I'm not sure Fournier is wrong here. It all depends on how the question was asked. If those polled were forced to choose between cutting spending on Iraq and rolling back the tax cuts (i.e., if the question was "Which is the best way to pay for Katrina clean-up?" then his math would be correct.

Surfing around now for more info on the poll

Research concluded. Fournier's math is correct. See page 4, question 15 here. (Note: PDF file.)

Yeah, that occurred to me after I wrote it.

I hope I'm not wrong. That would be more embarassing than my usual cornucopia of errors.

I want to see that correction up in big bright lights.

Yeah, its a tight binary choice. The polled person can either choose from sane sounding ideas like raising taxes or cutting Iraq spending on one hand. On the other hand, the other options are scary sounding: cut education or *gasp* deficit spending.

Its a screwed up question. The question is written to give only 2 possible choices.

Why not rewrite it:

1. Raise taxes and risk hurting the economy and making you lose your job because the current tax cuts have led to 4.9% unemployment.

2. Cut spending on the war on terror. Feel safe on the subway, punk?

3. Cut pork-barrell, wasteful government spending like a stupid bridge in Alaska.

4. Just spend the money, we can borrow it without any serious problems.

Oh journalists are still too stupid to work for a living. This does not let them off the hook.

Here's the question.

If you had to choose, which one of the following options do you think is the best way for the government to
pay for the relief effort for Hurricane Katrina?
Cut spending on Iraq ................................. 42
Delay or cancel additional tax cuts ............ 29
Add to the federal debt and gradually pay
it back ........................................................ 14
Cut spending for other domestic
programs like education, welfare,
transportation, and health care .................. 11
Not sure ................................................... 4

Looks like Ace goofed this one up. On the other hand, they oversampled Democrats again, 49%-41%. Funny how it always seems to break that way.

This 'tardstomp brought to you by A-motherfucking-llah, baby.

Hey, isn't there a NYC blogger party tonight somewhere?

Maybe I'll see you there to spike the ball.

No, it's not tonight. It was delayed until the 30th or so.

The Party That Can't Be Named is tomorrow though.

Apparently new subscriptions to continue to read Modo and the Giant Ewok are coming in a little slower than anticipated.

I'm crushed.

Don't get excited, it'll be some schlub clerks who get the axe, not the evil Krugman/Dowd/Rich "axis of idiocy".

Oh Ace.

Ace.

Thank you.

Thanks to Allah, who has taken a break from blogging to bust my damn balls 24/7.

Well, thank God. Because I have to admit, the rest of us really just aren't up to the task. We have jobs and families and shit.

"Hey, isn't there a NYC blogger party tonight somewhere? ..."
"No, it's not tonight. It was delayed until the 30th or so. The Party That Can't Be Named is tomorrow though."

And then there's Detention at Stonewall on Thursday. You two can still pass for collegiate, right?

If it's any consolation, ace, if it's taken allah almost a year to bust them, you must have some mightly large balls.

Hold on, Allah, Ace had this right that the poll is bogus. The question says "If you HAD to choose" which forces the person to pick from the list of predetermined options -- a list that does NOT include "none of the above" and does NOT include "write-in your preferred option." But the report Ace quoted says that the responders were "Given a choice." Forcing a choice on someone is NOT the same as "giving" them a choice. If the executioner says "Which will it be: shoot you or hang you?", no-one should say that the condemned man was "given a choice" and "chose to die." Imagine a question posed to Democrats that said "If forced to choose between Frist or McCain for president, which would you choose?" And then claiming that 100% of respondents chose a Republican for president. Thus it is entirely possible that all 71% of the selected respondents would have chosen neither option they picked, if only they had had more options to choose from.

Don't sweat it ace. This is kind of like asking the question "Who is most to blame for Hurricane Katrina" with the answers:

a) President Bush
b) VP Cheney
c) Republicans
d) Bush Administration

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