New poll finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’
New poll finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’
As ThinkProgress has noted before, conservatives have frequently obscured the fact that Medicare is a government-run single-payer program. Constituents appearing at health care town halls have even demanded that their members of Congress keep their “government hands off of Medicare.” Now, a new Public Policy Polling poll finds that millions of Americans do not realize that the federal government runs Medicare:
One poll question indicative of how difficult it is to gain public understanding on a complicated issue asked if respondents thought the government should ‘stay out of Medicare,’ something inherently impossible. 39% said yes.
The poll also shows that an additional 15% of respondents were “not sure” if the government should be involved in Medicare. Only 46% of respondents disagreed with the proposition that the government should stay out of the government-run program.
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The sky rocketing human stupidity quotient in this country seems to know absolutely no bounds. And we can thank Fixed News, Rush, Michael Savage and other un-American traitors for driving the public to this level of stupidity.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:31 pmYes, but are those The Birthers, The Tea-baggers, the Angry Mobs or just FOX viewers?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:32 pmWhere are they polling these people, mental institutions? Daycares? I guess it’s no surprise that so many people are against Medicare. It’s a classic example of “don’t know what you got, til it’s gone” though.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:32 pmStupid, stupid, stupid…
Does FoxNews even let on about Medicare being a government program?
These people must live on the planet Dumf**kistan.
Stupid, stupid, stupid…
August 19th, 2009 at 4:32 pmOMG!
And once again such stupidity in front of the world.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:32 pmMaybe we should try fixing education first,
before moving on to these more complex issues.
That’s a god-awful lot of dummies.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:33 pmBill Maher already said it best: smart president does not equal smart country http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-smart-president_b_253996.html
August 19th, 2009 at 4:34 pmMy turn to say what I want.
I want cars to stay out of NASCAR.
I want steaks to stay out of grills.
I want chefs to stay out of kitchens.
I want surgeons to stay out of hospitals.
I want bears to stay out of the woods.
I want Republicans to stay out of lying.
OK, I really only want the last one. I’ve probably got a better chance of getting one of others, though.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pmHey look, trolls!! You’re not alone!
August 19th, 2009 at 4:35 pmSix percent of the total poll respondents also don’t think Hawaii is a U.S. state.
Does that include Cokie Roberts?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:36 pmtombaker says:
Maybe we should try fixing education first,
before moving on to these more complex issues.
That’s a god-awful lot of dummies.
Republicans have been “fixing” education for years… this is the result. and they want more of this…
August 19th, 2009 at 4:36 pmA disturbingly large number also think a Caesar salad is woody romaine with stale bread and dry chicken…
August 19th, 2009 at 4:36 pmNew polls finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’
– - Another poll says that 47% of all statistics you see online are made up.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:37 pmCHICKEN LITTLE THE SKY IS FALLING. IF FOX NEWS REPORTS IT THE PUBLIC WILL BELIEVE IT.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:38 pm“Of the 38 percent who either don’t believe or are unsure, some think he was born in Indonesia, Kenya, the Philippines, or France. Six percent of the total poll respondents also don’t think Hawaii is a U.S. state.’
The dumbing down of America, folks. Some people choose to entertain themselves rather than educate. No wonder some people are behind the 8 ball in U.S. history learning. Schoolhouse Rock should be brought back to TV for children as well as adults to watch. Real sad.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:38 pmOMG – this country is toast. It’s no wonder we see results like this when people sit around watching fuax news, and “reality” shows.
There is no hope :(
August 19th, 2009 at 4:41 pm39% of people yell at clouds.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pmI may have to reconsider my opposition to literacy tests at polling locations…
August 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pmOne man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity there ain’t nothing can beat teamwork. Mark Twain
Seems appropriate to all those who weren’t paying attention in school but decided to join the republican party because it promotes their interests.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:43 pmBright side: after the rapture that 39% won’t be a factor anymore…
:|
August 19th, 2009 at 4:44 pm67% of people responding to polls don’t believe in polls.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:44 pmWell, this is a pathetic commentary on the state of education in America.
How fukking embarassing.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:44 pmThat’s why you really shouldn’t pay a lot of attention to polls. When they ask a question that is as disingenuous as this one, you have to question the validity of the poll. I refuse to believe the people in this country are really that stupid. If they are, we are in more trouble than we will ever be able to solve.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pm#12 dbadass
Yuck.
I like a good Caesar though.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pmNew poll finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.’
And who were the other 5% that voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:46 pmhahahahahaha…..stupid is as stupid does…it’s amazing these idiots are able to even feed themselves as they Forrest Gump their way through life.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:46 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins
According to NBC, 45% of the respondants believe that death panels are a part of the House bill.
That means that 45% of the respondants actually think that politicians are out to kill voters.
I’m starting to think that the people in this country really ARE that stupid.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pmThis just shows how pathetic MSM has been for the last several decades. True news coverage would perform fact checking before allowing stories to go on the air. They would also try to balance both sides rather than the current 70/30 conservative bias in reporting. This just shows us what this rotten coverage has gotten us. A population that looks as dumb as the people spouting these lies endlessly. It is time the FCC makes MSM accountable for their coverage.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pmSix percent of the total poll respondents also don’t think Hawaii is a U.S. state.
But that’s because they don’t have maps, right?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pmThere’s some big stoopit in this country.
**shaking head**
August 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pmZimzone says:
67% of people responding to polls don’t believe in polls.
Exactly. Polls don’t mean a damned thing to me.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:49 pm32% of people responding think polls are things that keep tents from falling
August 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm@muzz says:
OMG – this country is toast…
___
As I’ve observed elsewhere:
Since 1986 we have been in an environmental sustainability deficit. We are now running at about 125-130% of capacity, a figure estimated to rise to 200% by 2050 or sooner (and anthropocene era climate change is inextricable in that). Literally, we are eating/consuming the future. Now, add to that the recent exposure of a Potemkin financial sector, one where more than 40% of corporate profits this decade have come from the “financial services” sector — meaning they were largely phony — built on now unenforceable paper obligations many iterations removed from any underlying recoupable tangible assets, as evidenced by the recent unprecedented bursting of the bubble (I have written at some length about that, having worked in subprime securitization risk modeling).
Add to all of THAT what I would call an accrued “intellectual/sociopolitical capacity deficit.” Recall the documentaries of a generation ago recounting the failures in our educational system? Kids who couldn’t find a country or foreign capitol on a map, and didn’t care? Kids who couldn’t do basic arithmetic, and didn’t care? Aliterate kids who couldn’t formulate a coherent sentence, and didn’t care?
These people are now in their 30’s and 40’s and are seen angrily drooling 120 decibel rhetorical spittle inanities at “Town Hell” meetings. (Yeah, that’s unkind, and a generalization. It’s more complex than just that, I know.)
I taught undergrad “critical thinking” for several years recently at UNLV. Fully 60% of incoming freshmen had/have to be remanded to remedial English. My students HATED to read analytically — but all expected at least a “B” simply for showing up. They came to critical thinking class simply because they wanted to endlessly, narcissistically shout about their own pet peeves (and because it partially filled a “math requirement”owing to the minimal logic/set theory component — which they hated equally).
We approach a world population of 7 billion, all in competition for increasingly scarce resources, many of these people ignorant, impoverished, and increasingly angry (and all capable of being taught to pull a trigger). In the U.S. in particular, we have never had to shlep through our own bombed-out cities, never had to deal with the kind of persistent miseries that have long characterized the lot of much of the rest of humanity. We comprise 5% of world population while consuming 25% of its resources, a circumstance we have come to regard as our birthright.
A reckoning draws nigh, ever so slowly, but with a quickening pace. The awareness of this remains largely inchoate, but I think peoples’ blind, irrational resistance to any kind of change may be a function of it. A sheltered society such as ours, long accustomed to having whatever we want, could easily descend into unimaginable savagery once push comes seriously to shove.
Read Jared Diamond’s book “Collapse.” Also, view a recent talk he gave:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse.html
I would love to be wrong regarding my anxieties here.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmI like a good Caesar though.
—
August 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmanchovies and coddled egg, anchovies and coddled egg…
Badmoodman says:
- – Another poll says that 47% of all statistics you see online are made up.
Yet another poll says that 54% of trolls don’t know how to locate or evaluate cited sources.
.
Bilbo Hussein Baggins says:
That’s why you really shouldn’t pay a lot of attention to polls. When they ask a question that is as disingenuous as this one, you have to question the validity of the poll.
The question is pretty confusing. It think most people just immediately assume that the question is valid, and therefore treat it as such. Polling people with a trick question will likely give trick answers.
However, given the recent “Death Panel” poll, I am concerned over just how stupid this country is.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:52 pmSkyler says:
But that’s because they don’t have maps, right?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Maps are difficult when one doesn’t have a functioning brain.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pmYou know, I have an amazing tolerance for stupid — such that it even surprises me sometimes. But with this thread and the Bachmann thread just before it, my threshold has been reached for the day.
This is just unbelievable.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pm#33 BobbyG says:
…..
Damn BobbyG – I was hoping someone would try to make me feel better – aagghhhh!
August 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pmYou know, we could be talking about a completely different degree of stupid, here. If these polls were conducted by a telephone robot, it could be that a large percentage of people didn’t have enough brain power to know which button to push…
August 19th, 2009 at 4:55 pmInteresting how something can be both not surprising & very shocking at the same time. I guess it’s just hard to see all that stupidity in print. I’d love to know who they think Hawaii belongs to. Perhaps Sarah Palin, as she can likely see it on a clear day as well.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:56 pmguh-hernk!
that benchdog is a real cut-up…
hoo-wee…
i haven’t laughed at him that much in 20 or 30 minutes.
hey benchdog – how many people of voting age call themselves Republicans?
August 19th, 2009 at 4:57 pmThat means only 118 non-supporters answered the question correctly.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:58 pmwatchdog says
August 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
436 out of 909 polled are Obama supporters.
___________________________________________________________
Assuming those aren’t numbers you just pulled out of your @ss, that’s less than half. Showing that the poll is skewed.
Thanks for the ray of hope — we may not have quite as many stupid people after all.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:58 pmUS out of North America ……. Wavy Gravy
August 19th, 2009 at 4:59 pmAlot of us just cannot grasp just how uneducated and ignorant Americans can be…
…a conservative republican that I met COULD NOT READ OR WRITE…
…so of course he got ALL HIS NEWS FROM FOX…
…no wonder these nimrod’s believe this crap and are soooo uninformed.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:00 pmOne poll asked which was a bigger problem…ingnorance or apathy? Fifty per cent said they did not know and fifty per cent said they did not care.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pmNot really. That was a joke.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pmHonestly, I’d voted “not sure” just because that question is confusing for the obvious reasons.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:05 pmI and the rest of the electoral majority did not vote for the repiggies in November, nor did we vote for a continuation of their criminal crap.
I don’t want the vile, crooked repiggies deciding anything important.
Look at how catastrophic their judgment was on Iraq.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:09 pmBobbyG@33
Sadly, I agree. When I talk to people about current affairs, or about our nation’s history, they tend to be clueless. They just want to have fun.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:10 pmOK — I was finally able to access the PDF with the poll questions.
I take issue with the way Question 3 was asked: “Do you think the government should stay out of Medicare?” Some respondents may have interpreted the question as “Do you think the government should meddle with Medicare, as opposed to keeping it the way it is?”
I think if we really wanted to find out how many people really believe Medicare isn’t a government program, the question should have been, “Do you believe Medicare is a government program?” Duh.
I also noticed that Public Policy Polling is located right around the corner from where I work. I just want to assure everyone that there are many other people here who aren’t that incompetent.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pmBobbyG says:
I would love to be wrong regarding my anxieties here.
Problem is…you are NOT WRONG…when it happens, American’s will kill each other for survival without a thought, there is no social glue anymore.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:11 pm10% think the earth is flat and the moon is made of cheese.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:14 pmEnnuiDivine says:
39% of people yell at clouds.
August 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
_______________
Hey now! Don’t be hating on Pablo Picasso!
“Hey-a you stupid-a cloud! I’m a-gonna break-a you down into leetle cubes!”
August 19th, 2009 at 5:14 pmAs I watch what is happening in this country, I keep trying to tell myself “people can’t be this stupid”. Well, guess what – I was wrong, dead wrong – and we’re all going to pay for it. Shit – I feel like chicken little now.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:17 pmAnother fun fact about how dumb we are: 58% of United Statesians don’t know that America and Africa were once part of the same continent.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2009/08/07/white-people-have-trouble-accepting-pangaea/
August 19th, 2009 at 5:17 pmmisscoleopteramolly says:
I also noticed that Public Policy Polling is located right around the corner from where I work. I just want to assure everyone that there are many other people here who aren’t that incompetent
Maybe you should run around the corner and ask them if they’re just dumb, or if they were trying to force a specific response.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pmDemocrats have a golden opporunity now to pass a nice health care for Americans.
Democrats have a strong majority in the House,Senate and they control the White House…Something they dreamed of few years ago…but now the voters gave it to them.
Now Democrats have to ensure the trust the Americans voters put in them. But they are acting weak and divided. They are scared from the noise Republicans are making. Democrats should continue ask Republicans :
“What’s your solution to the health problems of this country today?”.
Democrats unfotunately are dragging their feet and their legs are looking wobbly .
The opporunity that Democrats have now might not be repeated.
Bill Clinton did not have the same opporunity that Obama now has. He did not have the majority in the Senate and Congress.
Democrats need to regroup and do what’s needed for their voters before voters throw them out and look for some serious players,and not only talkers and re-election seats seekers.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:25 pmThat would be great…
“Um, excuse me, but I would like to inquire, on behalf of myself and the posters at TP whether or not you people are stupid or whether you skew your polls deliberately to favor a right wing bias?”
August 19th, 2009 at 5:30 pmAh yes!
Some more educated stuff from the No Child Left Behind crowd…aka, Dumb Gets Dumber.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:30 pmSeriously, some people think Medicare/Medicaid is private?
August 19th, 2009 at 5:32 pmYeah, it will run so much better under Halliburton.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:33 pmI am starting to believe that the so-called media was/is in the tank for Mr. Obama, but not for the reasons that the ignorant right think. I believe that the so-called media wanted Mr. Obama to become POTUS so that they could capture his assassination live on tv during one of these so-called health care, anti-tax, expression of freedom, whatever you want to call them, debates.
Why do I feel this way? Because if they were doing their damn jobs and reporting the FACTS then there would be no damn way so many people would be so got damned uninformed. Now stupid people are always gonna be stupid, but why keep asking dumb ass questions instead of showing people the truth.
Oh I forgot, the truth is bad for ratings. You have Congressmen, ex-Governor’s, American citizenz going overseas and bashing the POTUS, you have people carrying loaded weapons on church grounds near where the POTUS is speaking. You have people carrying signs threatening not only the POTUS but his family. But people were arrested for wearing disparaging T-shirts and called treasonous traitors during the last administration.
And where is all of the footage of demonstrations happening outside of Mr. Bush’s speeches? There are none, why, because the demonstrators were kept miles away, but now its a right to carry a loaded gun to a townhall meeting. I hope one of these idiots drops their gun, it goes off, and hits one of theses idiots loved ones, doesnt kill them, but paralyzes them and they cant get health coveage.
The so-called “greatest generation”, has always been full of racist, they fought the nazi’s abroad, and practiced segregation at home, you will never get through to them, and this is the only group the Repuppetcan’s have left, they’re just to far gone to see that they’re being used.
RIP
August 19th, 2009 at 5:36 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
I hear the drugs are okay, just dont drink or shower with their water.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:37 pmUn Uh, its made from ground up bones of englishmun, fe fi fo.
August 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pmchiroptera toasterhead says:
Hey now! Don’t be hating on Pablo Picasso!
“Hey-a you stupid-a cloud! I’m a-gonna break-a you down into leetle cubes!”
That’s funny. I like it. But why give the Spaniard an Italian accent?
August 19th, 2009 at 5:48 pmFauxSnooze, delivering disinformation 24X7, and damned good at it too!
August 19th, 2009 at 5:48 pmOw, My Balls!
Idiocracy really was a documentary
August 19th, 2009 at 5:56 pmFrance. Always France—unless the question is what nation has the best health care system.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:06 pmAs a Social Security and Medicare recipient, with many friends who are, my view of that 39% is threefold:
1. Many are on the edge of marginal living, unable or unwilling to go back to work and afraid that any changes in Medicare will move them closer to stressful living.
2. Those who have no idea how Social Security and Medicare work including those who think they paid into it and their are now withdrawing their contributions and those who believe their paying for a Medicare supplement covers most of the cost.
3. Everyone who has another view.
Me? I’m happy with it although I do feel there should be a means test on Social Security.
August 19th, 2009 at 6:10 pmwiley says:
France. Always France—unless the question is what nation has the best health care system.
From the WHO:
Rank Country
1 France
August 19th, 2009 at 6:51 pm2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthy_life_table2.html
From the WHO, US life expectancy is 24th. But, if you disregard murders and accidents, the US is #1. The US is a world leader in murders and fatal accidents, btw.
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/08/us-vs-europe-life-expectancy-and-cancer.html
August 19th, 2009 at 7:01 pmThank you ThinkProgress! — I needed a good laugh.
lmao…
Recent poll shows 100% of Democrats think Republicans need to STFU and stop making our Country look like the developed nations version of the special olympics.
(no disrespect meant to the special olympics.. besides – whoever came up with it, I would have to assume was a Democrat)
August 19th, 2009 at 7:02 pmand I thought I would share a link pointing out that the common view that Social Security is either working poorly.. or at risk of going broke is dead wrong.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7080681
The graph is the best part – pay in’s and pay outs for social security have been maintained near perfectly… plus with investments towards it’s future we have a 1.4 trillion nest egg. Not bad for a government who can’t run anything..
August 19th, 2009 at 7:09 pmThe poll also showed that the same 39% of Americans swore they were abducted by flying saucers.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pmOk folks. You all know that most polls are crap, right?
Depending on the wording you get different answers.
My guess is that some portion of the people using Medicare like it just the way it is. So when asked something like “Do you think the government should keep its hands off Medicare?” It reads like “Do you think Medicare should be changed?”
Think it through, people.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:23 pmAlejandro
Your chart is a 5-year survival rate that doesn’t mention one word about age of onset. Any doctor will tell you that age of onset is critical. A good example is prostate cancer – if you are a man and you live long enough, you will get prostate cancer. On the same note, younger people are more resilliant with regards to serious illness. Without comparison of the average ages of onset, the chart is useless. For all we know, people in England don’t survive cancer as well because they are 20 years older when they get it.
In other words – statistics can be made to say anything you want them to say.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:25 pm35% of the people on that poll have post graduate degrees? More than any other category?
Come on.
Polls are crap.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:27 pmsmidget,
That was sorta the point.
So yes. There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there are statistics.
So maybe we should throw it all out since there is no real basis for comparison?
August 19th, 2009 at 7:29 pmOh, and it’s not my chart.
But still, to hell with the cancer chart. The fact is that when you take out non-natural deaths (murders and accidents, etc.), the US even beats Japan in life expectancy.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:31 pmAlejandro says: polls are crap..
no, actually polls are the most direct indication of what a given group answers to a given question.
Fox does them all the time – and the results are.. guess what? Exactly what you would assume from their viewing audience.
The poll this article is talking about is an accurate portrayal of the public’s views – I’m sure of it, because the numbers ring true to exactly what I would anticipate.
It shows that on all of the questions – the answer which is most logical is supported most by those with higher education. It also shows a leaning towards the illogical answer based on a conservative political view..
Dispute it all you want.. I know it’s correct because the numbers make sense – they accurately portray the public sentiment. It shows that the leading factors to believing the president was born in Kenya are : being white, being conservative, and being poorly educated.
Go back to Faux news Alejandro.. they’ll encourage your delusions.
August 19th, 2009 at 7:48 pmObama promised hope and change. I’ve seen the change and have no hope.
August 19th, 2009 at 8:32 pmThe next poll should be:
How stupid are you?
August 19th, 2009 at 11:08 pma. less dumb than an American
b. just as dumb as an American
c. dumber than an American
d. the dumbest American
Were these same people also hollering when GW Bush wanted to privatize Social Security and Medicare? Huh? Why weren’t they hollering then?
August 19th, 2009 at 11:11 pmWell, semantically, as Hawaii doesn’t share a border with any of the other states, it can’t be the “United” States ? ;-)
And these people have the vote. Even though I know the sordid history of poll tests and that it will never happen, sometimes I wonder if voters should have to meet some hurdle to show they have at least researched a single topic to the best of their ability.
Or as another person recommended on another board, maybe we could force those running for national office to have to pass a simple civics test.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:49 pmObama’s big mistake has been to give too much credence to the intelligence of the American public. He should have just said “let’s extend medicare to the uninsured and anyone else who is derived of insurance by a pre-existing condition, recission or unemployment,” and be done with it.
August 19th, 2009 at 11:57 pm.
Q U E S T I O N:
Of the respondents, Did 100% agree that Government should stay out of their Social Security, too?
.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:14 amAccording to the documentary “OutFoxed”, Rupert Murdock owns newspapers, radio stations, TV stations, and cable/satellite networks throughout the world. His news media reach 3/4 of the news-following public.
Murdock is known to be an arch conservative, neo-conservative, and a strong supporter for former President George W. Bush. His media is crafted to reflect his view of reality, his beliefs, and his message. Deviation, according to the many ex-Murdock employees interviewed in “OutFoxed”, results in being terminated and banishment.
If the news-viewing public received their “education” from the news media, and 3/4 of that public are “educated” by Murdock’s media, would it not follow that their “knowledge” is based on Murdock’s idealogy? Wouldn’t any “surveys” of the news-viewing public reflect Murdock’s beliefs?
Do you think those surveyed take the time to search alternatives to Murdock’s media in order to be “fair and balanced” in what they “know”? I think not.
August 20th, 2009 at 5:49 amAlejandro
I didn’t say that polls are crap, nor did I say that statistics are crap. I said they can be made to say whatever the reader wants them to say. That is not to say they are worthless. The data doesn’t lie. The analysis, however, often reflects the inherent biases of the statistician. In order to get the full measure of information out of statistics, much must be known and understood about the methodologies behind the study in question, the history of the respondents, and the potential biases of the questioner. Because it is rare that this type of data is available and understandable by those that read the results of a study, statistics tend to be quite manipulative. That certainly doesn’t mean that they should be tossed out. What it does mean is that they should be viewed with a critical eye. Unfortunately, we are discovering more and more that Americans tend to lack said critical eye.
August 20th, 2009 at 8:32 amFor all of you laughing at all those stupid Republicans, you should read the poll.
Q11. Who did you vote for President last year? If
August 20th, 2009 at 10:40 amJohn McCain, press 1. If Barack Obama,
press 2. If someone else or you don’t… Read More
remember, press 3.
McCain………………………………………….. 42%
Obama………………………………………….. 48%
Someone else/don’t remember ………………….. 10%
Or this one:
If you are a Democrat, press 1. If you are a
August 20th, 2009 at 10:42 amRepublican, press 2. If you are an independent
or identify with another party, press 3.
Democrat ………………………………………. 41%
Republican…………………………………….. 35%
Independent/Other……………………………… 24%
It’s silly to say from this poll that millions of Americans don’t know Medicare is government program. It didn’t ask that question. Those who said the government should stay out probably meant they shouldn’t
August 20th, 2009 at 11:07 ammake changes. More of the people polled were Democrats and Obama voters than others. It’s not helpful to waste time trying to smear the opposition. Just keep posting facts about healthcare and leave the mudslinging to repugs.
First off, do these, so-called people, realize that the FED runs medicare? Obviously not.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:14 pmThere are some real issues with medicare that need to be addressed, like the cost that seniors have to pay for medication. There is NO flipp was that ANY senior should have to pay $100 for 1 pill, and I have known a could that needed this $100 pill for their medical problem. Where is the justice in that? The insurance industry is ripping off the people that need it most and there is NO excuse for it.
I disagree with the notion that the poll should not worry us. Yes, the question is ambiguous, “keep the government’s hands off of Medicare” could indicate not wanting to change Medicare. The pollsters should have done that question since it is the same wording as that common anecdote about the guy in the town hall meeting, and hence relevant to the debate, but then they should have done a follow-up straightforward question “Is Medicare a federal government program?”. Then we could get a better idea of the scale of misinformation.
As it is, though, the poll result rings somewhat true because so much of our political debate is fact free. I mean, the media is seriously presenting a spreading opinion that Obama wants to institute “death panels” for seniors, with the concommitant and equally ridiculous notion that places like Canada and Britain are Communist dictatorships that kill their elderly. Clearly some disconnection from reality is occuring.
I think that pure lack of education is not the whole story, however: cognitive dissonance is part of it too. I mean, Reagan and Bush ran up huge government deficits, yet many conservatives still decry “tax and spend liberals,” fixating on tiny anti-poverty programs while ignoring billions of dollars going not only to wars, but to weapons systems that even the Pentagon doesn’t want.
I live in Minneapolis and we are (finally) expanding our public transit system, slowly. Every time the newspaper prints some simple factual article about where the track is going to be laid or sound abatement or whatever, a bunch of conservatives pile on about how transit is a Big Government Program that never runs in the black. To which I say, what form of transportation does? Cars can’t go anywhere without (public) streets, and they can’t go fast without even more expensive (public) highways. Airplanes need airports and air traffic control.
But highways are not considered to be “big government,” nor is the federal tax deduction for mortgage interest considered a “housing subsidy,” even though it is. There is a definite tendency by Americans to view any government program that benefits white middle class people as not being a government program at all, because white middle-class people don’t like to admit that they are beneficiaries of social welfare.
So is it a problem that people don’t think Medicare is a government program? Yes, it is, although it may have more to do with cognitive dissonance and quasi-religious beliefs about American exceptionalism and “frontier independence” than literal factual ignorance. We must spend billions of dollars a year (hundreds of billions?) on pretending that we are independent of each other and of the government– military-industrial jobs programs, private health insurance bureaucracy, etc.– that we could put to good use if we would finally admit that there is something called society and we are part of it and dependent upon it.
August 20th, 2009 at 12:32 pmI looked at the PPL results….and again, more poppycock and uninformed people. But, until that polling group or any other group give us REAL NUMBERS, not contrived numbers, then the data is bogus. For example, they know how many GOP v. DEM v.Independents are polled, but don’t release that data, which would make the REAL PICTURE much clearer.
If 30% of the country admits to being GOP and 87% are against healthcare reform, that is only 26% of the population, so how do they come up with their illogical percentage approval v. disapproval. They take the percentage of disapproval and average it with the approval…again, it makes no sense, except to say they are manipulating the data!
Enough with the polls that don’t report actual information!
August 20th, 2009 at 12:42 pm@sw
You do realize that it’s far more embarassing that 6% didn’t know that Hawaii was a state, don’t you? The Medicare question was poorly worded, I’ll grant you….but not knowing that Hawaii is a state is a level of stupid for which there is no word yet.
August 20th, 2009 at 4:33 pmNO AMMT OF MEDICARE WILL SAVE USE ALL FROM THE CLOUD OF SANTARA OVER THE WAIT HOUSE THE GATES R OPEN AND THE ISALOMOFASHISTCOMIES ARE COMING TO KILL USE ALL
August 20th, 2009 at 9:41 pmI don’t want the Federal Government controling my tax return ! DUH :(
August 21st, 2009 at 12:42 pmWow! I always thought that Medicare was Government…..now that this poll came out I am beginning to think that the Gov. has been lying to me for the past 30 yrs of my life and taking X amount out of my paycheck for…..
These people are like arguing with a dishwasher, lots of noise but no substance…lol!!!
August 21st, 2009 at 1:38 pmNew poll finds that 39 percent of Americans want government to ‘stay out of Medicare.————– how can can the gov. get out of something they started and contiue to run (bankrupt)??
August 21st, 2009 at 3:03 pmLincoln was right. You can fool some of the people all of the time.
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:56 pm