Toward the end of a dispatch about an American arms sale to Israel comes the claim, "The United States has promised Israel $3.1 billion in military financial assistance in this fiscal year, the highest amount ever."
It's funny to observe these rare instances when the Times is willing to use nominal dollar amounts to declare that something is "the highest amount ever." On plenty of other issues, such as domestic spending on health or welfare, or tax revenues, the Times insists on adjusting for inflation (using the consumer price index, which is a whole nother story) or on framing the expenditure or revenue as a percentage of GDP. This is a framing issue worth keeping an eye on. The Times doesn't say tax revenues are at the highest ever, because it wants to raise taxes and discredit those who want to cut them. But it does say aid to Israel is at the highest ever, because it wants to reduce that aid (and to discredit those who fault President Obama for chilling the U.S.-Israel relationship, at least on the government-to-government level).