AP: Voter disdain spreads as ‘fiscal cliff’ looms
No, voter disdain is not spreading. What we have here is a baldfaced lie to promote a sense of impending crisis and doom, and all for that grand goal, so the rich and the President get their cuts to Medicare.
The AP propagandist, Steve Peoples, echoes the headline with this:
Evidence of Congress’ plummeting popularity is everywhere.
Well, no, that sure ain’t apparent in the opinion polls. In fact Peoples is forced to contradict himself, when he finally feels obliged to give us the actual numbers:
A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 74 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job; just 23 percent approve. The figures are virtually unchanged from June and slightly above Congress’ recent low point of 12 percent approval during the debt ceiling debate in August 2011.
How does “The figures are virtually unchanged from June …” equal “Evidence of Congress’ plummeting popularity is everywhere.”?? What the hey? And in fact the figures are virtually unchanged since August, 2011.
Well, at least he allows these reassuring words from the real world: “… most people say they’re not following the daily developments that consume Washington.”
And this was nice too (!):
John Baker, 65, a Denver psychologist, said … “It’s a typical Washington, ‘Let’s hit the panic button and keep people scared so they will let us do what we want to do,’” Baker said in a downtown Denver Starbucks. “Ultimately, it will be fixed but not until a lot of pockets are lined.”
Peoples somehow interprets the preceding as support for “let’s make a deal before the ‘deadline’.” Sounds more like cynicism about the real intentions of Congress, the President, and the fingers-all-over-the-panic-button corporate media. And anyone’s who’s been following this knows he’s exactly right:
If history is any guide, the ever-accommodating Obama could still portray an increase in the Medicare eligibility age as a quid pro quo–the unavoidable tradeoff–for the Republicans allowing taxes on the rich to increase…even though the Republicans can’t prevent increases in taxes on the rich if the Democrats don’t make a deal!