FOX News has made the “news” again in more ways than one.
Wednesday morning on the Fox News show “Fox & Friends”, the host, Brian Kilmeade, released some amazing poll information to his viewing audience. During a discussion with his guest, Robert Zimmerman, a Pro-Union supporter, he posed the question of whether Zimmerman feels that Obama is taking a large risk by supporting the protesters in Wisconsin.
After Zimmerman responded that Obama was speaking for “mainstream” America, Kilmeade rebutted with poll results showing that Americans “Favor” taking away Collective Bargaining Rights from state government workers 61% to the “Opposing” 33% with 6% undecided.
With Governor Scott Walker’s (R-WI) war on Labor Unions, Fox News must have felt this was a notch in the belt of the Republican agenda; the problem is the results that the Fox News host displayed were false.
The results he quoted were said to be from the USA Today Gallup Poll released Tuesday, and Kilmeade is quoted as saying, “I think Gallup, a relatively mainstream poll, has a differing view…”
He was correct; Gallup Poll is a fairly mainstream poll. The problem is the results were reversed and the view was not differing. The actual poll results showed that nearly two thirds of Americans oppose similar laws in their state and only one third of Americans would support Gov. Walker’s laws in their state.
In the final minute of the Fox show Kilmeade announced that he had erroneously used the wrong numbers and admitted to the reversal. However, was it too little too late for Fox News followers? There’s speculation that the damage may have already been done.
From the Editor:
- How do you feel about them misrepresenting the numbers?
- Do you think they did it on purpose?
- What are your views on Collective Barganing?
Tell us what you think!
That is your opinion and respectfully so, but have you considered that you erroneously stated that government workers earn $35-$50 an hour without an education and that they do not pay anything towards health insurance or retirement? Of all three assessments, three are inaccurate, I mean no disrespect and I’m not trying to be crass, but facts are facts and opinions are…well opinions.
Not saying I agree or disagree with your opinion on fiscal responsibility, but I do pose a question, being that most government works are “middle class” Americans, do you truly believe it should fall squarely on these people to burden the state or national debt? The benefits received by these state workers are not far removed from the benefits of a middle class American working in that same state, yet without collect bargaining there is little to no chance that those benefits will remain stable.
Poll or no poll, I am on the Gov’s bandwagon. Collective Bargaining Rights? Is this the 60′s, no wait, the 50′s, or it must be the 40′s! The time has past for the collective bagaining rights of unions with hosts of uneducated workers making $35 to $50 an hour, not paying any part of their helath insurance, and getting their retirement funded by anyone but themselves. We have better working conditions, better pay, and much better benefits than those workers in the early 20th century. The unions were formed to battle against Corporate America for the working class. But in a time when our country is in a severe financial crisis and our government is on the verge of bankruptcy, we must all do our part and make the sacrifice for a better future. It is not the time to point the finger at each other, but find constructive, fiscally responsible ways to get back on track! Hey, just my opinion!
“OPPS! My Bad!” he should have said with a reptilian grin! So, either he is really evil and deliberately misrepresented things, or he is really inefficient and can’t be trusted to correctly represent the news. If he is evil, we obviously shouldn’t listen to him. If he is that inefficient, Fox news should, and probably would, fire him. Let’s see which it is.