The rightwing noise machine went into high gear after Gov. Jennifer Granholm vetoed $54 million from House Bill 4447, the School aid funding bill.
The money was cut for the 40, 20J or “hold harmless districts” that have higher funding levels than other school districts. The Governor also cut $127 cut per student as part of a proration that was dictated by shrinking revenues.
One example was a push poll on rightwing radio station WBCK in Battle Creek. It asks: “Why did Governor Granholm cut funding to schools more than the budget required?”
It seems like a reasonable question, until you look at the answers the poll provided. The real answer is that the Governor was sent a bill that was not properly funded. According to subscription only Gongwers:
“State officials have estimated that, including the $100 million in new revenue not yet enacted, the School Aid Fund budget as passed will be short $264 million for the current fiscal year.”
Instead of having that as one of the possible answers, it has three answers that attempts to influence the reader; the very definition of a push poll. Here are the false answers they provided:
She believes the schools are over funded.
She is playing politics with our children’s lives.
She feels the money is more needed for social programs (i.e. welfare programs).
Obviously, none of those things are true, but one has to get the most votes; leading people to believe the top answer is true.
I used the station’s email contact to ask them to include a legitimate choice in the poll. I got an email from some guy named Rink. Apparently, he is a local host that goes on before the usual lineup of rightwing hatemongers like Limbaugh, Hannity, Neal Boortz and Dennis Miller.
After some seven emails from him, he ignored the request. He said he “double checked and triple checked the poll and it is correct,” and then he made the false claim that he provide a source.
No comments:
Post a Comment