Shameful Spin

July 28th, 2011

A few nights ago, while monitoring the primetime opinion broadcasts, I began to see wave after wave of Republican elected officials marching past the Fox cameras and touting a recent CNN poll which they said showed that "66% of Americans support 'Cut, Cap and Balance.'" I was, needless to say, a little bit curious about this. I went to read the poll in question. A full examination reveals their claims to be the worst sort of spin. Indeed, their exclamations rise to the levels of naked propaganda.

Here is the actual text of the question and the breakdown of the responses.

At first glance, this might seem impressive. But it is not. In fact, it is a testament to the average citizen's total lack of knowledge about what "Cut, Cap and Balance" would actually legislate.

How do we know this? Because CNN continued to ask more questions. They asked the respondents about specific spending cuts and tax increases. Meaning, they actually put quantifiable policy proposals to the test. What this reveals is that roughly two thirds to three quarters of the electorate is opposed to the entire contemporary Republican mission.

Period.