the amount of scrutiny they’d be under otherwise.

Why can’t the NYT admit what it is: A Liberal rag.