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Word on the Street
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The Numbers Don't Lie. Or Do They?
Anna Fahey is political communications theorist, language analyst, and self-proclaimed opinion research junkie. She recently joined Sightline’s staff as Communications Strategist and will be a regular contributor to the Daily Score.
Even though I’ve read report after sobering report indicating Americans’ increasing disconnection with government, it was still a little shocking to read Gallup Poll numbers released this month. Apparently, given three choices – big labor, big business, or big government – 3 out of 5 Americans surveyed in December 2006 named big government as the greatest threat facing the country.
Gallup has been asking this question since 1965 to track long-term attitude trends and, as it turns out, this feeling is nothing new: Americans have consistently perceived big government as a big threat for decades.
Perhaps more surprising is the fact that in 2006 so-called big government is considered the biggest threat no matter where political allegiances lie. That is, among majorities of Republicans (63%), independents (58%), and Democrats (56%) alike. Even among self-identified liberals, 49% say big government is the number one threat.
But I’m not sure that we should take these findings at face value…
Is Oil Just Being Slick?
Will wonders never cease?
Oil companies warm to law on emissions
SACRAMENTO — Oil companies on Thursday embraced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new executive order to fight global warming by boosting the consumption of alternative fuels and cutting carbon emissions from car and truck exhausts by 10% over the next 13 years.
So now oil companies are applauding a plan to reduce carbon emissions -- and cynic that I am, that makes me wonder whether there's something wrong with Schwarzenegger's plan.
But perhaps, it's just that oil companies think that this is the best deal they're going to get in California -- and if they oppose this, something far more draconian and inflexible (or, perhaps, more effective) is coming down the pike.
Cynicism aside, it's a bit bewildering to realize how different the political climate is in California than in Oregon and Washington. In California, a Republican governor is proposing major reductions in gas and diesel emissions -- and the oil companies line up behind it. But to the north, Democratic governors are still treating the climate like a political hot potato: too hot to touch, except with a few token gestures.
C'mon, guys. We're getting left in the dust -- and by the Governator, no less.
