Weekly Opinion Editorial 

POLL CATS!

by Steve Fair

     Forty-five days until the November general election and according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, America is divided.  The pollster included a ‘skewed’ question about the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, that showed 62% of Americans disagreed with the ruling.  The poll showed Republicans have a slight advantage in voter enthusiasm, but both Parties are motivated to get out to vote.  President Biden has an approval rating of 39%, with 53% strongly disapproving of the job the POTUS is doing.  57% of those polled believe Biden hasn’t accomplished much of anything.  31% of those polled said the Democrat Party is too permissive on abortion.  50% believe the Republican Party is too restrictive. Three observations about polls, no matter who is conducting them:

     First, polls are often manipulated and contrived.   Statistical sampling is the method pollsters use to measure voter interest.  They poll a cross section of voters and then extrapolate and project the results to a confidence factor.  Polls have been around since the early 1800s.  In the 20^thcentury, The Literary Digest, a magazine published by Funk & Wagnalls, conducted opinion polls on the presidential races.  The Digest correctly predicted four straight races, but missed big in 1936 when they predicted Alf Landon would upset FDR.  George Gallup found their method of soliciting people to send in postcards had given them a bad sample. It seems, Landon’s supporters had conspired to bias the poll by flooding the Digest with postcards. 

     How a question is asked, who is commissioning (paying for) a poll, and those polled not providing accurate and honest answers can result in poll cats providing erroneous and faulty information.       Many push polls masquerade as opinion polls.  A push poll is an interactive marketing technique where a campaign attempts to influence the polled’s views and manipulate their response.

     Second, the only poll that matters is the one on Election Day.  The phrase originated in Australian politics, but it’s repeated often in America- often by candidates who are behind in the polls.  While true, polling, when conducted in a fair, unbiased, and scientific manner can be amazingly accurate.  Exceptions have been the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.  Most preelection polls had Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden easily beating Donald Trump. According to a report from the American Association for Public Opinion Research, polls for the 2020 election were the worst in forty years and polling in state races was the worst in twenty years.  Loss of objectivity by pollsters have resulted in a loss of public confidence in their accuracy.

     Third, the economic poll is the one to watch.  Pay attention to the inflation rate, the Consumer Price Index(CPI), the Gross domestic product(GDP), unemployment, interest rates and the price of crude oil.  All of those aren’t trending well for the average American.  The average Individual Retirement Account(IRA) decreased in value -18% since January 2022, wiping out $3 trillion in collective wealth of Americans.  The stock market is down -20% during the same period.  Crude oil is at a fifteen year high, resulting in high fuel prices at the pump.  Inflation is over 9% this year. Food at home prices have increased by 11% this year.   Most voters vote with their pocketbook, so it’s a safe conclusion the economic poll indicates they will vote out the Party in power.

       The late Rush Limbaugh said: “Polls are just being used as another tool of voter suppression.  The polls are an attempt to not reflect public opinion, but to shape it.  Yours.  They want to depress the heck out of you.” Nothing could depress Americans more than the economic indicators this year.    

     But that won’t stop poll cats from releasing fake polls indicating Americans are going to vote liberal in November, in the hope it will deflate conservatives.  A pole cat is a weasel-like mammal, noted for ejecting a fetid fluid when threatened.  Is there an odor in the air?

 

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

SNAKE OIL CONCOCTION

by Steve Fair

 

     The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) begins a new term on October 3^rd.  This will be the first term new Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was appointed by President Biden, will be on the court.  Brown Jackson replaced fellow liberal Justice Stephen Breyer, who retired in June.  A 6-3 conservative majority remains on the court.  The SCOTUS is set to tackle a series of hot-button issues, including two major election disputes that could impact the 2024 presidential election.

     After the SCOTUS’s ruling overturning Roe vs. Wade, two of the liberals on the court have went on the road like snake oil salesmen questioning the legitimacy of the court.  Liberal Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor claims the court’s most result rulings have been political and not constitutional.  “When courts become extensions of the political process, when people see them as extensions of the political process trying to impose personal preferences on society, irrespective of the law, that’s when there’s a problem,” Kagan said this week in Chicago.  Sotomajor said the same thing the next night in California.  Chief Justice John Roberts responded that justices shouldn’t question the court’s legitimacy just because they disagree with a ruling.  Three observations:

     First, every SCOTUS ruling is political.  The definition of political is: relating to the government or the public affairs of a country.  The original Roe vs. Wade ruling was political.  In 1973, spurred by social liberals, who wanted the government to sanction birth control- after the fact- the SCOTUS made a political ruling. Every ruling is political and rooted in ideology.  For Kagan and Sotomayor to question the court’s legitimacy is dishonest.  They know the six justices who voted to overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision hold to an ‘originalist’ legal philosophy as opposed to their ‘textualism’ view.  To cast a shadow over the court’s legitimacy is the height of political and the ultimate sore loser.

     Second, the SCOTUS should not rule based on public opinion.  Every ruling should be based on the U.S. Constitution.  In the most recent past, that hasn’t been the case because the majority of justices on the SCOTUS were textualists and believed the Constitution is a ‘living’ document.  Textualists contend the original intent view is out of date/unfashionable.  Most SCOTUS textual rulings were made based on public opinion.  Now that’s political.  While it is true, citizens/the governed should have confidence that SCOTUS rulings are proper and follow the rule of law, the court should never rule based on public opinion.  It should rule based on the founding document.  

     Third, liberals are trying to change the structure of the SCOTUS.  Since President Trump appointed three justices in four years, liberals have come to the conclusion the SCOTUS needs to change.  Pressured by liberal activists, President Biden appointed a commission to study ways to change the SCOTUS.  The commission recommended term limits for justices (70 years old max) and expanding the court.  President Franklin Roosevelt tried the exact same thing in 1937, when conservative SCOTUS justices struck down some of his New Deal legislation.  The plan failed because Democrats in Congress opposed FDR’s plan- calling it a politicalizing of the SCOTUS.

     Democrats are trying to use the SCOTUS ruling on Roe Vs. Wade as ammunition against Republicans in the mid-term elections.  They are trying to convince voters the SCOTUS justices who voted to overturn Roe vs. Wade are partisan political hacks.    They condemn politicization while politicizing.  They are double-minded, unstable, vacillating, and insincere.  November will reveal if Americans brought their snake oil concoction.

 

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

WHISTLE PIGS!

by Steve Fair

      According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Americans in 2021 paid more in taxes than they spent on food, clothing and health care combined.  American households spent an average of $15,495 on food, clothing and health care, while paying an average of $16,729.73 in total taxes to federal, state and local governments.  Both of these numbers are up vs. 2020.  Three observations:

     First, government, at all levels, never has enough revenue.  Whether its for the national defense or the repair of a local pothole in the city street, government’s appetite for taking money from citizens is never satisfied.   Government spending is never cut or reduced- it continues to grow each year- no matter which Party is in office.

     The U.S. Treasury divides federal spending into three groups: mandatory spending, discretionary spending, and interest on the national debt.  Discretionary spending refers to the portion of the budget Congress decides each year through the appropriations process.  Last year, that was a whopping $2 trillion dollars.  In a normal year, about half of that amount goes to the military. 

     Mandatory spending includes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which combined are three times more than what the U.S. spends on national defense.  In 2022, mandatory spending was $6 trillion dollars.

     The interest on the national debt is $400 billion each year.  The Congressional Budget Office(CBO) projects the annual interest cost will increase to over $1.2 trillion in the next ten years,  As a percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), these costs would double from 1.6% to 3.3%.  Government grows at all levels, with little accountability.   

     Second, true fiscal conservatives are endangered.  GOP candidates, at all levels, ballyhoo fiscal conservatism in their campaign literature and stump speeches, but few follow up once elected.  Candidate Donald Trump promised to balance the federal budget, but by 2019- before the pandemic- then President Trump was sending a budget to Congress that was $1 trillion dollars in the red.  During his four-year term, Trump spent more tax money than Obama.  Political activists rarely question elected officials about deficit spending and the national debt, which has resulted in true fiscal conservatives vanishing like the blush of innocence. 

     Third, citizens get the government they want.  While most Americans lament and complain about the size of government, the amount of taxes they pay, and the lack of response from their elected officials, only a very few do anything about it.  Most citizens are too busy making a living, paying their taxes, and raising their families to invest any time paying attention to how their tax dollars are being spent or to pay attention to politics.  They rely on others to do their heavy lifting.  Like Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who only leaves his burrow once a year, these hard workers emerge from their den periodically to hold those who are engaged accountable for the sad state of affairs.  They are unwilling- and sometimes unable- to be involved, but that doesn’t stop them from deriding those who are.  What those whistle pigs fail to discern is they have the government they deserve.  The only way to change that is for them to take proprietorship/ownership of their government more than intermittently.

     American consumers are price conscious at the grocery store.  They make sure they get a value for their food dollar.  They watch for bargains on clothing.  They shop and compare health care.  But when it comes to how taxes are being spent, taxpayers are impassive.  Until taxpayers start watching where taxes are being spent- at all levels of government- citizens will get the government they deserve.  Start paying attention!  Don’t be a whistle pig.