I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Poll-ish Jokes

Ah, Rassmussen - favored polling unit of wing-nuts everywhere. They weigh in on the "freeze" (it's not a freeze - it's a cut!):
Sixty-five percent (65%) of New Jersey voters favor a one-year pay freeze on the salaries of administrators, teachers and school workers to reduce the state’s level of local school aid, according to a new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey.
 Always - ALWAYS - look at the questions before you accept any pollster's results:

2* Governor Christie’s proposed budget calls for approximately $820 million less in local school aid. To help make up this deficit in funding do you favor or oppose a one year pay freeze on administrators, teachers and school workers salaries?
65% Favor  28% Oppose 7% Not sure
The freeze was the ONLY option available! Imagine of the question were:

2* Governor Christie’s proposed budget calls for approximately $820 million less in local school aid. To help make up this deficit in funding do you favor or oppose a continuation of a tax that has already been in place on people making over $400,000?
How do you think the vote would have gone then?

More genius-level questions:

3* Are teachers’ unions more interested in the quality of education or in protecting their members’ jobs?
Uh, isn't job protection the entire point of a union?

4* Do public employee unions put a significant strain on New Jersey’s budget?
Oh, no, the people who work for the government hardly cost the government ANYTHING....

Honestly, if I had submitted work this sloppy for my master's thesis, the review panel would have kicked me off campus.

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