Campaign Finance by Colbert

HT: Club for Growth

Social Security Poll

During a Kudlow & Company debate (video available here at Club for Growth), the issue of a recent poll saying most Americans favor maintaining Social Security benefit levels and raising taxes, this gem of a quote came up:

"This poll is ridiculous. You're asking people who make, on average, $40,000 a year whether they think people making $100,000 a year should subsidize their future Social Security benefits. That's like asking three wolves and sheep to vote on who's for dinner."

Economic Ignorance

CNN is reporting that 46% of Americans believe the US is in the midst of a recession. Be sure to check out the comments to the article, including:

"I don't care what people think about the economy. The bottom line is the economy can me measured by GDP, real income, employment, etc. The actual poll question should be: How many people are duped into thinking the economy is bad?"(emphasis added)

"Wow!! The mainstream media machine should be quite proud of keeping 46% of Americans that ignorant. We've had incredible economic growth in the last 3 or 4 years in spite of record oil prices and the sub-prime mortgage debacle and yet the left-wing media salivates at every opportunity to tell Americans how miserable our lives are. You can say what you want, but I choose not to take part in your "recession" - I know better."

"Where are the poll numbers for the "Pelosi Do Nothing Congress"? 11% approval rating I beleive. The lowest in history.This recession talk just goes to show that if you tell a lie long enough people will beleive it."

"While many people may believe that the U.S. is in a recession, the fact remains that we are not.

This just shows the lack of economic education of the geberal public and the ability of the major media to capitalize on this ignorance for their own purposes.

This story is an attempt to create a story instead of reporting.

I wonder why the story has not corrected the public opinion with the facts?"

"It is stunning how people could possibly think we are in a recession. This poll shows the danger of the negative economic focus of the mainstream news outlets that has clearly misled the public into this false belief. I know people have to also be responsible for their own ignorance, but when their sources of information are misleading it is hard to fault the fools of this poll."

"This story is ridiculous, at the very least a good journalist should include in here that we are definitely NOT in a recession, that the economny has been growing for something like18 straight quarters."

etc.

I read over half of all the comments posted as of my reading of the article. I skimmed the rest. I didn't see one favorable comment. That's at least one good thing :-)

Nerd

Japanese Post Office

From BBC Article:

"Japan has started the privatisation of its postal service, forming the world's largest commercial bank in the process.

"Under a 10-year plan, Japan Post is being split into four firms to run its banking and insurance operations, mail deliveries and post offices.

"Japan Post's banking unit has 400 million accounts and assets of 349.8 trillion yen ($3 trillion; £1.5 trillion), the world's largest.

"The banking and insurance units should float on the stock exchange by 2010."